Albania is Europe’s only Muslim-majority country, it declared itself the world’s first atheist state in 1967 with the fall of communism in Albania in 1991, the practice of religion slowly increased. Also following the collapse of communism, a lack of government investment into alternative industries has left many people without jobs and pushed the younger generation to emigrate. So it was not surprising that we found a very tired looking Albania.
Albanian Flag
We stayed in Durrës it is a port city on the Adriatic Sea in western Albania, west of the capital, Tirana. It’s known for its huge Roman amphitheatre. This was my least favourite place on our travels so far. I think it was the rubbish the bad smells and how tired the place looks. I also got food poisoning and I was quite sick for a few days. I had a look on line to see what the problem with rubbish is in Albania as the people themselves are very clean and dress very nicely.
This is what I found. It explains that a lack of proper waste management policies in Albania is the issue, environmentalists are concerned as Albania has many rivers and the rivers have been transformed into canals that collect trash coming from far-flung villages, big cities, and all this ends up in the sea. The currents in the Adriatic Sea flow from south to north—and so flows the waste and pollutes the northern Adriatic coast. Seemingly it has ended up as far as Dubrovnik. I hope this is on the Albian governments agenda to address asap for the sake of its own people and the planet as a whole.
Durres does have a lovely town square that locals gather when it cools down in evening. This is where they hold concerts and exhibitions. We did visit the Roman amphitheatre and the Venetian Tower stands as one of the most interesting and beautiful historical defensive structures in Durrës it has been renovated and transformed into the first Albanian Heritage Interpretation Center and now offers visitors the chance to explore historical events and places through state-of-the-art digital and multimedia tools. These include VR headsets, audio guides, dome multimedia projections and other activities, which combine entertainment with a more in-depth look at the city’s ancient history.
If Albania clean up its act, then I am sure they will attract more visitors. From Albania we travelled by bus to Lake Ohrid in North Macedonia.
North Macedonia is is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the north.
Flag of North Macedonia
Our first stop was lake Ohrid we had 4 nights here, it is a beautiful part of North Macedonia. It is one of Europe’s deepest and oldest lakes, with a unique aquatic ecosystem of worldwide importance, with more than 200 endemic species. Our accommodation had views of the lake which was very nice.
We visited Saint John at Kaneo Church, it is a Macedonian Orthodox church situated on the cliff over Kaneo Beach overlooking Lake Ohrid the views are amazing from here. Our next stop was the Church of St. Sophia, The church is one of the most important monuments of North Macedonia, housing architecture and art from the Middle Ages, we then moved onto the ancient theatre, The open theatre has a perfect location: the two hills that surround it keep it protected from winds that could interfere with acoustics performances. During Roman times, the theatre was also used for gladiator fights. However, since the theatre was also a site of executions of Christians by the Romans, it rapidly turned to a highly disliked site by the locals. In fact, as a result of this dislike, the theatre was abandoned and buried by the locals after the demise of the Roman Empire. This allowed for most of the structure to be well preserved, only to be uncovered accidentally in the 1980s. lastly we stopped at the old town. It has lots of shops, restaurants, Tea houses and coffee cafes. There is a really nice cosy feel to the town. The people are very friendy.
We did a day cruise to The monastery of St. Naum on the Armada Boat The cruise to the monastery is approximately 1h20min one direction. We cruised along the east coast of Lake Ohrid which is the most beautiful part of the lake, we enjoy magnificent view of the mountain and national park Galicica. Our first stop was the museum on water “Bay of bones” which is replica of pre-historic settlement dating from the period XII-VII Century BC. At the monastery complex, we had plenty of time to visit the church of St. Naum, Naum’s Church of the Holy Archangels (AD 900) was destroyed by the Ottomans in the 15th century and reincarnated as the Church of Sveti Naum when it was rebuilt between the 16th and 17th centuries as a multidomed, Byzantine-style structure on this cliff. Surrounding the core of the complex is a tranquil garden looped by fountains, with roses and peacocks. We had a lovely lunch in one of the restaurants and enjoy some time on the beach. Orchid is really a beautiful place to visit.
