ALBANIA: A Road Trip: Elbasan and Berat

The road departing from Tirana to Elbasan was around the corner from our hotel, so within 10 minutes we were on our way out of town and headed south.  Another upgrade to the road system of Albania was the blasting of a 2.5km tunnel through the mountains towards Elbasan and the construction of a highway for part of the route.  Mind you, the rest of the road was winding, barely-two-lanes-wide and choked with trucks, cars and buses!  Still, we were not in a hurry, and we enjoyed the view – whether it was a donkey hauling hay on a cart, children playing at the side of the road or old-fashioned hay stacks and corn stacks in the fields.  The air was fresh (when it wasn’t dusty from the road) and the mountains and fields green, and we arrived in Elbasan an hour or so after departing Tirana.

Part of the old wall at Elbasan

The old wall at Elbasan

Painting above the doorway to the Orthodox Church at Elbasan

A rusted old oil pump

The area came to importance under the Romans as the crossroads of branches of the Via Egnatia, and was fortified to protect this important road between the Adriatic and Byzantium.  The city walls were then rebuilt by the Ottomans in 1466 and by the 17^th century the city had become a major commercial centre, specializing in leather, fabrics and silverwork.  The walls enclose the old town, within which many homes are still to be found – the old town also contains one of the oldest mosques in Albania (we were only able to see the outside) and a lovely little Albanian Orthodox church (again, no access possible).  As we were walking around looking for the church, we asked a local gentleman if he could tell us where it was and he kindly interrupted his conversation with another man to take us to the church and tell us about what he remembered the inside looked like.  He spoke quite good French and so at least I was able to understand his story and ask questions about what life had been like before communism.  He was thrilled when I presented him with a small koala and kangaroo pin (Australian souvenirs) to thank him for his kindness.  One of the main entrances through the wall of the old town was also the entrance to the Real Scampis Resort (hotel and bar/restaurant) and was a lovely place to view the wall and several excavated places within the wall.

We didn’t remain in Elbasan much longer as we had further to travel that day and didn’t want to be on the road too late.  As it happened, the road I chose (via our map and Map App on the smartphone) ended up being much more adventurous that I anticipated.  It probably also took longer than I had planned, but it was much more interesting than the ‘main’ road which is normally used.

The roads are reasonably well signposted (if you know the little villages that should be along the way) and so we did pretty well for the first half of the drive.  Again, the variety in roads from nicely paved, two-laned roads to dirt/stone pathways was extreme – however, the road did wind through a lovely valley very fertile and green and some of the little villages were quite cute.  We marveled at the number of unfinished concrete structures that we found out later were homes that the Albanian diaspora were building – they would save up a little money and begin construction until the money ran out and then the structure would sit there (sometimes for years) until the next injection of money took the building to the next level.  The other tradition that has been carried through since the olden days is the concept of multi-generational homes; this means that the parents engage a builder to create (usually) a three-story home.  The ground floor is completed first and the parents move in – they have their children and the second story is constructed so that as they grow, marry and have their own children, they have the second story in which to live. If there are sufficient funds and the grandchildren are still around (or if there are more children than can occupy the second story) a third story may be constructed.  What you normally see today is a large number of concrete skeletons (nothing completed) or single story structures with a lot of reinforcing bars sticking out of concrete pylons on the roof, awaiting the next floor!  It does give the perception of unfinished and untidy buildings.

We drove through an interesting part of the valley, just prior to the turnoff for Berat, which was filled with oil wells.  Thinking that these must have been used during the communist era (they were old and rusted pumps as well as many being surrounded by black oil slicks) you could still smell the crude oil in the area.  What astounded us was the cultivation entirely surrounding these oil wells, with corn, wheat and many other fruits and vegetables being grown in the oil-soaked soil.  Later, when speaking with a local in Berat, we discovered that these wells are still producing oil and were horrified to think that people eat the produce being grown in that soil!

Eventually, after a rather breath-taking descent down a limestone cobbled road into the old town of Mangalemi (Berat) we arrived at our hotel: Mangalemi Hotel.  It has been created from two old local homes and was one of the highlights of our time in Albania.  The homes have been restored and modernized (clean, modern bathrooms, comfortable beds, cable tv, etc.) but with ‘antique-style’ furnishings and a lovely handmade crocheted bedspread.  The hotel is family-owned and the staff could not have been more friendly or accommodating.  In spite of our poor eating experience at the hotel in Tirana we booked to eat at the hotel restaurant in Mangalemi – for one thing, the restaurant was on a terrace at the top of the hotel and if nothing else we would have lovely views over the town.

