This blog is coming from Gjirokaster in Southern Albania. We are staying in a traditional, authentic Ottoman house with the loveliest lady owner. We are coming to the end of our Albania stint and will be sad to leave the country and especially the friendly, hospitable people.
We spent longer than we'd planned up the mountains of Valbonne. We stayed at a brilliant place which is run by an American lady and her Albanian husband. Katherine came to visit Valbone 5 years ago and fell in love with the place and her husband to be, Alfred. She sold her bookshop in Brooklyn and moved to Albania permanently. The two of them have created a brilliant set up in the mountains of a hostel, alpine lodge and more expensive chalet hotel. The electricity was hit and miss and the wifi non-existent but it really made it all the better. Every morning Katherine made breakfast for us including homemade bread, local cheese and butter, homemade jams, fresh eggs and sausage- brilliant. We met a really nice crowd of like minded travellers up there so passed the electricity blackouts with chats and chess.
On our second day Yon and I ventured out for a hike. The scenery was absolutely beautiful- probably the best Autumnal colours I have ever seen. However, I confirmed what I suspected to be true, having hiked Kota Kinabalu in Borneo, I am not a hiker! It was 3 hours pretty much continuous steep hill hiking- the only things that made it bearable for me were the scenery, a singing local man with a donkey and the welcoming family at the top of the hike who took us in for coffee. I spent the next day reading at the lodge in front of a gorgeous warm wood burner whilst Yonna went off with some of the other avid hikers :-) We were sad to leave this place but had to get an early bus to the capital city, Tirana.
Again, because of the roads, we had to travel into Kosovo from the mountains and back out to Albania to reach the capital. After a long day we arrived in Tirana and went out for some dinner. There isn't too much to see in the city but it has a really cool vibe- lots of hustle and bustle and night life. We ate a great Albanian mixed tasting plate which was delicious. The next day we went to the museum (unfortunately mostly in Albanian) and visited a pyramid shaped Communist building. That night we ventured out for a mixed grill on which the chef had piped 'Welcome & Thank you' in mustard!
Our next stop was Berat- named the 'town of thousand windows' due to all the Ottoman houses built into the hills. We stayed in another great hostel and spent our full day there climbing up to the UNESCO protected castle and enclosed town on the top of the hill. There is a nice promenade that the locals ritualistically walk up and down every night and always men fishing in the river. After a couple of chilled days here, and a small celebration for my CELTA result coming in, we moved on to Gjirokaster, where we are now.
Gjirokaster is another town built into the mountains and is one of my favourite places so far. Being on top of a hill, the locals must be incredibly fit as they climb up and down the very steep, cobbled roads every day. We even walked with a lady who must have been in her late 80s trying to make sure she didn't slip- pretty sure she knew how to scale these hills better than us! Yesterday we climbed up to the castle, one of the best preserved in the Balkans. It was impressively big and included an American 'Spy Plane' which accidentally landed here during Communist times. The info stressed that the pilot made it home alive. We also visited an intact Ottoman era house and were guided around by the 9th generation of the family that owned the house which gave us a great insight. It was really beautiful and pretty luxurious.
The only drawback has been the rain here- last night was a torrential storm with banging thunder and lightning. Despite the dark clouds this morning, we set off on a day trip to Butrint, a little further South near the Greek border. It is a settlement on an island surrounded by a beautiful lake. They have found evidence of inhabitants as early as 12th century BC. There are ruins from the Hellenistic inhabitants and later the Romans, including an amphitheatre and public baths. There is also a Christian basilica and the most intact and elaborate mosaic in the world (apparently) dating from the 6th century AD (which unfortunately they keep covered for protection). People who are interested in Greek and Roman history (Ellie G!) would really love it there I am sure. After a great day wondering around the ruins we are back in Gjirokaster, where it's stopped raining, and are going to grab some dinner. Tomorrow we head for Kalambaka to start our unplanned detour into Greece and would totally recommend anyone to take a trip to Albania.
We spent longer than we'd planned up the mountains of Valbonne. We stayed at a brilliant place which is run by an American lady and her Albanian husband. Katherine came to visit Valbone 5 years ago and fell in love with the place and her husband to be, Alfred. She sold her bookshop in Brooklyn and moved to Albania permanently. The two of them have created a brilliant set up in the mountains of a hostel, alpine lodge and more expensive chalet hotel. The electricity was hit and miss and the wifi non-existent but it really made it all the better. Every morning Katherine made breakfast for us including homemade bread, local cheese and butter, homemade jams, fresh eggs and sausage- brilliant. We met a really nice crowd of like minded travellers up there so passed the electricity blackouts with chats and chess.
On our second day Yon and I ventured out for a hike. The scenery was absolutely beautiful- probably the best Autumnal colours I have ever seen. However, I confirmed what I suspected to be true, having hiked Kota Kinabalu in Borneo, I am not a hiker! It was 3 hours pretty much continuous steep hill hiking- the only things that made it bearable for me were the scenery, a singing local man with a donkey and the welcoming family at the top of the hike who took us in for coffee. I spent the next day reading at the lodge in front of a gorgeous warm wood burner whilst Yonna went off with some of the other avid hikers :-) We were sad to leave this place but had to get an early bus to the capital city, Tirana.
Again, because of the roads, we had to travel into Kosovo from the mountains and back out to Albania to reach the capital. After a long day we arrived in Tirana and went out for some dinner. There isn't too much to see in the city but it has a really cool vibe- lots of hustle and bustle and night life. We ate a great Albanian mixed tasting plate which was delicious. The next day we went to the museum (unfortunately mostly in Albanian) and visited a pyramid shaped Communist building. That night we ventured out for a mixed grill on which the chef had piped 'Welcome & Thank you' in mustard!
Our next stop was Berat- named the 'town of thousand windows' due to all the Ottoman houses built into the hills. We stayed in another great hostel and spent our full day there climbing up to the UNESCO protected castle and enclosed town on the top of the hill. There is a nice promenade that the locals ritualistically walk up and down every night and always men fishing in the river. After a couple of chilled days here, and a small celebration for my CELTA result coming in, we moved on to Gjirokaster, where we are now.
Gjirokaster is another town built into the mountains and is one of my favourite places so far. Being on top of a hill, the locals must be incredibly fit as they climb up and down the very steep, cobbled roads every day. We even walked with a lady who must have been in her late 80s trying to make sure she didn't slip- pretty sure she knew how to scale these hills better than us! Yesterday we climbed up to the castle, one of the best preserved in the Balkans. It was impressively big and included an American 'Spy Plane' which accidentally landed here during Communist times. The info stressed that the pilot made it home alive. We also visited an intact Ottoman era house and were guided around by the 9th generation of the family that owned the house which gave us a great insight. It was really beautiful and pretty luxurious.
The only drawback has been the rain here- last night was a torrential storm with banging thunder and lightning. Despite the dark clouds this morning, we set off on a day trip to Butrint, a little further South near the Greek border. It is a settlement on an island surrounded by a beautiful lake. They have found evidence of inhabitants as early as 12th century BC. There are ruins from the Hellenistic inhabitants and later the Romans, including an amphitheatre and public baths. There is also a Christian basilica and the most intact and elaborate mosaic in the world (apparently) dating from the 6th century AD (which unfortunately they keep covered for protection). People who are interested in Greek and Roman history (Ellie G!) would really love it there I am sure. After a great day wondering around the ruins we are back in Gjirokaster, where it's stopped raining, and are going to grab some dinner. Tomorrow we head for Kalambaka to start our unplanned detour into Greece and would totally recommend anyone to take a trip to Albania.
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