Montenegro/Albania: Day 13

Vlorë > Gjirokastër

9:30am start = another early morning seaside walk. Very pleasant. Today’s itinerary involves driving south along the Albanian Riviera today to Butrint with a few stops along the way.

Gorgeous coastline both barren and also filled with condos, hotels, seaside promenades and beach clubs.

Lots of investments and lots of boondoggles too. Concrete shells of buildings, ball courts with no nets, piers without access. Stalled or abandoned projects?

*Palasë where Julius Caesar came ashore in 48 BC chasing Pompey. In last 5 years unrecognizable as construction zone* of condos

Continued on to Ksamil and visited the historic castle of Ali Pasha, a 19th C. Ottoman ruler, perched dramatically on the edge of a peninsula jutting out into the sea.

*All built in a circle around a indistinguishable central point so kept ducking in and out of rooms not knowing where I was*

Next a 1.5 hour drive to our southernmost stop: the archeological site of Butrint.

*We’re within swimming distance of the Greek island of Kefalonia*

Potted history: largest archaeological site in Albania. First settled in the 8th-7thC BC by a melded Illyrian/Hellenistic colony. (All the large stones are from this time). Then the Romans came, build over the Greek foundations and in the 4th C erected a Temple to Asclepius (healing), which was big business. A big earthquake late 5thC toppled lots of structures then it lay vacant for a few hundred years, then some medieval residents, then Venetians built on top of what was now all buried by time, then abandoned again until discovered in the 1920’s. The site was opened to visitors in 2005 but still very jungle-y then, only in the last 5 years was what we see now excavated and restored. Oh, and it was mentioned in both the Odyssey (where the Cyclops lived), and Iliad!

*Venetian watch tower and Roman column at entrance*

*Scented and shading eucalyptus trees reminded our Aussie friends of home*

*Big site; not greatest pic but will jog my memory at least*

*Roman brickwork creating buildings/residences?/shops? from Greek walls*

*Wall of Inscriptions. All carvings related to the freeing of slaves*

*Early Byzantine Baptistery, one of largest and best preserved mosaic floors. Covered now in sand to preserve*

*This is how it looked just a few weeks ago*

*15thC church added on to foundations of a 6thC AD basilica*

*This was the main entrance into Butrint between the 3rd century BC and the 14th century AD. It’s right at the water’s edge*

*The Lion Gate, zoom in and the lintel carving is that of a lion eating a bull*

*Finale is a museum of archeological finds in a Venetian Fortress*

Our pacing today was quite leisurely so we didn’t leave Butrint till 6pm which meant great sunset views of the mountains but arriving in the dark at 7:30pm to Gjirokastër. At the last minute there was a change to our hotel and unfortunately we got an old, smoky one next door. Staff nice but obviously it is not a popular one. Dinner was 8:30pm so Peter, Linda and I begged off and found a grocery store for snacks instead (Peter is another early riser and runs every morning).