After freshening up we decided to take a walk through the old town and across the Osumi river to the other part of the old town. Apparently, Mangalemi was the muslim part of the city during Ottoman times, and Gorica was the orthodox, although there are mosques and churches on both sides of the river.  It was another incredibly hot day as we made our way through both old towns to gaze at the houses built up the sides of the mountains.  The area has been inhabited since the bronze age over 4000 years ago and is one of the oldest towns in Albania.  It is UNESCO heritage listed and the town is known as the “place of a thousand windows” due to the view of the houses and their windows climbing up the hillside.

Mangalemi (Berat) 

the River Osumi which runs through Berat

One of the many old houses of Mangalemi

The Citadel

A 'holy' mountain with "ENVER changed to "NEVER"

One of the beautiful icon paintings in the church of St Nicholas in the Citadel

Dinner was a wonderful experience of local dishes and a beautiful sunset and moonrise.  We were delighted, also, when there was an electricity blackout which probably inconvenienced the hotel staff but which made viewing the city by night delightful.  After dinner, with the lights back on, we made our way to the ubiquitous promenade area of town where the locals parade, sit at cafes and in the case of Berat, had an outdoor cinema set up for the local children and were playing (probably a pirated version of) the cartoon “Madagascar” in Albanian!

The next morning was to be our last day of the road trip – we wanted to visit the Citadel at Berat and as it was promising to be another scorcher of a day, we drove up to the entrance of the castle.  As we paid our entrance fee, we were approached by a young man who offered to be our guide and allow us entry into three of the numerous churches within the old city walls.  Our previous experience of local guides has been wonderful and upon discovering that he was only charging us E 10 for a 90 minute walk we agreed to his offer.

Elvis (as his name turned out to be) was amazing – he told us that he was a medical student and that this was his summer job to try and earn some money to help pay his way through medical school.  He was a fountain of knowledge and spoke excellent English, and as he showed us through three of the loveliest little churches we also quizzed him on growing up in the area.  In spite of the fact that he was studying to be a doctor there was no guarantee of a job for him at the end of this studies – he was hoping to be able to obtain a scholarship for further studies overseas but said that the competition was fierce.

In the meantime, he gave us a fabulous tour around the citadel, told us its history and the myths of the mountains surrounding Berat and made the whole experience thoroughly entertaining.   We tipped him generously (although I still felt that we didn’t pay him enough!) and went on our way, headed back to Orikum.  The drive passed quickly and we were back at the marina by late afternoon.  As we didn’t have to turn in the car until the following morning, we decided to make a short trip into Orikum to have the car cleaned (there are numerous road-side car wash places due to the amount of dust along the roads) while we had a delicious wood-fired pizza at a nearby restaurant.  The car wash and vacuum cost the equivalent of AUD $3 and the dinner of a large pizza, greek salad and two large (500mL) draft beers was less than AUD $10!  Albania was such a bargain in so many ways.

BISOU in Orikum Marina

We decided to spend another day at the marina to do laundry, give the boat a good washdown (which we hadn’t done since Tunisia) and have a break from all the travelling; Sunday morning we set off back down south, stopping again at Porto Palermo for a couple of nights at anchor (heaven, after almost two weeks in a marina), and then to Sarandë to check out and spend a last night.

Although we didn’t end up spending an entire month in Albania, it was almost three weeks – we ‘sneaked’ back into Greece at Corfu and made our way slowly back to Preveza where we checked in ‘officially’ to allow us our final 55 Schengen days!

ALBANIA: A Road Trip: Kruja and Tirana

Although the highway between Durres and Tirana is a good one (not a freeway per se) and the trip takes approximately one hour, we decided that a side trip to Kruja would be a good option on the way.  Situated high in the hills about halfway between Durres and Kruja, our Maps App on my smartphone took us up a hair-raising narrow road to the castle.  We were just grateful that only one (rather surprised) local came down the other way, and in a spot that allowed us to pass without too much shuffling over towards the cliff edge.

