With $300 in our collective pocket, my future husband, his little brother, and I chased down the dawn bus from Tirana to Saranda, the southernmost city in Albania.
After traveling 40 miles in 8 hours (which tells you something about Albanian roads), I finally realized the strange noises coming from the back of the bus were coming from a (live) duck in a plastic bag carried by a respectable looking gentleman (which tells you something about Albanian buses).
I took this in stride, in part because I have the blessed talent of being able to sleep on public transport and because, after all, the best way to travel in Albania is with an Albanian watching over you. Or two.
For the next 10 days we alternated between staring at the sea and staring at the sky, taking a break for a well-earned lunch...
Read the rest of: "Sun and Sea in Saranda"» 
The Resurrection of Christ Orthodox cathedral in Korca wasn't consecrated until 2004, which just goes to show how slow the growth of organized religion in Albania has been since the 50-year dry of Communism-as-religion, when churches were converted to things like laundry facilities or simply destroyed.
Read the rest of: "Postcard from Korca"» 
The most celebrated holiday in Albania is New Year's. It seems that
one thing Muslims, Catholics, and Orthodox Christians can all agree on
is fireworks. On New Year's Eve in Tirana the streets are rife with
explosives, nothing is planned but everyone has a vague idea of what's
going down, and the feeling of a good-natured revolution is in the air.
Read the rest of: "New Year's Eve, Albanian Style"» 
I spotted this grandma when I was in a traffic jam on the outskirts of Tirana, the capital city of Albania.
The picture doesn't show it clearly, but the woman is talking on her cell phone and gesturing - all the while walking calmly between 4 lanes of cars and trucks on a dusty highway. To me, this portrait shows a lot about how Albanians, isolated for half a century and now reintroduced to the rest of the world, merge the old with the new. Creative problem solving is a way of life. Hey, if walking down the middle of the highway gets you where you want to be......then go for it!
Butrint is an ancient Roman city not far from Saranda,
overlooking a river valley. To my untrained eye, it appeared
quite well-preserved.
Read the rest of: "Ilyrians and Romans and Greeks, oh my! "»
Albania  |