The gardens around The monastery of St. Naum
We got a bus from Lake Ohrid to the Capital of North Macedonia Skopje, it is on the banks of the Vardar River amid this mountainous country. We stayed very close to the city centre it was a great spot and very trendy. There are lots of cool Bars and cafes. One thing I can say after our visit to Macedonia Square is that the Macedonians love huge Statues, they also have some very nice sculptures.
Skopje fortress is thought to have been built during the rule of emperor Justinian I and further construction during the 10th and 11th centuries over the remains of emperor Justinian’s Byzantine fortress. There are lovely view from the fortress of the whole City, the entrance is free and from there it is a a short trip from the Old Bazaar. The Bazaar is worth a visit. Another thing we noticed is that Skopje has the best Scooters/Vespa’s I have ever seen amazing colour and very cute.
We visited Mother Teresa Memorial House a Museum in Skopje, Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on August 26 1910 in Skopje, Macedonia, in the former Yugoslavia, she was the youngest of three children. It was very interesting to read about her life.
Matka lake and canyon is the oldest artificial lake in Macedonia, with its reservoir being built in 1938. It was created by damming the Treska River with the dam of St. Andrew and forming an artificial reservoir in the Matka Canyon. It is a beautiful place to visit you you can rent a boat, kayak, visit monasteries or go hiking. We wanted to visit the caves so took Matka Canyon boat tours that take about 2 hours in total. You will get to the entrance of the cave by boat and then it is a short walk through the caves where you can see lots of stalagmites, stalactites, dripstone pillars and deep holes. There is a walkway through the caves and some parts are colourful illuminated. We took a Kayak out for about an hour and although the water was cold it was great to be able to have a swim as it was a very hot day.
We loved Macedonia there is lots to do and see. The people are very nice and I think this is going to be a popular tourist destination. So glad we had this on our list of places to visit. As it was only a 2 hour bus journey from North Macedonia to Kosovo we headed off.
Kosovo. The Flag of Kosovo with its blue background, and six stars. The stars are officially meant to symbolize Kosovo’s six major ethnic groups: Albanians, Serbs, Bosniaks, Turks, Romani and Gorani. A landlocked country, Kosovo is bordered by Serbia, North Macedonia , Albania and Montenegro. Kosovo, is the smallest country in the Balkans.
We did not know a lot about Kosovo except that the Cranberries and Sinead O Connor had sang about the war in Kosovo. Pristina is the capital and largest city of Kosovo with over 400.000 inhabitants, making it the administrative center. The majority of the population is ethnic Albanian. It is also the university center of students from neighbouring countries as Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. We stayed very close to the city Centre, it is not a very big city but what is there is good. They have many places of worship for such a small city.
We visited the National Library in Prishtina, it was designed by Croatian architect Andrija Mutnjakovic and opened in 1982. The library, has 73 small domes. When Mutnjakovic was commissioned to design a library for the ex-Yugoslavian province, the tension between Albanian and Serbian Kosovars was already palpable. Looking for a unifying symbol, he came up with the cube and dome, common features of the Ottoman and Byzantine architectural styles that define the appearance of the region, it is an impressive building but I felt it had a brutalist appearance.
On February 17, 2008, the government of the Republic of Kosovo declared independence from Serbia and unveiled this monument. “Newborn”, a single English word in a country dominated by the Albanian language, represents the birth of a new country, its positive connotations, and the potential for a modern, democratic Kosovo. At its unveiling, it was announced that the letters would be repainted annually to celebrate another year of freedom but The monument, which has already turned into a symbol that conveys a different message every year, is coloured blue and yellow this year and contains a warning against the possible destruction of the republic.
Pristina has some very good restaurants. One of the restaurants we really enjoyed was a steak restaurant called Sarajevo. The food was very good.
We also found a Lounge called after me, the only problem was that it did not sell alcohol !!!
We had a lovely time in Kosovo. From here we flew to Panama.