BERAT
The Historic Centre of Berat is a World Heritage Site occupying the top of the mountain east of the modern city. It is a fortified castle presently with an active medieval village with tiny medieval lanes on the east side. Inside are 9 churches and 2 mosques.
Google Maps initially directed me up tiny lanes but I eventually found the proper, but still very steep road that circles around to the south.
Enter at the gate of Berat Castle (100 lekë) and walk to the top of the village where the Red Mosque is – mostly a lovely small round stone/brick minaret.
Onufri Museum of Icons. In the Assumption of St Mary Church which was rebuilt in 1797, it is one of the earliest post-Byzantine churches in the country. The main exhibits are the wood carvings of icons and serving objects belonging to all the churches in the medieval village.
Holy Trinity Church (Kisha Shen Triadha). This is a lovely 13th – 14th century tiny, red brick/stone church with a dome. It was locked and looks like it is never opened.
Other sites are the water cistern, acropolis, white mosque, and tremendous views down to the town from the stonewalls.
Berat National Ethnographic Museum. A third of the way up the access road to the castle, this is a lovely little museum occupying a 1680 house with 1720 and 1851 additions (the latter added after the 1851 earthquake that destroyed most every other house – this was wood and survived). Some of the highlights were the various rooms of the house, a blacksmith’s forge, foot-powered pottery wheel, everyday dress, looms and olive presses. 200 lekë
Gorica Bridge. Down in the modern town, this is a lovely 4-arched white limestone pedestrian bridge. The sides are latticed cement. There are small arches in the main arches and one on both ends over the land.
Apolonia. This is a 2nd – 3rd-century Roman town built by Emperor Octavia. Most of the original city is gone, and all that is left surrounds a small area below the hill: Barbecterion (city council building with 5 great Corinthian marble columns); Odeon (small covered theatre that held 650 spectators), the library and about 100m of wall built into the bank. 400 lekë
I would not bother going here – the access is out of the way, there is not much to see and if going south, the road is a real adventure. Certainly, avoid admission by taking the route to the Bar Leon Rey just before the ticket booth. From this hillside bar/restaurant, a steep trail goes back down to the Roman site.
The locals come here to picnic.
I was heading south towards Vlore. The road is initially narrow one-lane pavement but soon degenerated into a gravel road full of potholes with a top speed of 25 km/hour. If that was not enough, I was then completely prevented from continuing by a severely retarded man who completely obstructed the road. ‘Jimmy’ was pushed off with some difficulty by a guy who happened to be driving by on a scooter. I don’t know if I could have gotten around him.
Google Maps looked like this “road” was the only way to drive the 20 km to Vlore. Then this piece of shit road was bisected by a new 4-lane highway under construction. It was possible to drive in the rougher gravel half at about 55 km/hour. It is the first time I have seen Google Maps draw a complete blank – somewhat of a surreal experience. It was funny when the road crossed a canal and the arrow wanted to follow that.
The new construction ended at the best 4-lane divided highway in Albania. It had the most extreme guardrail system possible. New service centers were under construction along it.
VLORË
This is possibly the nicest city in Albania, a large seaside resort city full of swank hotels, apartments and restaurants. New construction was happening everywhere including most of the main street. There are parks and a lovely promenade beside a lovely fine sand beach. I would label this the “Albanian Riviera”.
Vlore is where the 1912 independence proclamation ending Ottoman rule was signed.
Independence Monument. Sitting on a big pedestal, this huge bronze monument looks like a mountain surmounted by a man wielding the Albania flag. Six statues front the “mountain”.
Independence History Museum. Next to the water, this small house is where the proclamation was signed in 1912. It is 2 floors with 4 small rooms each, filled with desks, pictures and documents. There are some nice paintings and good labels. All the 250 men who attended from all over Albania had awesome mustaches, wore fezes, and most brandished weapons.
The drive south followed next to the ocean with big surf and a great rocky coast. Hotels and very nice houses were the norm. I eventually stopped about 20 km south at Orikum, a beach-side town and the access to the Gjuheze Peninsula. I camped at one of those idyllic spots right on the water with the sound of surf crashing on the shore. I drove out to the Gjuheze Peninsula a short distance, but there was really nothing special to see.
