Art and Architecture--Venice and Albania, May 2024. Part 2.

This is Part 2. Read Part 1 first. 

Friday (continued).

We were flying with Wizz Air, one of the low cost airlines that are all over Europe. They charge a ridiculously low price for the ticket and then get you with the extras—baggage, seats, reservations, etc. I had tried to check in online, clicking on the link in the email from them with no success. The message was ‘not found.’ I knew that they charged also for checking in at the airport, but what could I do? We tried to tell our story to no avail. We had to pay 40 euros for each of us, and then the airport got a 10 euro cut. It is all a scam. I was so mad and determined to press my case later with screen shots I had saved, but when I got back I decided not to pursue it. It didn’t seem worth the hassle. I’m quite sure they count on that!

The "not found" message I got
on the website

Our first view of Albania--from the air

We got to Tirana airport (named for Mother Teresa, a native Albanian), got some LEK (their currency—many places do not take cards), and met the guy from the car rental place. A condition of this itinerary was that Glenna would do the driving—I’m not driving overseas anymore; I’m just too nervous. She said then I had to navigate—fine with me. We did the paperwork and were on our way—probably less than a mile—to our hotel. We got a Hyundai SUV. I like to get a slightly larger car, but when parking places are small or roads are narrow (as in the UK), it’s not an advantage.

Our Hyundai Tucson

We were soon on our way to dinner at an outdoor restaurant where we ate with the bunnies who hopped around. This day of not doing a whole lot was 11,096 steps.

These bunnies stayed around for
our entire dinner

Saturday. After a breakfast omelet, we were off to Berat. We had a few small waits in traffic, but the roads were quite good. We were soon out of the built-up area and into the mountains, but not the treacherous mountains that I had read about in some blogs and feared. Along the way we saw plenty of abandoned buildings, probably from the ugly Communist era.

There are always pretty flowers 
for us to take pictures of.

At Berat, we went directly to the castle above the town. It was begun in the 4th c BC; what we see today is from the 13th c. It was free which was nice and had lots of steep ups and downs. It was quite extensive with lots of homes (still occupied) and buildings because once upon a time it served as a fortress for townspeople fleeing invaders. We saw the Red Mosque tower, the White Mosque ruins, the Citadel with walls and an ancient water cistern, and the lovely Holy Trinity Church nestled on the side of the mountain—all UNESCO World Heritage structures. Wonderful views all around.

View from the castle toward the mountains

Part of the castle grounds--we could tramp all over

Another view from the castle of the city and mountains beyond

I love the persistence of nature

View of roof tiles and tower

Castle street

Red mosque chimney

Nice crenellated wall

Snails nestled in the wall

Ancient cistern entrance

Glenna got down into the cistern to take this view

More persistence of nature--when plants
can embed in the rock and put our blooms

Glenna in front of the beautiful Holy Trinity Church

Another view of the church

Another castle street

There were plenty of rug shops, one of the top buys in Albania. We had lunch in one of the restaurants overlooking the mountains in the distance and then went back down to the town for some pretty harrowing driving—narrow streets and cars parked everywhere as is typical in Europe.

We found our hotel, but there was no place to park. When we have a car, we always pick a hotel that advertises that they have parking. This one did not. When I reminded him that he had listed parking on booking.com, he mumbled something about street parking, none of which was to be found. He felt bad enough that he called a friend and got us a place in a private lot way down the hill (this place was pretty far up the side of the mountain where the castle is). We dropped our bags and set off walking.

The great view from Hotel Aleksander

We always manage to find a cat

We stopped at a few tourist stops, experienced the famous cobblestones, had a coffee stop and later a wine stop. Berat is divided by the Osum River. We were on the Mangalum side and looked across the river at the Gorica side with its wonderful old Ottoman architecture. We crossed the Old Bridge to walk among the houses and then back over to visit Boulevard Republika, much hyped but which is actually a park where Albanians were strolling, sitting and watching their children on the playground equipment.

Glenna on a pretty Berat street.

Flowers on the bannister

Looking back up the Mangalum side of the
river at Holy Trinity Church and the castle above

Jasmine was everywhere and Glenna loved it

The Ottoman houses on the Gorica side of the river

I thought this stairway was absolutely
ingenious--steps and a ramp in one. 
Now why don't we do that?

