Athens

No trip to Greece could ever be complete without a few nights stay in Athens.  The city is absolutely heaped in history.  The highlight of the tour of course is the Acropolis and the great temple of Athena, the Parthenon.  We spent some time touring all the sights despite the lousy weather.  Yes, all of you who have expressed jealousy at our traveling the globe whilst you bear the bitter autumn weather, we have got our share this past week as well so rest easy.  No, we are not complaining, just trying to relate to our friends back home.  Three days of rain and no blue sky (as you can tell by the pics) were not what we expected.  Oh well, Athens was still a treat.  Now, we catch the ferry to Crete and hope for some better weather!  

pic 1 -  Parthenon   pic 2 - changing of the gaurd   pic 3 - Ancient Agora   pic - 4 Temple of Hephasteus (a.k.a the pantheon - not really; sorry to some folks for the inside joke)  pic 5 - Rebuilt olympic stadium (used in first modern olympic games - 1896)

Meteora, Greece

We stayed in the town of Kastraki at the edge of the majestic cliffs of Meteora.  In the early 11th century, byzantine monks inhabited the area, climbing the great rocks to be alone with God.  in the 14th century, construction began on the first monastery, which sits perched the highest of the formations and thus earning its name "Meteroa" which means "suspended in the air" in Greek.  Further monasteries were built (24 in total) but only six still stand today.  The area was truly unique and the views from the monasteries absolutely stunning.  Today, a road winds its way up to Great Meteoron dropping of loads of tourists and a staircase has been built for easy access to the monastery.  In the past, pilgrims hoping to visit the site made the hike up into the passes of the rocks where they were lifted by net to gain access to the monastery. (The old lift tower can be seen in the picture of Great Meteoron.)  We took off from our hotel on foot hoping to make the trek up to Great Meteora.  After choosing the wrong trail and hiking in the wrong direction for about 30 minutes we turned around, walked back to the road and eventually found the proper trail.  It was a well marked track.  Sometimes I wonder how we've made it this far.  The hike up through the giant rocks was as amazing as it was grueling but the sight of Great Meteoron perched on the top of its rock was well worth it.  

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pic 1   - the lift tower at Great Meteoron  pic 2 - arrival in Kastraki    pic 3 and 4 - Meteora Agios Nikolaos Anapafsa perched of rock   pic 5 - Kastraki from Great Meteoron   pic 6 - Monastery - Meteora Agios Nikolaos Anapafsa

Corfu, Greece

Corfu to you to buddy!  What's up our loyal followers.  Today's posting is again a small one.  It has become increasingly difficult to find good Wi-Fi and as a result we are falling a bit behind on the old bloogeroo.  So.  A quick recap of Corfu.  A little rainy, after touring Corfu town we rented a car, cruised the island looking at stuff like the Canal d amour(not a canal so not sure why its called that) and the Achillion.  The Achillion is a spectacular palace built in the 14th century and is in immaculate condition with tons of sculptures and art(see pics).  Nice place, relaxing.  It was evident we were in Corfu at the end of the season as a lot of the tourist places were shut down for the winter.  We did manage to find a little sun to lie on the beach for a while which was nice.  We also scouted out a sweet place to stay if anyone is going to the island of Corfu and wants to get away from the crowd.  Agios Georgius is a little town on the north west side of Corfu.  It was beautiful!  Check the pic.

Picture 1- Agios Georgius  2-  Beach break  3-  Achillion Palace  4- Corfu old town  5-Jeff at Achillion's Palace

Butrint

Butrint national park is both a wildlife reserve and archeological site.  The construction of Butrint started in the 4th century B.C. with the creation of a sanctuary dedicated to the healing god, Asclepius.  In the 3rd century, Romans occupied the land and the sanctuary quickly grew to power and importance under the Roman Empire.  The existing remains contain buildings from Roman, Hellenic, and Venetian times including an old Roman amphitheatre and baths and a rebuilt Venetian fortress.  This quick stop would be our last in Albania before catching the ferry to Corfu, Greece!

