In July 2019, we travelled around Albania for a month and were left with a great impression of the warm, generous people who have emerged from a long history of occupation, followed by communist rule under which a hundred thousand people were victims of political persecution.
From 2019 you can look up posts on this blog from visits to Berat, Gjirokastër, Ksamil, Butrint, Himara, and Shkodra, then on taking the Koman lake ferry to Valbona, hiking the Albanian Alps to Theth, and finally on to Tirana.
Entry to Albania back then was from Struga in Macedonia on Lake Ohrid.
In Struga, we met Sami and Rozi "The Misadventures of a Sock Leads to New Friends" (Vancouver
Sun Travel Section, published Apr 29, 2020) and became fast friends. We are coming back this time to visit our friends in one of their seaside condominiums in Vlora and to relax after our recent travels before heading home to Mexico.
Vlora is the northern tip of the Albanian Riveria which ends in the south at Saranda.
A flight from Prague gets us to Tirana after midnight. We feel perfectly safe on our eight-minute walk to the hotel. The next day a walk back to the airport to catch a private bus service (Hermes, reserve ahead) to Vlora, with Sami and Rozi picking us up at the drop-off point.
They used to stay on New Beach (plazh i ri), which is now quite developed and, in the summer, terribly busy. Seeking quiet, they moved to Old Beach (plazh i vjetër).
Rozi is a fabulous cook and welcomes us to join them for dinner on the first night.
It's easy to settle in with views like this:
The next day our hosts take us to the markets and orientate us to the city. Here we find the freshest veg, fruit, nuts, olives and more. It's such a pleasure to shop and eat here! Our first shop yields almost three grocery bags for the equivalent of CAD 8.
In visits to all the markets, people recognize us as outsiders, and we are regularly gifted with some extra of what we have just paid for, or a handful of grapes, a couple of carrots, a clove of garlic ... whatever is near to hand, and all delivered with a smile and a welcome.
Some photos from the big market. Absolutely everything is sold here from clothes to hardware, kitchenware, and everything in between.
Yes, this man still makes things for everyday use. He stopped working for a bit to talk with us and his hearing seemed fine. Below are just a few of the items he makes.
One day at the big market I was seeking fresh dill (koper) to have everyone over for borscht. I ask one woman. She doesn't have it. But we hear 'koper' being passed along in hushed tones along the line of booths and when we reach the last one, a woman is standing in the aisle holding out two bundles of fresh dill.
The daytime temperatures are in the mid-twenties, and we spend the time walking to town and markets, sitting at a table seaside, and reading or writing. There is nothing going on downtown in the evenings in the off-season but there are quite a few English channels here, so we catch up on some shows and movies that we don't get in Mexico.
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| View of Apartment from the beach. |
Every day we walk either into town and to the end of the Malecon or up the main street, past the old mosque to the big market. We buy our dinner groceries on these excursions.
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One of the thousands of bunkers that the paranoid communist leader built throughout the country. This one is close to the apartment.
Every afternoon near the bunker we see an elderly man protecting his three goats and a small herd of sheep from wandering into the traffic. He has guided them to this grassy area for grazing.
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On the way to the Malecon, we pass the ferry port. One of three ferry companies takes people to the ports of Brindisi and Bari in Italy.
Right downtown is one of three universities in Vlora. The Universiteti
i Vlorës Ismail Qemali offers degrees in economics, public health, and
humanities, in addition to engineering and technology.
When local people recognize us as outsiders, they often assume we are Italian and start with an Italian greeting. We learn that wages for young people are low, and opportunities are scarce, so many leave Albania for other parts of Europe: Italy, Spain, and Greece are popular choices.
The Malecon at New Beach:
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| And on a stormy day |
Sami drove us to visit the St Mary of Divinity
(orthodox) Church on Zvernec Island in the Narta Lagoon. There is some
disagreement about when it was built, but all agree that it was in the
Byzantine era.
On the way, we pass huge forests of pine trees followed by hollow shells of old buildings. In the communist era, factories were built, and trees were planted to help purify the air from emissions. One of the last atrocities to the Albanian people on the communist exit from power was to destroy these factories and thus the livelihoods of hundreds of people. They have never been rebuilt.