Park at Blvd Republika

Pretty Berat street--very typical

We had thought we would eat somewhere on Blvd Republika but found it too touristy and instead found a second-floor restaurant overlooking the river and right next door to a mosque. We got huge salads, something tiropita-like, a warm olives and cheese dish and ended with a complementary vodka-like shot. Whew! The walk back up the mountain to our hotel wasn’t as bad as I had feared. 11,124 steps, some of them taxing.

The mosque right next door to the restaurant

Old frescos on the mosque wall

Gorica at night

The Old Bridge across the Osum River at night

Sunday. Breakfast on the terrace overlooking the city below was huge—eggs, ham, cheese, tomatoes, pastries, strawberries, juice and tea—and more we didn’t eat. We retrieved our car and got yelled at for stopping along the street back at the hotel to retrieve our bags; we finally got through that we weren’t parking, only picking up bags.

Breakfast on the terrace at Hotel Aleksander

The roads on the way to Gjirokaster, our next mountain destination (and another UNESCO World Heritage site), were very good, even sometimes 4-lane. We stopped for more strawberries, just choosing one stand over many others. We were obviously in the farm belt; we saw huge greenhouses for many miles. 

Greenhouses along our route

Fruit stand where we got more 
delicious strawberries

Another stop was a pretty one, along the Vjosa River which is part of a national park, as the sign told us. We stopped whenever we saw some pretty scenery that we wanted to capture.

A single beautiful bloom

Glenna off to get a good shot of the river

Vjosa River and National Park

Here we are with the river behind us

The Albanian flag which we saw everywhere

We came across these goats on the mountainside

Lots of mountains and a few rivers as we drove 

Plenty of greenery on the mountains

And another river

In Gjirokaster we had no idea how to get to the hotel we had booked and so called the number we had. He told Glenna to open her What’s App app and turn the camera on. He directed us by my holding it up so that he could see where we were! I was amazed. 

This time we actually had a parking space, and the hotel was very cute. We couldn’t decide what it had been once upon a time, but our room had a stone barrel ceiling with a very high window. Gjirokaster is called Stone City. That’s what they had around there for building material, I’m sure.

Our room in Konaku House in Gjirokaster--can
you tell that a man probably decorated this room??
We only saw men running the hotels.

We sat on the terrace for a bit to eat our very sweet strawberries and then set off down the hill (again we are up high close to the castle on top of the mountain) to find lunch. We ate next door to a mosque again and quite liked what we had—qifqi and vegetable soup and bread. Qifqi are fried rice balls and are a Gjirokaster specialty.

Strawberries and our view of the town

Glenna on the terrace at our hotel

Qifqi and soup at Check-in Restaurant

We visited their famous bazaar for awhile but decided we should get to the Zekate House which was the main site I wanted to visit. And it was worth it—despite the incredibly steep and long climb to get up to it. It is an Ottoman-era house of someone who obviously was wealthy. It was huge and on several floors and absolutely stunning (of course, Glenna and I love Islamic styles, architecture and furnishings—in this case lace and rugs and cushioned benches and fireplaces and tracery everywhere).

One street of the bazaar

Looking back down the mountain as we climbed

Zekate House

A room in Zekate House

Another room

And another--there were many more

This is the main room with the elaborate fireplace and 
decorated walls and ceilings

Painted wall in the main room

Elaborate ceiling in the main room

After coming back down from the top, we had a lemon soda on the very pleasant terrace. Going back down the mountain was of course much easier than going up. I noted the distance on my watch and was shocked to discover it was only half a mile. Going up felt like miles.

Glenna relaxing on the terrace

It was definitely easier going back down

We went back to the bazaar and had a wonderful couple of hours scouting the shops in addition to stopping for an ice cream and later for wine and raki (their local drink which we had to try). Later we had dinner including a good tave kosi dish (lamb with rice and yogurt in a casserole). Then it was back up to our hotel. That day was 9305 very difficult steps.

Another street of the bazaar

Dinner outside 

Gjirokaster from Konaku House at night

Monday. After another nice breakfast, we set off downhill with no help this time. It was not fun with the cars parked all over the place and the narrow, winding streets. But we soon got on a good road though still very up and down through the mountains for our next destination, The Blue Eye, one of the must-do visits in Albania. 

We started on a 2-kilometer hike from the parking lot, up and down, to get to the Blue Eye which I hadn’t been expecting. Midway through we saw a shuttle! You can bet we took it back. The Blue Eye is an area of pools of crystal clear water that appear blue because of natural chemicals—some places a prettier blue than others. Glenna quite liked it; I didn’t think it was worth the hype.

