Albania:
Cities and Ruins
July 2015
The Mediterranean beaches of Albania are mostly rocky.
The two lines of sticks crossing this inlet are sitting on the submerged ruins of two Roman aqueducts.
Slept out under the stars here in this olive grove. And swam in the morn.
A cable ferry.
60% of the population is Muslim, 7% Orthodox Christian, and 10% Catholic (Mother Teresa was Albanian).
Crossing the border on foot from Greece with a couple of locals.
The town of Berat, a UNESCO site for Byzantine and Ottoman history.
13th cent. Byzantine church.
When a horse is painted in the manner of an Orthodox icon.
A 14th cent. Byzantine cistern still functioning in a ruined fortress.
In the National History Museum: the clothes worn by victims shot and killed while trying to escape Communist Albania. Pictures and personal details were provided. This was maybe the most moving display on Communist oppression I've seen in Central/Eastern Europe.
Itinerary: One week of solo travel busing and hitching around:
- from the Greek/Albania border crossing at Kakavia
- to Saranda beach town
- to the Greco-Roman ruins at Butrint
- to Ksamil beach
- to Vlore city
- to Berat town (a UNESCO Heritage Site for Byzantine and Ottoman history)
- to the capital Tirana.
- to Saranda beach town
- to the Greco-Roman ruins at Butrint
- to Ksamil beach
- to Vlore city
- to Berat town (a UNESCO Heritage Site for Byzantine and Ottoman history)
- to the capital Tirana.