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| Trees leaning from the winter winds that cross the sea to the beach |
There's a stop at a lagoon to look at the flamingoes harvesting their meal. The lagoon is home to some 3,000 flamingoes that are mostly white, with just highlights of pink due to their diet.
When the Communists came into power churches and
religion were not tolerated, so St Mary's became a prison for dissidents,
primarily educated people. One of the
lingering horrors of the prison is that when someone died, they were just
buried somewhere in the grounds, with no marker or record of any kind. Such
cruelty to relatives on the outside. There are graves with markers here but
that was before the communist take-over.
The walkway leading to the church is new and
solidly built. One lovely curving branch of the boardwalk leads to the church
grounds, while the other leads to an enormous dock where locals come to fish or
relax and enjoy the sun and quiet. If you get hungry, there is a food truck in
the parking area at the start of the walkway.
Inna, a friend of Sami and Rozi's joins us on this adventure.
Today the island is a peaceful
place that hides the inhumane conditions inherent in communist Albanian prisons.
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| Barren small rooms used to be sleeping quarters for priests on the island and became the prison |
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| The front side of the prison |
The beautiful stonework of the church is still remarkably intact.
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| Top left - a well and possibly a basin for washing clothes |
A priest, caretaker, and cat live here now. The cat takes his role of king of the island seriously and luxuriates in play, sun, and other cat activities undisturbed by dogs or other annoying creatures.
On the way back we stopped at a couple of different beaches where Sami and Rozi used to take their sons when they were young and before they owned a home in Vlora.
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| Always time for a refreshment |
Some days we have a happy hour together which always involves too much food, some drink and lots of laughter.
I always look forward to having time with Rozi in her kitchen, while the guys enjoy a glass of raki and a chat. Raki can be bought in a store like any other alcohol, but most people here make their own. People sit on the street at the markets selling their own raki and olive oil. Sami has a big former pop bottle of raki that a relative made and he pours some off into a smaller pop bottle for our apartment. Where it originated in Turkey, raki is mostly made with grapes, while here it is made with either grapes or plums.
Speaking of homemade, Sami also gives us a jar full of goat, feta-like cheese that his cousin made and over the days, Rozi gifts us with her homemade couscous, bread, and fry bread. Fry bread is traditional in Macedonia and Inna tells us, in Ukraine too. If I had some salmon or huckleberry jam, I'd think I was back in British Columbia celebrating at a first nations festival. It never ceases to amaze me the commonalities amongst people even when geographically far from one another.
So, on this day in her kitchen, Rozi has me watch her make byrek ... so delicious. She tells anyone she teaches to not make their own phyllo dough as it takes decades of practice to get it right. She has been making it and rolling it out with her dowel since she was thirteen.
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| Spinach byrek is in the making. |
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| Spinach byrek done |
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| Bottom phyllo crust for meat byrek. Meat byrek. A piece of each is cut up for dinner. |
Since we're on the topic of food. Sami and Rozi have a favourite restaurant that they go to once every season for sure. It's a spectacular hour's drive up the Llogara pass in the mountains.
Arriving at the restaurant we order a lot of food - family style, to share and still, we are given food 'on the house'. The generosity of the people of this country stuns us repeatedly.
One of two restaurants on the Malecon that roasts whole lamb and goat on spits every day.
On the day we stop by there is a group of parents and their preschoolers and Albanian folk music is being played loudly. The kids are all dressed in black and red, the colours of the Albanian flag. Adults and kids join hands and dance around a large group of tables. We wonder if we will see the dance perfected at one of the upcoming celebrations on Independence Day (November 28).
Below are two lambs that have just been put on.
On another day we walk to Old Town, then visit Muradie Mosque (old Mosque).
The Muradie Mosque is still beautiful today. It was built from 1537 to 1542 and designed by the famous architect, Mimar Sinan. You can still see the two different brick colours in the main building and different colours and textures in the minaret. Somehow it survived the communist era intact. The building is very plain on the inside and looks like it could use some restoration. It is the oldest mosque in southern Albania.
Between the Old Mosque and Old Town stands the independence monument. It's in a large square that is being furiously renovated, for the upcoming celebrations. Adjacent to the square is a park with another key monument.
