Albania

Trip Start May 24, 2005

Trip End Ongoing

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Flag of Albania Tirane, Albania
Sunday, July 10, 2005

Not wanting to go back on our tracks, and not wanting to bypasss Croatia, our planning led us to the new port on Corfu, and then on to a hydrofoil for the 25 minute journey to Sarande in Albania.

Poor internet connections and not much time away from the boat in Corfu meant that we only managed to squeeze in an hour's research on the internet, which stood us in good stead as far as knowing the bus timetables was concerned, but there was so much more to learn.

Although there was no way we were going to get our heads round Albania in three days, we did manage to cobble together the following facts/impressions (without exception, all of them good and apologies for things we got wrong...)

..Albania is home to some astonishing Greek, Roman and subsequent settlements

Byzantian Baptistry at Butrinti

. See Butrinti in the south, first discovered in 1928 by an Italian archaeologist following a trail leading from one of Virgil's odes. Even now, those currently excavating the site believe they have only unearthed 12 per cent of the treasures lying beneath the soil, entangled in the roots of the forest or under water.

..The Albanians call themselves Schipotar and their country Schiperia, from the word Schipon, meaning 'Eagle'. The eagle is the symbol on their flag, which was taken from the national hero Scanderbeg, an Austrian who held several Albanian towns from the Turks in the 14th Century and hence 'saved' Christian Europe.

..Churches stand alongside mosques with no obvious signs of discontent. The town of Berat stands as wonderful testimony to this. On a high hill, the medieaval city wraps itself round Byzantine churches and mosques, some of which are in immaculate condition.

..The country looks as if, after hundreds of years of subsistence living, the people have suddenly thought fit to sign up to a five year plan to build as many identikit, concrete homes as it takes to house the entire population to a middle-class standard but they have forgotten to fill in the bits in between (such as roads, shops, farming land etc.) This plan appears to be half-way fulfilled, with skeletons of concrete structures waiting for their rusting iron fingers to be encased in a fresh glove of grey and washed with citrus paint

Looking towards Berat Old Town

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...The people are some of the most hospitable we have encountered in any of our travels - ever - and most speak at least a few sentences of a foreign language - with many being perfectly bilingual (at least).

..All old mercedes go to Albania to work their retirement.

..The evening stroll is almost exclusively for men, as are the myriad cafes where men of all ages engage in people watching and domino playing.

..Agriculture is extremely small scale, with men and women herding small flocks of sheep or tending tiny vineyards with sickles and scythes.

..There is a tangible atmosphere of affection created by everyone, with middle aged sons seeing mothers off on buses, and likewise mothers seeing their young children off. That the air is full with quiet, gentle laughter.

..The Euro is accepted in shops, restaurants and museums.

...Tirane and Sarande are soviet-cum-no-style towns, interesting for their unique stae of mid-way development if for nothing else.

..The north is quite beautiful, where the mountains reach down to a lake on the border with Montenegro.

Falimenderit Albania!