Pic 1 - Basilica   Pic 2 - Roman Amphitheater 

Berat and Gjirokastra, Albania

  The towns of Berat and Gjirokastra are world UNESCO sites chalk full of history and remnants of the Ottoman occupation in Albania.   The old city of Berat is divided into three main neighborhoods, with the most important being Kala or castle district.  White walled ottoman style homes line the steep climb up to the castle perched high on the hill overlooking the town.  We made the long climb up and were surprised to find that the town within the walls of the castle was still in use.  As we wandered around the town and castle, a local from the neighborhood approached us and in broken English, Italian and Albanian started giving us a tour and history of the castle.  It was great!  He took us to all the important sites and gave us background into each, including the old church and graveyard, which was torn down by the communist regime.  The bones from the graveyard were thrown unceremoniously beneath the foundation of the old church as the communists erected a restaurant on top with a fountain where the graveyard used to be.  The fellow leading us around even took it upon himself to be the photographer, taking our camera and taking snapshots of us all the right times.  His knowledge of how and where to get the best photos told us this wasn’t the first time he had done this.  Nevertheless, when the tour was over he did not ask for any money but accepted our donation, which we were more than happy to give. 

Gjirokastra had a slightly different feel to it than Berat.  Perhaps it was the gloomy rain or the dark castle with its bloody history or the knowledge that Enver Hoxha (the notorious communist dictator) was born and grew up there, but the town seemed darker, more sinister.  The streets are lined with Ottoman style houses as well but from a different era.  The Tower style houses left behind were capped with tiles of rock.  After a rainfall the rooftops, when viewed from above, shimmer like dragon scales.  The tower houses are of unique design consisting of three floors:  the basement use for storage and animals, the second floor or winter house with small windows and small rooms to conserve heat, and the top floor or summer house with beautifully decorated rooms and large open windows with stunning views.  The ethnographic museum showing life as it was in Berat is housed in Enver Hoxha’s childhood home and was well worth the visit.  

pic 1 - Ottoman houses in the kala district (castle)  pic 2 - Anelia vs the giant head  pic 3 - view from Berat castle   pic 4 - streets of Gjirokastra     pic 5 - winter coffee/tea room in ottoman tower house (house of Enver Hoxha)

Kruja, Albania

 

The mighty Skanderberg fought and defeated the Turkish armies during 3 sieges of this fortress until overwhelming forces finally defeated him resulting in his death.  Skanderberg won every battle (twenty-some) he fought against the Turks and was the leader of Albania’s resistance against the Ottoman occupation.  Although not much is left of the fortress, a museum devoted to this Albania hero stands admist the ruins.  Kruja is also a town of artisans.  The street up to the castle is lined with authentic Albania merchandise including antiques, wood carvings, Albania socks, and carpets as well as many other knick-knacks. If you go at the right time you will see the women of Kruja hard at work on the loom.

 

Pictures: 1-Jeff at Kruja’s castle  2-Anelia at bazaar  3-Woman on loom

 

Tirana, Albania

 

A quick run down of Tirana.  Albania’s move into democracy is evident all over Tirana.  The city is booming with construction and the city seems full of energy.  Although not the most beautiful city in the world, Tirana has done some interesting things to try and change the image of the city.  The mayor of Tirana, an artist of sorts, has started a number of initiatives to change the drab image left by the communist era.  Gray, boring and depressing city blocks that were once stacked row on row have been painted in a multitudes of styles and vibrant colors which has given the once lifeless blocks some personality.  The Luna river (once a cesspool running through Tirana) has been cleaned up.  The houses lining the river were demolished in favor of green grass and trees lining the riverbanks.  There is one exception however.  One single painted bright pink block remains clinging to the side of the river.  This is known in Tirana as “the last house standing”.  The house was left in tact due to complications with the occupants.  In the 15^th century, a powerful northern chieftain, Leke Dukagjin, formalized the Kanun (or code) comprised of 1262 articles of every aspect of life; work, marriage, family, property, hospitality, etc.  Within the code existed a matter of honor where by all males of the family were bound by duty to avenge the death of male family members or guests by the hands of other clans.  The result of such acts of vengeance would create a “blood feud”; an endless spiral of killing that could only end when all the male members of one house were dead or reconciliation was brokered by respected village elders.  Although the communist regime suppressed much of these ancient codes, some traditions and matters of honor have not been forgotten.  The “last house standing” was left as a result of a long –lasting blood feud.  The men of one such house live here in fear for their lives while Tirana’s business goes on around them. 