Kruja’s claim to fame is that it was the centre of Albanian resistance to the Ottoman invasion in the 15^th century and was the stronghold of the country’s first leader, Georgi Kastrioti also known as Skanderbey.  The castle still contains homes of locals as well as a wonderful museum almost exclusively dedicated to Skanderbey and which explains that period of history in amazing detail.  There is also a fabulous ethnographic museum with good explanations of how the layout of the homes of the merchants and the wealthier members of society worked.  It was authentically furnished with mannequins sporting local costumes and was very effective.  I also walked down to the teqe (Bektashi mosque) which was very old and sits in the shade of a large and gnarled olive tree said to have been planted by Skanderbey himself to encourage the locals to plant olives everywhere.

The Great Gjorgi Kastrioti AKA Skanderbey

The view from the Citadel of Kruja

The Teqe with the olive tree planted by Skanderbey

The felt-maker with the finished product

Outside the citadel is the ancient bazaar area – rather touristy, but well stocked with all items Albanian, should you wish to purchase souvenirs.  We stopped at a shop which sold felt items as I wanted to buy a pair of felt slippers.  On chatting with the store owner, it turned out that he was the maker of the felt and offered to demonstrate how he made them.  We mentioned that we had watched a video in the ethnographic museum of the citadel and he said that it was he and his father who had made the video but that watching in real life was much more meaningful.  Tad and I watched amazed, as he manipulated the small piece of washed and combed wool into a slipper – it was obviously strenuous work (apparently it’s a skill that only the men of a family are taught as it’s too difficult for women to do) as he was working up quite a sweat, but after about 20 minutes, he had fashioned one of a pair of slippers.  At AUD $15 for a pair of finished slippers, I felt somewhat guilty knowing how hard the man worked to produce them.  If you go to Kruja, and are in the bazaar area, I would highly recommend looking him up and asking for a demonstration (you would be somewhat obligated to buy something afterwards, of course).  His name is Ndricim Guni and his sign outside his shop shows a slipper/shoe – the shop is closer to the hotel end of the bazaar than the citadel end.

The drive to Tirana was uneventful, although the chaos of the city left both Tad (the driver) and me (the navigator) in a sweat.  Armed with my city map, as well as the Map App on my phone, we tried to find our way to the hotel I had booked – of course, none of the names of the streets matched either map and some were one-way streets (not always marked on either map), but eventually we found our way to the Green House hotel.  It was our most expensive hotel in Albania, but considering it was in the capital city, and on viewing our room, very modern and spacious, we decided that it was worth it.  The hotel restaurant also was recommended by the guide book and so we booked in for dinner that night.  There was still plenty of light, and although it was hot, we headed out for a walk to the centre of the city (a 10 minute walk away from the hotel).

The 'pyramid' memorial to Enver Hoxha

The Peace Bell with local kids

Statue of Skanderbey in the main square

The Soviet 'realist' mosaic on the National Historical Museum

The National Opera Theatre

           
                                               Peasant-style garden sheds in a nearby park

An apartment building behind our hotel

Tirana settled in the early 17^th century but was not made the capital city until 1920.  In the late 1920s, Italian planners and architects created wide boulevards, a huge square and government buildings and banks, as well as the royal palace and some embassies. During the communist era, the National Historical Museum, the Opera and the Hotel Tirana were added around the square.  On first glance, the government buildings, painted red and yellow ochre, seem to glow in the late afternoon sun and although there were obviously works going on (repairs? maintenance?) they were carefully obscured with fences and walls.  The next day, however, we saw the back sides of these buildings with faded paint, peeling and crumbling concrete and electrical wires waving in the air, no longer attached to the air conditioners and other appliances. 

We returned to the hotel for a much anticipated Italian-themed dinner and were extremely disappointed.  The food was of a very poor quality and expensive for Albania – we decided that we would  not eat there again.

Breakfast was included in the nightly rate (as it was at all the hotels in which we stayed) and although there was not a set breakfast, we could order what we wanted.  We asked what was available and the waiter mentioned omelettes so Tad and I both ordered one.  This was again rather disappointing and we were happy that we had our shakes in our room to supplement the disappointing breakfast.