I left the ocean to drive through Llogara National Park. The road ascends to a high passway above the ocean with one spectacular viewpoint, and then there’s a long descent.
Drymades Beach. At least a kilometre long, this is a sand/small cobble beach.
Dhërmi. A NM “small town” this one clings to a mountainside well above a gorge. The houses are all white with orange terracotta roofs. All these towns are full of old men who form social groups shooting the bull.
Kudhës is a tiny village in the NM “small towns” series perched on a rock promontory high above Dhermi. It would have been a long circuitous drive to get up to it.
Porto Palermo Castle. This fort was built by Ali Pasha in 1804 on an island in the Bay of Palermo (one of the best harbours of the ancient world). The island was then separated from the mainland but is now connected by a wide gravel causeway. The French engineers who helped build it were apparently executed after. Made of dressed limestone with 3.2-3.5m thick walls, it has one gate and was used as a prison during and after WWII.
Park on the causeway and climb up the rough cobble to the triangular fort with 3 towers at its corners. Enter the cavernous cellar with several corridors and rooms radiating off the central dome. Climb the one set of stairs to the surprisingly small top with only one small octagonal building for great views.
The road along the coast was a wonderful mix of rugged rock, steep boulder-strewn creek beds, small villages and occasional coastline views. Pass some flat land at the town of Boshe. Just before Sarande is a valley with ancient narrow terraces on the pimples of hills.
Museum of Traditions, Sarande. Sarande is a large town with many hotels and apartment buildings. This museum is close to the water, a promenade and restaurants. It must have the fewest artifacts of any museum I have ever been to. The sign says Archaeological Museum.
I arrived at the Albania/Greece border at noon. On the Albanian side, the guy looked everywhere and then finally asked if I had marijuana?. cocaine? He even wanted me to open the popup roof which I have never done and would have had to look it up in the manual.
Greece was very pleasant (Hellenic Customs) but a slow, long lineup.
Albania – April 10-11, 2019
I returned to Albania for a few hours, mostly to see the Lake Prespa area, plus to spend all the Albania money I still had (buy gas). However, when I arrived, the border guard said my vehicle insurance was invalid in Albania and I had to buy Albanian car insurance for €49 for 15 days (even though I only planned on being here for 24 hours). Who knows what the insurance covers? So I drove through Albania for the first time with no car insurance (the border did not notice that Albania was checked off). The insurance would accept only cash so I used all my gas money (I had €50 worth of Albanian money) to buy insurance.
I still needed gas. None of the service stations would accept a credit card except Kastrati and I found a dealer in Korcë.
Pilur. A NM “small town”, this is a one-street town nestled against the hills. A herd of sheep blocked the road into town. Muddy lanes took off from the main street. I eventually just turned around and left.
Lake Prespa shore. In the NM “XL” series, I drove up Highway SH79 to the lake to have a look.
KORCË
I slept in Korcë on the street, saw the above three in the morning and drove to North Macedonia.
Mirahori Mosque. Iljz bij Mirhori was born near Korcë in 1408. He fought in the 1453 battle of Constantinople and became the teacher of Sultan Bajazit II, returned to his home and founded the town of Korcë. He built and funded the very first school for children in Albania in Korcë in 1496.
This is a gorgeous mosque built of brick and stone in 1496, the first in the country to use lead cubes. A 1960 earthquake destroyed the clock tower in the courtyard outside the mosque and the minaret. The mosque was a warehouse during communist rule and was restored and reopened as a mosque in 1991. Inside are unusual paintings of the mosque and landscapes that date from the 18th century (mosques rarely have anything but geometric designs). With a plain white mihrab, the highlights were the stained glass windows and lovely geometrics.
Resurrection Cathedral (Katedralja Orthodhokse Ringjalije e Krishtit). This imposing Greek Orthodox church is white limestone with brick accents and iron grills over the doors and windows. It has twin bell towers, a small dome over the entrance and a large central dome. Unusually, it was closed.
National Museum of Medieval Art. This museum is housed in a new stone and black façade behind a nice square with a fountain. Hours are from 9-2 and 5-7. €3, no reduction.
The Albania/North Macedonia border at the south end of Ohrid Lake was painless except for the final “inspection” when the old guy would not stop asking about drugs “cocaine, marijuana, joints, smoke?”