This is the tiniest Old Town we have seen. It's really one short street, but all around, renovation is occurring, and it will eventually be bigger. The renovated part is pristine, clean, and beautifully done.
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| Entrance to Old Town |
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| A square where we pause for a refreshment |
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| A different view of the square. The window trim on the green building is eye-catching. |
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| Two newly renovated buildings with the street yet to be done. |
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| We chatted for a while with a couple of women inside this beautifully renovated cafe/bar. |
Another day Sami drives all of us up to the Kuzam Baba mosque that sits high on a hill overlooking the city. They serve refreshments in a cafe on a 300-meter-long terrace on a natural promontory.
This is a Bektashi mosque, a Sufi sect that has long been persecuted and now is having a bit of a better time. They preach peace, love, mutual respect, and tolerance. For example, alcohol is permitted, women do not wear veils, there is no segregation of men and women, and you can eat pork if you like it.
Whirling dervishes are part of some of the Sufi sects.
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| The mosque is across and down the street from the cafe. |
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| From the cafe, we can see Sami & Rozi's apartments, Old Town & most of Vlora |
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| There is a mausoleum on-site where the body of Kuzam Baba, the mosque's founder is interred. |
I put a photo of a plaque at the bottom of the statue through Google translate and it produced this: "The whole world says I'm dead. What about me, am I dead yet? I am alive and live forever, for those who miss me. Kusum Baba Vlora"
November 26 and it's another trip around the sun for Linda with Rozi's homemade pizza and melt-in-your-mouth baklava, Inna's creative beat salad, Sami's raki and the orange-flavoured cake we picked up at a bakery and a cute photo sent by my brother celebrating my fourth! Good company. Good laughs.
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| A new 'do' for me. Cost 500 (LEK) |
As it nears our time to leave this country, it is also approaching Albania's Independence Day. Readiness involves the Albanian flag ... everywhere. This is a two-day holiday when combined with the November 29 Liberation Day.
Independence Day, AKA Flag Day (November 28) celebrates the declaration of independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912; while Liberation Day (November 29) marks the day in 1944 when Albania was liberated from the forces of Nazi Germany after the Albanian resistance to World War II.
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| Paul at the entrance to a craft market at the main roundabout in town. |
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Paul is standing with Vladimir, a lovely man we've gotten to know a bit at the big market.
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And on the Malecon, there is a 'We the Peoples' display by young Albanian artist David Cuka who uses photography to document issues related to human rights. He completed 999 portraits of ordinary people for this project which relates to a United Nations declaration.
A disturbing e-mail comes our way from Lufthansa stating that our 12-hour flight from Frankfurt to Cancun has been cancelled - no explanation.
A sleepless night passes, three hours of running around the next day to get international calling and more data on the cell, and chats with three different airline employees to find out that the flight is NOT cancelled. It seems that a 'batch' email was inadvertently sent out to passengers. Some error! ... and weird that a correction was not sent out.
Just
another Korca Day in sunny Vlora. Looking forward to going out this
evening for Albanian music to top off Independence Day.
Gezuar Diten e
pavaresise (Happy Independence Day) to all the Albanian people we've met and to those we have yet
to meet.
Besides us, six of Sami and Rozi's friends join us at the restaurant in the evening. Two couples live in Kosovo (a five-hour drive away) and have come for this weekend plus the two-day holiday. The other couple calls Vlora home. They are a fun-loving bunch, and a good time is had by all. We like the music, but it's so loud it makes your ears ache. Lots of people get up to dance.
Two days after landing in Mexico, there's another free cat/dog spay/neuter clinic in Tulum and we're on the volunteer list. We look forward to these upcoming busy two days.
RANDOM PHOTOS
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| Our souvenir: A reversible Albanian carpet 5' x 7' + 2 small scatter rugs, same colours |
Apartments for Rent, Vlora, Old Beach
Sami and Rozi have requested that we put photos of their two apartments on our FB page and on our blog. They only rent to friends and to friends-of-friends. Both apartments are right on the beach. Beautiful sunsets are the norm.
Open each pdf document below by clicking on it. Then scroll down to see the photos for that apartment.
1 BR, 1 Bath Apartment on the Beach
2 B, 1 Bath Apartment on the Beach