Terrain along the way to the Blue Eye

Lots of yellow flowers on this part of the trip

Always lots of other flowers too
here and there

Waters of the Blue Eye

More Blue Eye waters

And really blue

We continued on to Sarande/Ksamil which is a beach area along the confluence of the Adriatic and Ionian Seas and which accounts for much of the increased interest in Albania as a tourist destination. Traffic in Sarande was terrible (though this was not beach season yet), but we were lucky to find a parking spot and a nearby-lunch spot overlooking the water. We had a good lunch of caprese salad and linguine with seafood to share. (We shared most meals which worked out well.)

Caprese salad and pasta with seafood

Glenna had found what was described as an apartment up a very windy road on a hill overlooking the water in Sarande. It was quite inexpensive (even less than the already reasonable places where we had stayed previously), but it turned out to be a brand new place which wasn’t ready for prime time. Bedrooms had beds, and one had a wardrobe and the other a chair. Public area had a rudimentary kitchen (used stuff, not matching) and a table and chairs. Bathroom was pretty good. Outside there were piles of dirt. Not where I would choose to stay, but we did. We enjoyed the view at least.

We soon left to get to Butrint National Park, another very hyped Albanian site. This one I thought deserved the hype. It is a set of ruins built from the 8th c BC to the late Middle Ages encompassing Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman cultures and our third UNESCO World Heritage site. According to legend the ancient city was founded by exiles who left Troy after its fall. Amazingly (for how extensive it is), it was only uncovered in 1928-30 by an Italian archaeologist Luigi Maria Ugolini. Among the ruins were a Temple to Asclepius, god of medicine. During Roman times it was part of the Roman province of Macedonia and established by Julius Caesar no less. During this period temples, forums, fountains, baths, a gymnasium (with a famous mosaic floor only uncovered once in awhile and not when we were there—I was disappointed) and villas as well as a new water supply were built. In the 5th c Butrint became an episcopal residence which included a baptistery, a basilica and several other churches. In the 19th c Ali Pasha built a fortress to gain protection from the French in what had become a fishing settlement. Later the area came under Ottoman control. We tramped around most of the site for a couple of hours on the well laid-out paths, noting the structures from all those settlements.

Remains of the 4th c BC chapel and theatre

Greek inscription on the wall

Remains of the Roman baths

Glenna on one of the nicely-laid-out paths

Remains of a fresco in the Roman gymnasium

Walls and floor of the 6th c basilica

Mosaic floor in the basilica

Decoration on the outer wall of the basilica

View of the basilica from outside

On the way back to the apartment we decided to stop at the beach in Ksamil, the area to the south of Sarande. We walked down to the water, and Glenna put her feet in. We went back up to a bar for ice cream and wine. Later Glenna walked up to a market to get some provisions for breakfast. We had dinner just across the road from the bar where we shared chicken soup and salmon with potato and veg. Today was 11,146 steps, mostly flat!

Tuesday. Today was beach day! We put on our suits and coverups and went back to the beach we had visited on Monday. We first rented a kayak for an hour and paddled around the harbor and an island nearby. I had only kayaked once before and that was in separate boats in Ha Long Bay in Vietnam. Of course, I was a lot younger then. I tried very hard to keep coordinated with Glenna’s strokes. I did all right despite my complaining which probably dampened Glenna’s enthusiasm. (I think that I am now too focused on silly fears--such as not driving there or, in this case, getting too far from shore.) We got out on the sandy beach of the island and walked around just a bit and then paddled back. I’m glad we did it.

View of Sarande from our apartment in the morning

Kayaking in Ksamil harbor looking toward the island

Another view of the island--and Glenna's feet

The two of us on the island

We had lunch nearby—a whole cod and chips. Pretty good. Then we claimed two chairs and sat on the beach for several hours. I slept some and read a lot. We were alone among hundreds of chairs most of the time until a really noisy and profane British family group came and plopped down right by us—one of them actually apologized to me after one tirade. We had a welcome shower back at our apartment after visiting another grocery market

Glenna at our lunch spot on Ksamil beach

Our whole cod and chips

This time Glenna found a dog to pet

Ksamil beach where we spent a few pleasant hours

Glenna found a place for dinner which was on top of a very steep hill up a road which was not like the good ones we had traveled on previously. All I could think of as we were going up was that I didn’t want to go back down in the dark—another silly fear. We had chicken soup and shrimp risotto with a half liter of wine (and I restricted Glenna’s portion), all overlooking the water below. We got back just fine. Only 5274 steps today, but it was a fun day.

