Sarande and surroundings

Third day in Albania was the time to move on to out main destination - southern Albania and more precisely the city of Sarandë.

Initially we were planning to rent a car in Albania and to move within the country by car, however the prices of rental were really high (600 euro per 10 days + petrol), therefore we planned to decide in Tirana on how to travel. We knew there was a modern bus going to Sarande everyday, however it was going only when there was a minimum number of people. When we wanted to book it, apparently there weren't enough people, so the bus was cancelled. In addition I wasn't sure how Nina would handle such a long trip (5 hours). It would be difficult to feed her, change her and we couldn't stop if something was going wrong. We then decided to split the trip in two, and do a stop-over in Vlore and get there by taxi.
 Every single taxi driver whom we asked about the price had always the same answer - 80 euros. We concluded then it was a good price, and after a breakfast in the nearby coffee shop we hit the road.

The road was built only a few years ago and there were several new buildings being built along it. Clear sign that Albania was developing. After about two hours we made it to Vlore. We booked a room in a lovely, family run hotel 4 Stinet. Vlore itself isn't a very charming city. It is rather unfriendly with its huge concrete blocks, noise and crowds of people. But it depends what anyone is looking for. We were aiming rather at some more quiet locations, so we were happy we didn't book more nights in here.

The next day we left for Sarande. Friendly owner of the hotel agreed to drive us to our next destination through the Albanian Riviera for a very good price of 80 euros. The price was really good, as usually drivers choose the highway - which is easiest, shorter and cheaper for them than the small road in the mountains. We were really happy as this small road had spectacular views.

Upon arrival to Sarande we encountered some problems with the owner of our apartment, as basically they were not picking up the phone. Eventually we managed to contact them and we could start our relaxing holidays in an apartment with the great view on the sea and on the nearby Corfu.

 

Sarande was definitly much more pleasant than Vlore. Smaller and with much more pleasant architecture. It was also remarkable that the city was very much developing - there were many new buildings built or under construction.

The next days were very relaxing - we were either chilling out in Sarande or we headed to the nearby sand beach in Ksamil. Well chilling out is maybe not the most appropriate expression as it was apparently the hottest summer in Balkans since many years with the temperatures reaching 38 degress in the shadow.

The beaches in Sarande were very few and the shore were stony, this is why we headed a few time to  Ksamil. There was a public bus going there every half an hour, however before it reached our stop, it was already full of people. We then decided to commute by taxis, especially since the drive costed us only 12 euros. Ksamil is a small village, however in summer it becomes a touristy resort - with hundreds of tourists willing to enjoy its beautiful beaches. Beach in Ksamil was really beautiful with its white sand, but very overcrowded. With the limited number of "organized beaches", getting there late - i.e. after 10AM meant that there will be no more sunbeds. But while offering a bribe, an umbrella was quickly found ;-)

Our favorite beach was "Three Islands" which was offering the view on three small islands just a few meters from the coast. It was possible to swim there or get there by a rented sea bike. Water was unbelievably turquoise. 

In the vicinity of Sarande there's located an ancient city of Butrint, which is also
a UNESCO World Heritage site. We got there by taxi from Sarande for 2000 LEK, but there's also a bus going there every half an hour (the same which goes to Ksamil).

Butrint was an ancient city throughout Greek, Roman, bishopric and Byzantine periods, and it was abandoned during the Middle Ages. Its most notable remainings are
 Roman amphitheater, a Byzantine Basilica, and a Roman temple with mosaic floor.

Hello from Tirana!

Summer 2017 was our first summer in three. Although we were already traveling with our little daughter, it was supposed to be our first big holiday lasting longer than a week. I dreamt of some bigger trip and a new exciting place to explore. But this place needed to be relatively close to Brussels (i.e. preferably Europe) and required a minimum level of civilization. 

