Albania! Day 3 and the Adventure Continues!

I apologize for people having trouble with the blog.  I think my friend, Bernadette, responded with a link that was successful.  Hope that works for you!  

The day started with the bathroom flooding.  Well, that’s extreme, but I did have water up the marble walls, all over the floor, and toilet paper.  One bath mat and towel weren’t enough to soak up my mess.  I discovered that the glass wall shower, beautiful to look at, with double sliding doors which unfortunately didn’t meet in the middle also weren’t sealed on the sides meeting the wall.  Lesson learned!

Another beautiful breakfast started the day, and it was gorgeous with blue-skies and temps in the 70’s.   We are heading to Berat today, a UNESCO World Heritage site known for its stunning collection of Ottoman-style homes, the Berat castle, and a large collection of religious icons and woodcarvings in the Cathedral of the Assumption of St. Mary.

Along the way, we received a major Albanian history lesson!  I know…this will probably be a boring post, but it helps me to record information I’ve learned.  Hunker down!

Albania is 70% mountains and the western part where we are has a Mediterranean climate. Their ancestors were Illyrian which means “free” which they were until conquered and occupied by Rome.  The Romans were subsequently conquered and Albania became part of the Ottoman Empire.  Don’t ask me dates!

I know I’m repeating myself, but just in case you didn’t read yesterday’s post….  After WWI, Albania was an independent country until their president declared himself king in the 1920’s.  In 1939, Albania was invaded by Italy and then Germany before declaring independence in 1944 with a communist ruling party.  Oh, and remember the president/king?  When Italy invaded, he fled with his family along with half of the country’s treasury’s gold.  This guy was a real peach!

Albania had close ties to Russia and then China before breaking off diplomatic relations and declaring themselves the “only true communist country” in the 1970’s.

Fast forward to 1990 when hunger strikes and protests lead to another political party forming…and they managed not to all be killed, and Albania once again became independent.  They currently have a parliament, prime minister and president.  Their national symbol is the double headed eagle and their flag has been the same since the 14th century.  

In 1992, this fragile economy lead to massive unemployment of 40-60%, and Albania experienced a “brain drain” of educated and productive citizens as they looked for jobs in Europe and the US until the economy stabilized around 2000.

Albania’s population is currently 2.6 million but over 7 million live abroad.  This has created good and bad…they leave to seek employment in other countries and mail money home to their families.  Many family members now depend on these funds which gives them little incentive to work here.

Mother Theresa is Albanian and the Belushi brothers of Hollywood fame are first generation Americans whose father was Albanian.

The bus trip wasn’t all history.  Agriculture accounts for 25% of the economy so there were lots of small farms with green fields and dried corn stacked for the winter.  I saw sheep, goats, geese, turkeys, donkeys, cows, ducks, and maybe a horse or two.  After the fall of communism and the farm collectives were abolished, people were given 2 hex acres/family member…about 5 acres…if they wanted to stay and work the land.

White plaster houses with red tile roofs dot the landscape with fruit trees-apples, orange, mandarins, persimmon, and pomegranates in their yards.  There are fields of olive trees and the occasional grapevine arbor.  Albania has 6 million olive trees which each take 20 years to produce a crop, and the majority of the olives are exported to Italy!  

Next time you use Italian olive oil think of that!

The castle and church are located at the top of a steep mountain….along the top ridge line…and were established in the 3rd century B.C.

Crusaders came through here…notice the Red Cross!

Residents still live in this small enclave but the narrow alleys barely fit a car and pedestrians.  

Hand chiseled stones line the roads which cannot be altered since it is a UNESCO site.

It was a steep climb, but I eventually reached the top with incredible views of the surrounding countryside and the remaining castle walls.

The Cathedral of the Assumption of St. Mary displays both an amazing array of religious icons and an incredible worship area.  It is a blessing that this site wasn’t destroyed during the communist era when religion was outlawed.  It was preserved as part of Albania’s cultural heritage, but the citizens had to turn in all their icons to the state.  Evidently, people only turned in one or two of their treasures and kept the rest secretly.  Again, what a blessing or these would all be lost to history.

Wooden panels displaying religious scenes were painted with a rich assortment of colors along with intricate woodcarvings also painted to decorate the cathedral.  I wasn’t able to take pictures inside the cathedral nor museum but copies of several of the paintings were on the walls outside. 

Lunch was at a local restaurant owned by a young couple…pumpkin and squash soup, a ricotta, tomato and pepper spread on fresh baked bread, baked squash pie in a flaky crust, something else yummy, and homemade vanilla and almond ice cream accented by a light white wine.  I thought I would roll down the hill to the bus!

We visited a local mosque and Albanian Orthodox Church next to each other again with beautifully painted woodwork.

Albanians are very tolerant  of all religions.  However, in the 1990’s after communism was overthrown, the government asked people to reply to a census about what religion they practiced.  They refused.

The town is known as the “town of a thousand windows” since the houses appear to sit on top of each other as they ascend the hill.  See the castle along the ridge line?

It was an exhausting day, but after a short rest, we gathered for dinner at a restaurant with a delightful outside patio complete with clementine trees strung with lights and a couple of cats wandering between tables looking for handouts.  Albanian musicians entertained us and the local diners would sing along.

Do you think I was tired tonight?