Pretty blooming cacti

The beach we overlooked at dinner

First course of dinner at Pulbardha Restaurant 

View from our apartment at night

Wednesday. After consuming the rest of our breakfast purchases we set off for the north, a 4-hour drive but for us interrupted several times for photo stops. Also lunch at an out-of-the-way place near Fier, a new place which was obviously primarily used for weddings and where we were the only guests. The menu was limited; we had white cheese with olives and cucumbers and a lot of rather tough but tasty beef. No veg offered with the meat. The owner seemed very pleased that we had come, and I was happy to please him.

Mama cat and her three kittens at our apartment

Communist-era bunker along our route--more on them later

 

Lunch at Aleksandr Restaurant

The views along the way were nice at first as we drove along the mountains, but farther north it got more industrial and thus boring.

Flowers with the mountains beyond 

Lots of clouds on our trip north

Another pretty river

Typical half-finished building--we saw them all over

In the Tirane area we missed an exit and had to spend a couple of miles in traffic to get back to the right road. Glenna was getting frustrated because it was a long trip; she just wanted to get to Kruje, a town north of the capital. Once again it was a city on a mountain (should have known that because it has a castle) with narrow roads and cars all over. We also had to detour because of a road closure but eventually were directed by our trusty Google maps to the bazaar area—the reason we went there as their bazaar is touted as the best one in the country. 

The bazaar was a good one though you definitely tend to see the same things over and over. Glenna got a tile which had been on her list, two more rugs (foldable—we got it all back okay), and a bowl. We stopped in the afternoon for a drink at a bar, sitting on the very edge of the mountain, and then had dinner nearby. Glenna had lentil soup and pizza, and I had tave dheu--liver and rice baked in a yogurt sauce and served in the piping hot casserole dish. Wonderful. Variations are lamb or beef or vegetables. I wanted that recipe.

Kruje bazaar

Glenna probably checking a photo

View down the mountain from the bar

Here I am with my drink

And here is Glenna at the bazaar

Glenna's pizza and my tave dheu at
Panorama restaurant which overlooked the bazaar

Then we had to go back down the mountain and get back to the airport area to return our rental car. All went smoothly, and we were soon back at the hotel we’d stayed at on the first night. We had a drink in the bar where Glenna could watch the Orioles game. Lots of driving so only 3533 steps. That night I got a sore throat.

Thursday. I got up with the sore throat but managed strawberries, egg, roll with butter and cocoa for breakfast. We walked down to the airport and got a bus for Tirane. The journey was typical city outskirts, not very interesting. We were dropped right in the heart of the city where the sites we wanted to see were. We tried to get into the nearby mosque but were just too late because of prayers coming up.

Et'hem Bej mosque

Nice facade of the mosque

Instead we visited Bunk’Art. There are bunkers all over Albania, above ground and below ground, large ones for government types as this one was as well as small ones for families--a manifestaton of the citizens' obsession with fears of one kind or another during the Communist years. This one was meant for government functionaries below the level of the dictator Enver Hoxha. Amazing (to me) was that I do not remember his name though he ruled from 1944 to 1985. His bunker was farther out, but we confined our visit to this one. It’s a real symbol for them; every souvenir shop has miniature bunkers (and I got one).

The Bunk'Art bunker entrance

This bunker is now a museum. It has art in the name because they consider the displays to be art; some I would agree and some I wouldn’t agree. It tells the history of the police force from 1945 to 1991. At first it just seemed factual and low key. Eventually though the text got darker, detailing all the abuses under Hoxha and the secret police. There were displays of instruments and animals of torture and the methods used for spying and repression. There were quotes about not forgetting the past and videos from survivors telling about how they were forced to live. It was quite chilling and quite effective. Obviously they don’t have good memories of Communist occupation. I was saddened when I left.

Something to remember no matter where you live

Display depicting the guard dog training

Poster showing where bugs were planted in homes

Frame from a video of a woman telling
her story of how much fear they lived in
during the Hoxha reign

Communist propaganda justifying
deprivation of liberty--all in the name
of the people, of course

Artistic display of the names of those
who were put to death during this time

Above ground we walked along a pleasant pedestrian walkway to a lovely outdoor traditional restaurant where I had the tave dheu again (not quite as good) and Glenna had the qifqi which were delicious. We also had a dessert since there are loads of Albanian sweets that we had read about but hadn’t been trying. We had a cornbread cake soaked in syrup. Very good.