Further exploration of Tirana took us to the trendy Blloku area which was once forbidden to the general population (only opened in 1991) and was reserved solely for the Communist party elite.  A quick stop on the edge of the Blloku at the former residence of Prime Minister Enver Hoxha’s for a photo got us escorted by guard off the premise.  Who knew?  The Blloku is filled with café’s, shops, clubs and restaurants and is definitely the cutting edge culture in Tirana, far different from the easily discernable cookie cutter communist blocks of Hoxha’s era. 

The next day’s activities took us to Mount Dajti to tide the Dajti express cable car to the top for sublime views of Tirana and area.  Unfortunately, the weather refused to co-operate and the fog restricted the view to about 30 feet.  We retreated from the mountain (where we saw nice view’s from the cable car at least) and caught the bus up to Kruja.

Pictures: 1- Anelia in city square  2- Painted communist apartments  3- Jeff standing in front of ex-Prime Minister's residence  before being escorted away  4- Last house standing

Theth, Albania

Three hours after departing Shkodra we arrived at a cottage style house clinging to the side of a mountain. Our bags were unloaded as we stood in confusion wondering where the town of Theth was.  We finally figured out the town is stretched out over several kilometers in the valley below us.  Freezing and tired our gracious hosts welcomed us into their home and set up us by the fire to warm up. After a quick warm up we noticed the weather had cleared up and decided to head out into exploring.  The sight that greeted us out the front door was amazing.  The fog had lifted to unveil a spectacular view of the valley and the town of Theth.  Nanna (grandma of the family) took us on a walk the whole time yammering on in Albanian and picking wild berries and nuts, forcing them upon us.  The stay with this family was proof that life can be much simpler.  Homecooked meals were delicious and made from ingredients grown right in Theth.  Everything from the dairy (yogurt, butter, milk, cheese) to the wine and brandy to the fruits and vegetables was local. The family treated us like royalty, always giving us the closest spot to the fire and waiting on our every whim. Yes, life was simple. In fact, without the computer, iPOD, books, and playing cards, we found ourselves lacking creativity.  We spent the evening staying warm and roasting corn on the cob while Nanna yammered directions in Albanian (to this day we are unsure if she knew we didn’t understand a word she was saying).  After corn roasting, we retired to our bedroom to find it near refrigeration temperature. Apparently, the family room fireplace only heated the family room and not the rest of the house including our bedroom. We had to snuggle in a single bed with 20 lbs of blankets while entertaining ourselves with several riveting matches of hangman and 2 person Pictionary (note: 2 person Pictionary can be tricky, think about it).   The next day we packed our frozen bones into the old, orange mini-bus, made the hair raising journey back to Shkodra, and checked in to the only 5 star hotel in town to recover (real world travelers).

Pictures- 1: Cottage on mountainside  2: View from cottage door. Theth in valley below.   3: Anelia and Nanna walking   4.  Nanna picking berries  5. Jeff and Nanna roasting corn.

 

Road to Theth, Albania

This little escapade definitely deserves a blog of its own.  The journey begins with a 7:00am start time.  We hop in the mini-bus and roar off up the road.  We make it about 500m where the driver and his friend pull over and hop out.  “Kafe?” they ask.  Thinking they are grabbing one for the road we decline and remain in the vehicle.  Thirty minutes or so later we realize that we are waiting  for something.  What, we don’t know.  All Jeff is thinking is that he is missing some valuable sleep in time.  More time passes.  Many individuals come by to drop off various things, parcels, foods, building supplies and a number of other things that all get thrown into the van.  The waiting continues.  The scene in the streets is pure hilarity.  Cars, trucks and buses drive this way and that, on this side of the road or that, on the sidewalk, in the gutter, you name it.  A few horse and cart roll by.  Some local fellows herd their sheep past.  A man with a cow on a leash strolls by.  Then another.  There are scooters and bicycles everywhere, weaving in and out of the chaos.  How no one dies we will never know.  All this happens amidst the morning traffic.  Still we wait.  Suddenly, a squawk much akin to a  screaming toddler breaks through the morning cacophony.  “What the heck was that?” Says Anelia to Jeff.  Worldy Jeff has deduced that there must be some kind of animal auction or butcher near by (all the animals passing through) and smoothly replies “Just a goat.”  Moments later a bicycle passes by with a dead baby goat tied hooves to handlebars (back hooves on one side of the bars, front hooves on the other) and hanging.  Suddenly the goat lifts its head and lets out a tremendous bleat.  That goat is not dead!  At this moment Jeff thinks that perhaps he understated when he said “Just a goat”.  “That’s so mean,” says Anelia.  “That’s Hilarious!” counters Jeff.  Anelia follows up with “should I chase after and get a picture?”  But by now the man and his goat toting bicycle have disappeared into the mayhem.  Moments later our last passengers and goods arrive and we roll out.  The time is 8:30.  Perhaps we could have been told to meet the bus at 8:30.  Ah well, you win some you loose some.  But now, the journey has just begun. 