We headed straight to the National Historical Museum as we planned to be there for some time.  It’s a massive structure with three floors of artefacts and displays and although most are well labeled in English, the descriptions fail in some of the most interesting (and disturbing) displays.  The ground floor is given over to the ancient artefacts and we were pleased to see items from places we had previously visited such as Butrint, Gjirokastrë, Sarandë, Apollonia, Durres and Kruja.  The next floors were dedicated to Skanderbey followed by the monarchy (King Zog was quite the suave and urbane looking gentleman – almost looked like an actor!), and then WW II.  The most disturbing of the collections was of course the times of the communist era as well as the revolution following the downfall of communism.  So many idealistic young people who lost their lives (average age was 25 years old!) fighting for their beliefs – it would have been nice to read some of the Albanian papers and displays about the incidences at this time.  Families of the ‘martyrs’ had clearly donated personal items belonging to the young people to be placed on display and this had the effect of making the victims seem all the more real.  In the end, we were in the museum for more than 3 hours and although we covered all the material, we could have spent longer.  The museum didn’t seem to have air conditioning (if it did, it wasn’t working) and the air was still and oppressive so we couldn’t stay any longer.  We made our way back to the hotel, walking through some of the smaller streets around the square and had a little ‘siesta’ before venturing out again later for a walk to a rather grand park to the south of the city.

The park was situated up a hill and so the afternoon breeze was welcome on such a hot and sticky day. It was also a great place to people-watch and as we sat on a bench near the war cemeteries of the Germans and the British, we were able to observe the locals as they walked, chatted, jogged and passed the time. 

Part of our walking around Tirana took us to the ‘Pyramid’ a building that was to have been Enver Hoxha’s mausoleum and then became a Cultural Centre.  Today it is abandoned, vandalized and a mess in the centre of the city.  Nearby is the ‘peace bell’ created, supposedly, by the collection of spent bullet casings from the 1997 uprising.  Again, these monuments are covered in graffiti and although they are located in what could be a pleasant park, there is rubbish and broken stuff everywhere.  We also walked through “The Block” area of the city, now a lively area filled with shops, bars, restaurants and young people – this was not always the case as the area was once forbidden to regular Albanians and was the territory of Enver Hoxha and his henchmen.  There is a piece of the Berlin Wall and a concrete bunker at the corner of the park at the entrance to “The Block”  which commemorate Albanian’s isolation under communism.  We saw Enver Hoxha’s home and office building which now house a café (on one side) and an English-language school (on the other).  There is nothing which identifies the house as having belonged to the dictator of Albania for so many years.

That evening we found a little local eatery and enjoyed a chicken souvlaki followed by an ice cream for a fraction of the cost of the “Italian” meal at the hotel restaurant the night before. In spite of some modern structures, Tirana is still filled with ageing buildings and rubbish – the traffic is noisy and crazy and the small stream which runs through the city smells of sewage.  While we didn’t regret visiting the city, we were glad to leave the next morning.

ALBANIA – A Road Trip: Apollonia and Durres

The road from Orikum to Vlorë, and thence to Durres and Tirana, is narrow and winding and hugs the shoreline.  It’s difficult to believe that this is one of the main routes that links Durres to Sarandë in the south, and because of the number of beach concessions between Orikum and Vlorë, the road is incredibly busy southbound in the morning, and northbound later in the afternoon.

We were fortunate in all our comings and goings, to be travelling in the opposite direction to the traffic.  This probably saved us a good deal of time as well as frustration.  We set off reasonably early and arrived in Apollonia by mid morning – it was another very hot day with temperatures in the high 30s Celcius, and we were glad to be visiting the ancient site before the weather got too hot.

Apollonia was a thriving port town about a kilometre from the Aoos River first settled in 588BC and by the middle of the 2^nd century BC (Roman conquest) it was one of the starting points of the Via Egnatia linking the Adriatic Coast with Byzantium.  According to the guide book (“Albania” by Gillian Gloyer) Apollonia “in addition to its importance as a trading and military port, the Roman elite considered Apollonia a centre of higher learning” and “the young Octavian studied there before he was given the title of Augustus”.  Interestingly, Augustus awarded Apollonia the status of a ‘free and immune city’ which meant that they didn’t have to pay taxes and were at liberty to speak Greek and use their own coins.  The city began its decline after an earthquake shifted the course of the Aoos River far to the south, thus depriving the city of the port which had been the source of its affluence.

