Albania Here I Come !!!

 

We made a decision to make a stop in Albania to give us an opportunity to get on land for a few days and break the monotony of sailing and motoring  for 48 hours.  If you are like me, you are thinking ALBANIA??? It definitely was not on my “must see “ list.

 Saranda was the town that was our port of entry.  What I noticed first is it sits directly across from Corfu, Greece, which I definitely have heard of since I watched the BBC show of an English family who settled there during the 1930s.  Loved that show! Ferries transport tourists and locals back and forth from Saranda and Corfu multiple times a day.  Italy is also close and  brings vacationing Italians to the shores of Albania each year. Infact, Europeans love Albania.  Germans, French, Norwegians, along with the Greeks and Italians flock to this hidden gem to enjoy its beaches, restaurants, and nightlife. It’s estimated that 1 million tourists come to Albania to vacation each year.  The population of Albania is about 3 million, so 1 million tourists is a lot of peeps!  Sadly, COVID has curtailed the flow of tourists this season.  Restaurants are largely empty as are the hotels and nightclubs.  This has really impacted the livelihood of many Albania's whose  income on average is about $300 a month.

With fewer tourists, it felt like the Albanian people got to enjoy Saranda’s beaches, where people started to put down their beach towels at 9am and did not move from until around 7pm. These are not folks that sit on the beach to work on their tans. They are in the water baby!! Bouncing heads bobbing up and down can be seen from one end of the beach to another.  And yes- all the women young and old are in bikinis! 

On our first day in Albania, we decided to hire a driver to take us to Butrint, an ancient port city which is now a national park.  Butrint is about a 25 minute drive from Saranda and the ride was a bit hairy. Roads are very narrow and twist around like a corkscrew.  In case you didn't know, I love all things related to ancient Roman history and Greek mythology.  Butrint captures both.  According to classical mythology, this city was founded by exiles who  left after the fall of Troy.  Prior to being invaded by the Romans in 228 B.C., it was already  a thriving port city and trading post on the main Adriatic waterway. With its fall, the Romans turned it into a cult/religious center.  Here comes the ancient Roman stuff….Julius Caesar established Butrint as part of Macedonia and called it “Colona Iulia Buthrotum” .  Under Augustus , a major construction initiative was undertaken and Roman style fountains, baths, theatres and villas were built.  Butrint continued  to transform under Byzantine, Venetian, and Ottoman rule.  Put plainly, this place rocks!

 

Wow! That was a lot of history! On a humorous note, I was struck by the American influence on the Albanian people I encountered who were all  decked out in Nike and Addias sneakers and t-shirts with English wording that appeared not to match the people who were wearing them.  I saw a elderly Albanian lady sporting a t-shirt that read “ California Babe” and a dad in his 30’s sitting at a restaurant with the wife and kids with his t-shirt screaming in big letters- SORRY, I WAS DRUNK!  Your welcome Albania. I am glad America could make such a profound contribution to your culture.

On a scale of 1 (I would vote for Trump before setting foot in this god forsaken land) to 10 (I would move here in a heartbeat and wear inappropriate t-shirts everyday! ), Albania gets a firm 9! Americans get your butts here ASAP!