2017 Albania

The number of museum and exhibitions in Vienna is overwhelming. And so it the number of tourists. With so little time here, we had to make choices. We decided to go to the Austrian Museum of Applied and Modern Art (MAK) in the morning. It turned out to be a great choice – a fantastic museum with a good mix of exhibits from their permanent collection of 18th-19th century design, arts and crafts, including some great art nouveau items, and several very contemporary exhibitions as part of the 2017 Vienna Biennale. The way the exhibitions/objects were installed was very innovative and most impressive, e.g. the art nouveau chairs were first presented as shadows from behind a screen and a beautiful collection of Persian rugs was suspended on thin wires as a reference to silk threads produced by silk worms. The Biennale exhibitions were also extremely interesting and thought-provoking. One was called “Hello Robot. Design Between Human and Machine”, and included fascinating examples of modern ...

After breakfast we took a narrated city tour on a hop-on-hop-off bus. It had two separate routes covering different parts of the city. The second tour we took, we got off at Schönbrunn Palace, which is a former imperial summer residence. The 1,441-room baroque palace is an architectural wonder, and a huge tourist attraction. We decided not to visit the palace because its size overwhelmed us so just walked around the beautiful gardens and admired it from the outside. Our next stop was the two Belvedere palaces, the upper and the lower palace, which were built in the early eighteenth century. There they house the largest collection of Klimt works. We saw their permanent collection with the room of Klimt most famous painting jammed with people. The famous painting “The Kiss” is so popular that they actually put a copy of it in a separate room so people can take pictures of themselves with the painting there -- there is even a sign that says “copy for selfies”. We also saw a special ex...

After breakfast and a walk along the beach (not very nice) we left the wonderful Palace hotel for the airport. The airport is nice. After a short flight we arrived at Vienna around 6 pm. Quite a contrast from Albania. Our 5 star hotel (Sans Souci) is nice. After some raki we set out to explore. We walked through Hofburg to St. Stephan’s cathedral and many shopping streets. We ended up in Augustiner Keller, a restaurant near the Albertina museum for a traditional meal of wiener schnitzel and fantastic apple strudel. We can check this off the list now. Then walked back to the hotel for a nightcap.

Left the hotel and took a circuitous route to Apollonia. It is an amazing archeological site covering 100 acres. Originally a Greek city from 400 BCE then a large Roman city from 300 AD. At its peak, it had about 50,000 inhabitants, and Julius Cesar visited it. The major excavation was done by a French archaeologist from 1924 to 1936. The Albanian govt. is not funding additional excavations and only 1% has been unearthed. The number of artifacts in the museum numbers in the thousands. We then drove to a national park which is a wetland preserve. It is famous for its large number of Dalmatian pelicans and its ferocious mosquitoes. Many places for outdoor lunch but we insisted on sitting indoors. Bo found it memorable for her lunch selection of eel, which is a local specialty. The eels were small and grilled whole. After cutting off the heal and tails, you just eat the meat around the spine. Very tasty (Al didn’t think so and had a pizza). From there we drove to Durres, our fina...

We left in the morning and drove to Himare. Then to old Himare up a steep hill. We walked up to th ruins of the castle and church, and great views of the coast. Then back on the coastal road going north with more up and down serpentines and spectacular views. Julian suggested we take short detour to a monastery with fantastic views so we drove a one-lane road to a small parking area with a bunch of cars, We thought they were there for the monastery, but a parking woman said they were there for a great beach down below. We then walked for about 15 min in hot sun to a very picturesque monastery, but it was closed and the whole area was locked so we couldn’t even see the view. Then we continued on the same picturesque road to Dhermi beach where we stopped right by the beach for a short coffee break. Dhermi is a lovely village spread over a hillside with the old historic part at the top and the new, beachy part at the bottom. It’s past the beach season so most of the restaurants and cafes ...

After breakfast at our hotel, which consisted of a large bowl of delicious yogurt, bread, butter and homemade jam, and the best coffee we’ve had in Albania so far, we embarked on the way to visit Butrind, about 15 minutes south of Ksamil. Butrind is a very interesting archaeological site dating back to the 4th century BC when it was established as an important port and town. It thrived during the Greek and Roman times, the medieval times and then it became abandoned and forgotten. It was rediscovered in the 1920s, then forgotten again, and finally an Albanian archaeologist started excavations in 1956. Right now about 30% is uncovered, including some very interesting and well preserved structures like the Greek amphitheater, the agora, the temple, etc. We joined a group with an English speaking guide so we got a very good tour. From Butrind we drove to Qeparo, our next destination. The drive is spectacular – a very winding serpentine road up and down the mountains with the Ionian see on...