The church at Apollonia

The remains of the municipal building in Apollonia

The small 'private' theatre for the elite

                                The view from 'Hill 104' over Apollonia and the surrounding valley

The site was excavated by Leon Rey, a French archaeologist and his team between 1924 and 1938, and later, during the 1970s by an Albanian team of archaeologists.  The site is reasonably large but very well presented with boards showing drawings of what the various ruins represented and what they might have looked like at the peak of prosperity of Apollonia.  We spent a couple of hours wandering the ruins and then stopped for a cool drink in the shade of olive trees at the top of Hill 104 (it is 104m high) which would have been the temenos in ancient times.  The site also has an extensive and very well presented museum which can be visited for a small donation.  The museum is located in part of the monastery, with its 13^th century church and 14^th century refectory; we saw some lovely frescoes and the area is generally very well preserved.

It was early afternoon by the time we left Apollonia for the drive to Durres.  Fortunately part of the road north included an actually freeway so we reached our hotel in Durres by mid afternoon, just 90 minutes later. 

Hotel Ani was one of the three hotels I researched during my planning of the road trip and it came recommended as clean, comfortable and friendly.  The young man who checked us in showed us two rooms, one of which overlooked the main street, and the other, at the back of the hotel – we chose the back-facing room for a little less noise (even though we would have no view!).  The location of the hotel was such that we were a short walk from the main promenade area of town, across the street from the archaeological museum, and a 10 minute walk to the rest of the ancient sites in the city.  Perfect!

Tad and our new 'friend' the owner of the restaurant

                                                One of the many statues around Durres

As we knew the museum would be closed the next day (many museums around the world are closed on Mondays) we went across to check the opening times for later that day and were pleased to see that we could visit between 5pm and 8pm that evening.  So it was off to the beach for a swim and a cool-down, as well as a bite to eat.

The archaeological museum, once again, was beautiful built and laid out – unfortunately there are not a great deal of explanatory descriptions of the artefacts in English (or, it seems, in Albanian, either) but at least the provenance of the items was listed as well as dates so we could see what came from Apollonia, for example or what was excavated around Durres.

We went for a stroll around the promenade after our museum visit – the local people and visitors were all out in force –buying roasted corn on the cob, fairy floss, donuts, popcorn and sunflower seeds.  Midway rides were blaring and there was even a gypsy with a small bear on a lead (awful!) who would take photos for a small fee.  It was a lovely warm evening and we enjoyed mixing with the people before finding a nice spot to have some pizza for dinner.

The next morning we walked to the amphitheatre and made our way around the ancient site in the centre of town.  Durres was an important harbour as far back as the 7^th century BC and became another of the two starting points of the Via Egnatia under Roman rule.  The amphitheatre which the Romans built was the largest in the Balkan peninsula, and is still rather well preserved.  Unfortunately the theatre is smack in the centre of town and has been built upon by some very unattractive homes – there are also some houses that are practically in ruins that should be purchased by the government and removed to extend the excavated area, in my humble opinion, but knowing how little money the government has access to, particularly for antiquities, this is unlikely to happen.  In Byzantine times, once the amphitheatre was no longer in regular use, one enterprising resident created a small chapel out of one of the galleries and there are still some lovely mosaics on the walls. 

The amphitheatre at Durres

The main square at Durres

One of the many mosaics around the city

Hotel Ani

The beach concession to the north of Durres

One of the leftover bunkers on the shoreline

View of Durres from the Tower Bar

We continued our wandering through downtown Durres to the main square which is modern and bright, to the old city walls, and the forum and baths thought to date to the 5^th century AD.  There are also a number of Ottoman buildings scattered around this part of the city which we managed to locate on our wanderings.  We did not drive out to King Zog’s former palace as it is closed to visitors.

That afternoon, we drove a short distance north (about 30 minutes) to a more isolated and clean beach for the afternoon.  It was another steaming hot day and we were grateful for an umbrella and sunbeds on which to relax in between dips in the ocean.  In the evening, we mounted the narrow steps of the Tower Bar in town and enjoyed margaritas with a lovely view over the city.