The Llogora Tourist Village Vlore

... bewoelkt ist ist es immer noch 30 Grad und recht schwuel.

Berat besteht aus einer Burg auf einem Berg. Diese enthaelt ebenfalls Kirchen und auch heute noch bewohnte Haeuser. Am Berghang gibt es dann einen alten Vorort und auf der anderen Flussseite, durch eine Steinbruecke verbunden, einen weiteren Vorort. Drumherum gibt es heute aber natuerlich auch eine moderne Stadt mit guter sozialistischer Architektur.

Gruss
Ralf

... and sometimes struggle to start.

The ride is very bumpy but shows how rural population lives. Most people have used their yards as gardens, growing grapes, corn … Many buildings are half built. Effigies are common but can't tell what they are for. Deserted factories. Trash everywhere. Concrete military bunkers are all over the strategic locations (eg, town entrances, hills, bridges). I am taking photos from the bus but ...

... is another little ripper with amazing views of the valley from its back deck. I’m out there right now and its so peaceful. I wish I had some more time in this region as I am rushing through it madly at the moment but now that I am out of the madness that is the Adriatic coast I am feeling more and more settled on the road. Tomorrow I think I will head into Macedonia to see Lake Ohrid and after that it will either be a crazy stint in Corfu Greece or some travel through Bulgaria.

... of joining the PC). Thru her I learnt a lot about how people live in this region, including a ritual called “gyro” , which is kind of like our “cruising”, but on foot. Every evening in the summer a section of the main street will be closed to traffic between 7 and 9 pm, and people, especially the girls, put on their best and walk up and down the street. All men and women of any age can join in, but most of them are younger ones. The men ...

... enjoyed the people and the food thoroughly, and even got a little more than a tourist insight through our volunteering.

Scott is an English ExPat who was looking to open a hostel somewhere that has a lot of tourism potential. He fell in love with sleepy Berat, and bought a world heritage building to convert into a hostel. What he needed from us was some finishing touches. During our ...

... forward. People have mentioned about how bad the roads were but I have found them fine. If you have been to Africa or certain parts of Asia the roads are nothing compared to those. Albania is also classed as the poorest country in Europe and it definatley is the hardest to travel in but it is extremely rewarding. Berat is a really nice little place. It is home to a lot of Ottoman buildings that ...

... concrete truck and had to try and squeeze into a non-existant gap! We made it, hot and bothered, to the blue eyed spring, a cold water spring. It was beautiful and cold, and awesomely fresh ( amazingly there was no rubbish here!) so we all had a swim and filled our drinking water containers. Then we headed to the border, where we crossed a nice new road, and joined the massive queue to get out of the country! If anyone is thinking of driving ...

... built in the thirteenth century, while the inscription on the wall says 1743. The bell tower was rebuilt in 1925. The frescoes dating from 1744 and mural works by the renowned painters Kostandin and Athanas Zografi from Korçë are found intact inside the church. The eastern walls of the church and parts of the surrounding walls are built using construction stones from Apollonia. The Albanian national hero Gjergj Kastriot Skanderbeg was married here in the evening of April 21, 1451.

... of Chalcedon (451). However, the city became increasingly uninhabitable as the inland swamp expanded and the nearby settlement of Vlora became dominant. By the end of antiquity the city was largely depopulated, hosting a small Christian community which built on a hill which probably is part of the site of the old city the 13th century Monastery and Church of Panagia -Shën Mëri in Albanian- (the Saint Mary). The ...

... for a time in Costantinopole. He was forced to convert to Islam and exiled back to Albania . After his death his tomb was taken over as a Bektashi shrine and remained that until 1967 Sights in Berat The town is still renowned for its historic architecture and scenic beauty and is known as the "Town of a Thousand Windows", due to the many large windows of the old decorated houses overlooking the town. It is unclear whether it really means "Thousand" (një mijë) or ...