  The road to Theth could be more accurately described as the “goat track to Theth” or “trail against all odds” or something infinitely wittier than I am capable of.  Anything you choose to call it, the word “road” would probably not be used.  The movie clip only captures s tiny snapshot of the actual state of disrepair the “road” is in.  On many occasions our mini-bus (yes that orange thing in the pictures is the vehicle we were in) had to cross large sections where the “road” was pretty near washed away.  A little hair raising.  The road to Theth travels up a mountain and then cleaves through a couple of cliff walls to pass into the valley on the other side.  The trip down the other side is a small track with a near straight down drop to the valley below and steep cliffs leading up on the other.  It was a few minutes down this spine tingling “road” that we met a truck traveling the other direction.  Unfazed, our driver changed gears and began negotiating this narrow stretch in reverse for what seemed like a lifetime before finally reaching a point where the two vehicles could pass.  Even the local girl in the bag seat sat up, wide eyed, and although I could not understand what she was saying I think she was praying, either that or swearing.  The good news is we lived to tell the tale and the scenery was breathtaking.  Check out the video to see a little of the “road”.

Please note, the video was actually taken on the way back from Theth.  On the road to Theth the snow and fog made it to difficult to see anything out the side windows and therefore we could not take video or pictures.  Oh yes, and in the first clip the man shouting in the background had been shouting back and forth with the bus driver for 30 minutes.  What they were talking about we will never know. For those who experience motion sickness easily, this is your warning.

Shkodra, Albania

After a rain-soaked night in the town of Ulcinj (the streets were literally turned into rivers) we left Montenegro bright and early for the Albanian city of Shkoder.  Albania. Wow.  Definitely an eye opener.  Far different from its European counterparts, our first look at Albania revealed a much poorer, much dirtier country desperately trying to shake the remains of communism and the turmoil of the 1990’s.  Upon arrival, it was quite clear that travelling through Albania was going to require a bit more creativity.  With little in the way of tourist development, Shkoder had no friendly tourist information office to direct our inquiries to and no free maps of the city.  The bus pulled up to the central traffic circle (no bus station) and we disembarked.  Thanks to our “bible” (the lonely planet) we knew of a near-by hotel wakjfsoii.  Whoa! Sorry, we are riding this crazy bus through the mountains of

Albania and our seat just broke!  Literally pitched over backwards spilling us into the aisle!  No joke!  Jebus! See picture for proof!!! Anyways, where were we.  Oh, wait, now the man beside us is puking in a bag.  The roads are quite windy and bumpy here and the buses offer courtesy barf bags as you get on.  At first we were not sure why they were handing out these blue plastic bags but it soon became apparent.  O.k., back to Shkodra.  Our first obstacle was crossing the road.  Sounds simple, but in Albania this can prove a very difficult and very dangerous task.  A German fellow we met described traffic in Albania best.  There are two traffic rules to follow:  1.  Do what you want and 2.  Pray that it works!  The traffic circle we had to cross was comprised of three, sometimes four (and occasionally five when impatient drivers wanted to skip traffic) lanes of traffic, which seemed to be able to switch lanes at a whim.  Unsure of how to proceed we first watched the locals as they bravely waded out into traffic in what can only be described as a human game of frogger.  (For those of you unfamiliar with that ancient arcade game you can google it or ask a child of the 80’s).  After a couple of close calls we managed to negotiate our way through the torrent and find the hotel.  The hotel staff were very friendly and very helpful.  In fact, as we would soon find out, all Albanians are very friendly and very helpful.  What Albania lacks in organized tourist information they make up for in a people ready and willing to help travelers out on their journey.  If you ask an Albanian where something is he or she will not try and tell you but take time out of his or her day to show you, sometimes walking you a kilometer out of his or her way!  Through the hotel we were able to organize a trip to Theth departing at 7:00am the next day.  We found a place to stay and spent the remainder of the day touring the city and visiting the castle, Rozafa fortress.  The castle is of great importance to the people of Albania.  The castle itself has been largely restored but many original buildings still stand.  The walk home for the castle turned into a mad dash as we raced to avoid the rain, and rain it did!  Buckets!  Another day of rivers in the streets.  After a scrumptious traditional Albanian meal we retired for the night to get up early for our trip to Theth.  