We left Gjirokastra in the morning. We had to cross mountainous passes and got to Blue Eye which is a water spring and natural phenomenon. The water from the deep spring appears very blue and the surrounding water is green. From there we went to an old monastery ruins. Then on to our hotel destination in the village of Ksamil (hotel Arturi – not recommended) which is right on the beach. We walked to the town center and found a place (Guvat) for lunch with a beautiful view of the coast and a string of little islands between the Albanian mainland and Corfu. The food was great. As we were walking along the beach promenade, we were appalled by the state of this beautiful place – unfinished construction sites(100s of large hotels 50 – 80% complete, garbage dumped by the side, lampposts lying on the walkway because of shoddy construction… Such a shame. Back at our beach we got into lounge chairs to read. The wind was howling, the waves large, and the sun brutal. We found shade but cou...

Gjirokastra. This city is a gem. The historic old part is on the mountain with very narrow steep streets. Two cars cannot pass and one is always backing up to let the other by. Some of the turns from one street to the intersecting one is so sharp they have to make a broken turn. And small buses still get around. Walking is not easy either because the stones are very polished and slippery, and uneven too so you can easily slide and fall. We walked to a historical traditional Gjirokastra house (Skenduli) and got a nice tour from the owner (9th generation) in French. The house is huge with 4 levels, 9 fireplaces, 6 bathrooms and water collection system as well as openings in walls to shoot the invaders. Then we walked in the rain to the house of the famous writer, Kadare, and then to the castle. The castle/fortress is impressive and contains many WWII weaponry (German and Italian artillery and a tank) and an American air force jet forced down in the 70s. We then drove to an archeolo...

After breakfast we braved the sun and went for a walk. First we walked up a very narrow and steep street to the houses on the hillside. From below we saw a Byzantine church very high up on the hill and thought that maybe we could get there, but there was no way. Then we decided to check out the abandoned University in the center of the new town. The university building is probably the largest and most opulent building in town. It was built to house a private university, but the government closed the university and the building is now vacant. What a shame! We then started our long drive to Gjirokastra. It is a very unusual city. The historical part is on mountain side and the new part is down on the flat land. We are staying in the historical district. The very steep, narrow, cobblestone streets are indescribable.. The old city dates back to the 13th century. The houses are built of grey stone and have grey slate roofs, and it looks like they are almost on top of each other. Some ...

We left Tirana and started our drive. The destination was Berat. The city was founded 4000 years ago and is a UNESCO site. There were no signs showing the way and our driver had to ask twice. We went through agricultural areas and industrial areas including an enormous steel mill built by the Chinese in the 60s, then abandoned and now partially restored by a Turkish company. When we finally emerged out of the wilderness, there was this large picturesque town built on two hillsides separated by a river. Berat is a very popular tourist destination (which nobody has heard of) and there were several tour buses from Germany and Italy. Our hotel (Mangalemi) is on a small stone road. It’s in a lovely old stone house. After we checked in, our driver took us up the narrow stone road to the castle. The stones are white, flat and very slippery. The car lost traction after stopping to allow a downhill car to squeeze past. What they call a castle is actually a fortress or a citadel. It ...

After breakfast we took a drive to Kruja. It is a small, historical town high up in the mountain. It was the center of resistance against the Ottoman empire in the 15th century, which was led by the national hero of Albania – Skandenberg. There is a castle there, and a couple of museums. There is also a very attractive restored old market, a collection of shops with all kinds of handicrafts. When we got to Kruja, lots of streets were closed because the NATO group was visiting. Luckily, our driver Julian does contract work for the Albanian ministry of defense and has the ministry id, which allowed us to pass and park close to the castle. Kruja is also a center of Baktashism, a form of Sufi Islam popular in Albania. It’s a very liberal form of Islam, which does not prohibit drinking alcohol and doesn’t require women to cover up. After visiting the castle and the museums and shopping at the market, we drove about 30 minutes to a farm for lunch. The owner gave us a tour. There are ...