Tirane street

Tave dheu and qifqi at Oda Garden

Cornbread cake soaked in syrup

The charming Oda Garden

We walked over to the Pyramid, a Tirane landmark, built as a monument to Hoxha but now used for other purposes. Lots of people were walking to the top. It was a looong way; I just looked from the bottom. On the way we saw a large mosque but didn’t try to go in. Most mosques are not open to any but the faithful. A few do allow others, and they never fail to awe me in their simplicity and beauty.

The large Namazgah mosque

The very long ascent to the top of the pyramid--
which I didn't do!

Cute panda sculpture on the pyramid plaza

After that walk Glenna found a nice raki bar because we wanted to try a blackberry raki. They didn’t have that flavor, so I had cherry. It didn’t taste very much like cherry though I got a whiff of it, but it was strong as they are always 40 or 50 percent alcohol. Raki is more or less a brandy. Glenna had one that was honey and cinnamon; that was nice. It was fun to sample them.

The very busy but intriguing Komiteti bar

Our raki drinks ar Komiteti bar

We tried again to go in the mosque we had seen in the morning but were turned away again—they were preparing for afternoon prayers. So we went to another bar on the pedestrian street where I had an Aperol spritz to wait.

Finally we could get into the mosque about 5:20. Strangely, prayers were still going on, but we were allowed to go in. We were very discrete though we couldn’t help but get photographs because it was breathtakingly beautiful, every inch decorated with swirly paint. It was small but very charming.

Looking up toward the dome of the Et'hem Bej mosque

Wall decoration of the mosque

Inside of the dome

The minbar where the imam stands
in leading the prayers

The mihrab, the niche that indicates the
direction to Mecca

And the beautiful carpet that always covers the
floor of a mosque (often it is patterned in such
a way that each person has his own space)

That’s really all there was to do in Tirane other than take a look at the very large and iconic Skanderbeg Square. 

The large and not all that impressive  
Skanderberg Square

So we had a fairly quick dinner of tagliatelle with shrimp before taking the bus back to the airport and walking back to the hotel because we had to get packing. I had brought compression bags for Glenna’s clothes because I knew she would be buying lots of things, some largish (3 rugs). We had to get to bed early because our flight was at 5:35. 12,188 steps.

My scant purchases--a Biennale shirt, earrings,
spaghetti herbs, ceramic bowl and pot, 
two magnets and a little cat

Glenna's more extensive purchases--always lots
of colors and patterns for both of us

Friday. Going home day and what a journey it was—from Tirane to Rome to Venice to Toronto to DC. In Rome we had a chocolate bun and a cocoa/latte. By now I was coughing like crazy. We were late leaving Venice, and this was the long flight—9 hours. I slept some but also watched About Time—charming—and most of Notting Hill again. I had some more hot chocolate in Toronto even though Glenna said it wasn’t good for congestion. In DC we got a shuttle to the Westin in Crystal City. I was given a free wine and dessert in celebration of my birthday the next day. 10,125 steps just walking through airports. 

Saturday. Part 2 of going home day where we really went home. I woke up at 3 and never really got back to sleep because of all the coughing and congestion. The hotel clerk said Happy Birthday as we left. My watch gave me a Happy Birthday also--and with balloons. Glenna had brought along one of my gifts, a pair of pretty earrings. (The rest of my Mother’s Day and birthday gifts came on June 9 when Glenna came up from Columbia.) We had breakfast at the airport and then had to get to our respective gates. It’s always hard to leave my favorite travel companion. I got a call from Denny as I waited and a text from Martha, so already it was a pretty good birthday and birthday eve. Rick and Doris picked me up at GSP. I slept for almost all of the next three days. My cough/runny nose lasted for weeks through two weeks of early voting and two weeks of Chautauqua. Gradually it subsided. 

A trip stays with me for weeks afterward as bits and pieces come to mind. In writing this blog, I start with naming all the photos, then by writing the text, then choosing the pictures to put in the blog and then uploading it piece by piece to the website. It takes a long time, so I was in Venice and Albania for weeks. I often go back in my mind to past trips, remembering some incident or some purchase or some wonderful site or some person with whom we interacted or some difficulty which we overcame. That’s the principal benefit of travel--the widening of your horizons--and I would recommend it to anyone.