Zabjlak, Montenegro

High in the mountains of Durmitor National Park in the north of Montenegro lies Zabjlak.  This tiny mountain town lies minutes away from the Tara River Canyon which boasts depths only 200m shy of those of the Grand Canyon.  The town is growing rapidly as incredible skiing, hiking and world class white water rafting brings more tourists every year.  In the spring, the rafting apparently reaches class 4 levels.  Zabjlak seemed to J and A like Jasper might have looked like way back in its early stages.  J and A signed up for the rafting tour and after a morning of sitting by the river side enjoying homemade cheese and greasy donut like pastries we hit the water.  Oh, let's not forget a couple of shots of mysterious homemade moonshine (much like rocket fuel) at 10:00 am to wake you up for the afternoon rafting.  Unfortunately , the rafting in the autumn months is quite tame compared to the spring.  In fact we barely got wet.  However, the views as we cruised down the Tara river were stunning.  One of the sights to behold is the Tara river bridge, spanning the canyon 152m above the river.  Designed and built by a famous Montenegrin architect (name forgotten) the same architect was ordered to destroy parts of the bridge just after its completion with the start of WWII.  He then rebuilt the destroyed sections with the end of the war.  Afterwards we hiked up to the highest point of the Canyon and looked out over the Tara River.  Amazing.  

Kotor and area, Montenergo

Kotor was a great spot to set up base camp for a few days while J and A explored the nearby sites.  Kotor lies at the southern end of the innermost arm of the Bay of Kotor.  Nestled between the bay and the slopes of Mount Lovcen lies Kotor’s  Stari Grad or “old town”.  Although this quaint old town pales in comparison to Dubrovnik, the old fortifications stretching up 1200m to the remnants of the Castle St. John make a sensational sight.  A and J took the 1350 odd steps up to the castle and were not disappointed.  The next morning they rented yet another hot rod car (a Suzuki) just for the day.  A drive up the back route to Lovcen National park and the town of Cetinje awarded breathtaking views of the whole bay.  Cetinje, the old capital, is home to one of the most interesting relics J and A have come across.  Stowed away in the Centinje monestary in a secure and ornate casket is the mumified hand of St. John the Baptist and a piece of the Holy Cross (supposedly). They were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of these rare artifacts when the local priest opened the casket. Apparently, this is very rare. Unfortunately, J and A were too chicken to take photos. Next, they travelled back down to the coast to see the very famous Sveti Stefan Stari Grad (which unfortunately has been bought up and is now being turned into a huge resort for the rich and famous) and to lie on the beach.  A late stroll through the old town in Budva finshed off the tour and they returned to Kotor to catch a bus to Zabljak the next day.  This little tour also yielded one of Jeff’s favorite quotes for the trip.  As J and A zipped past one of the many beaches on the coast, Anelia suddenly leaned forward in her seat exclaiming, “there's a camel on the beach! Oh.. nope.. its just some woman.”

Pictures 1. Beach of Sveti Stefan   2. Sveti Stefan old town   3.  Budva beach   4. Anelia and St. John's casket   5.  Cetinje  6.  Njegos Mausoleum  7.  Bay of Kotor   8,9,11.  St. John's castle walls  10. Kotor's old town  12. Kotor