I strongly rejected an idea of going for an organized trip or staying 2 weeks in a resort. And when I thought of exciting and unexplored places in Europe which I still haven't seen, I immediately thought of Albania. For decades it was one of the most isolated and least accessible countries in the world. A few years ago it was still very wild (my brother was there in 2009 and from his stories I know that the country was quite exotic), I knew it very much developed in recent years, and I expected it to be very interesting. We decided to combine it with Montenegro and Croatia, but Albania was our main destination.

We flew to Tirana with TUI on a Friday afternoon, and three hours after the departure we arrived to the Nene Tereza Airport. Since I was traveling with a little child, I decided to give up on my old habits of sleeping in dodgy places. Moreover I had to compromise with Marijn, who was fan of a rather luxurious accommodation, therefore we decided to stay in the best hotel in the whole of Albania - Plaza Tirana. Sleeping in style, also meant traveling in style thus we ordered a transport to the hotel beforehand ;-)

The hotel was indeed great and our room was located on the 20th floor, so we could admire the city from above.

After a quick refreshment we went out to explore a bit the surroundings of the hotel. It was located in the centre of the centre, just next to the main square of Tirana - Skanderbeg Square.

 There are several interesting places on the Square itself and in its vicinity - a statue of Albanian hero Skanderbeg, Et'hem Bey Mosque, Clock Tower and National Historic Museum with a huge mosaic of working class on its front. We were just admiring all those sites from the outside as we wanted to come back the next day.

We went for a dinner to Oda - a small, family run restaurant nearby. Oda means "room" in Albanian and indeed the place looked like an interior of an old tradional house and the food was like homemade. It was also one of the very little places (what I will find out later on) serving typical Albanian dishes.

Next morning we walked a bit in the neighborhood. Well, Tirana isn't very pretty to say the least. Its communist architecture is ugly and grey. But even in this greyness there are some glimpses of color - such as electricity street boxes with colorful paintings on them :) Moreover it's very visible that Tirana is modernizing and developing - we saw a few construction sites and several new buildings were being built.

We started our sightseeing from the International Centre of Culture rather known as Piramida. It was built in 1987 according to the design of daughter of Enver Hoxha - the isolationist dictator who ruled Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. Originally the Piramida was his museum.Apparently it was also the most expensive building erected under communism, what is difficult to imagine today, as it is completely destroyed. 

While walking around the Piramida we met a group of tourists, and we rightly assumed it was a Free Walking Group. We joined it, but unfortunately quite late, as the group visited already a big part of Tirana. Still we managed to see our first bunker and Hoxha's house. Hundreds of thousands of concrete bunkers were built between 1960's and 80's under Hoxha's government (some say 700,000 bunkers were built, but the government admits only 175,000). They were supposed to serve as a shelter to Albanian people in case of an invasion. It's unknown who would have wanted to invade Albania, but instead of developing the country and building roads or houses, Albanians were building bunkers. 

After the tour was finished, we went to the National Historic Museum, then Et'hem Bey Mosque, followed by a visit into Bunk Art 2.

The Museum was interesting - displaying objects from antiquity through the Ottoman rule till the to the 20th century. There was also a very beautiful gallery of icons. The translations into English were very little or inexistant - still it was quite possible to follow the exhibitions.

Just on the opposite side of the Square there's the Et'hem Bey Mosque - a beautiful 18th century mosque. It was closed during the communist times and reopened in 1991. The building is very small and it is really lovely with its beautiful ornaments.
 

 

Last place on our agenda was the Bunk Art 2. It was the former top secret anti-nuclear bunker belonging to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which gave a glimpse of the communist Albania. In fact it was not only a bunker to visit, but also a museum showing how the communist-era police persecuted the regime's opponents. Very sad place depicting the horrors of the regime and suffer of Albanians living in Hohxa's time. Still, a must-see in order to keep the memory and appreciate that we live in so peaceful Europe nowadays.

We spent our afternoon and evening on walking around Tirana, admiring old buildings and modern installations, and looking for a taxi for the next day:)