Pacim Saranda, Yia sou Corfu

June 28, 2012

Saranda, Albania









Pacim Saranda, Yia sou Corfu

For my final evening in Albania, the students and staff of the field school treated me to a special going away dinner in my honor. I was suitably impressed that we had to pile in to two large taxis and drive up a winding, dusty, mostly dirt road up the side of a mountain just to the South of Saranda to a large Castle that towers over the town.

Lee & Derek

Avery

Nick



The Lekures Castle dates from the 16^th Century and commands a spectacular view overlooking Saranda harbor, Corfu and the surrounding hills and mountains. It was believed to have been built in 1537 by Sultan Suleyman who used it as a base in his takeover of nearby Corfu Island. The castle is square in shape and retains two of its original turrets that offer spectacular views.



Lee





Today the Castle is a popular and by Albanian standards, upscale restaurant featuring traditional Albanian cuisine with a nod to Greek food as well due to the proximity of Greece. Before settling in to eat, we took time to explore the castle, take a few photos and watch as the entire castle was slowly and eerily engulfed by a strange thick fog as a cloud moved in off of the Ionian Sea. It made for some spooky affects and really interesting photo opportunities, though even the photos cannot possibly capture the atmosphere that was created.



Lee & Michael



As quickly as it came on, the fog passed and a beautiful moonlight night for my final meal in Albania greeted us. The next morning I had a few goodbyes to say to the class and then I was off on the ferry to Corfu, where I had 8 hours before my flight to explore the city in much more detail than I did on my first pass through.









The city is beautiful, full of narrow cobblestoned streets with quaint shops, cafes and restaurants. A popular tourist destination, Corfu is beautiful. The entire old town section is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The town is known for its beautiful beaches and coastline as well as the two magnificent castles that are found there. Corfu city was once known as Kastropolis (Castle City) because of the historic structures.







I spent much of the day exploring the castles and the beautiful structures, grounds and waterfront locations. The architecture and splendor of the Greek structures is incredible. It was a beautiful summer day and I just reveled in the history and fascinating beauty of the place. I found plenty of time to have a delightful Greek lunch and some Greek beer at a cool little bistro in old town that had been suggested by our friends Brewster & Lynn, who have spent a lot of time in Corfu.







I perused the little shops and even visited my first ever “Fish Spa”, which is basically a place where you can dip your hands, feet or even entire body in a fish tank filled with tiny fish imported from Israel that make a meal of the dead skin on your body as they swarm over you and nibble at your skin. It is an strange feeling, but I must admit after soaking my feet in a vat of the fish for 30 minutes, I did feel much better, my skin felt smooth and refreshed.









It was a great day in Corfu and I felt relaxed and refreshed as I caught my cab to the Corfu airport to catch my flight to Dusseldorf- where a late night arrival and overnight stay awaited me.

Exploring Saranda

June 27, 2012







Howard

Exploring Saranda

I have to admit, like most Americans, I had very little knowledge of Albania before visiting. I had met a number of people from Albania and had heard a great deal from them and from the RPM crew who has been visiting each year for the past six years, but most of my knowledge was colored by not so flattering characterizations in movies and television. I knew for instance that Marko from Tropoja was the murderous leader of the gang of Albanian human traffickers who kidnapped Liam Neeson’s daughter in the movie “Taken”. I also knew about the horrid road conditions and frequency of Mercedes Benz cars from the show “Top Gear”, but that was about it.









What I found was that Saranda was a much more interesting and complex place than any stereotypical representation I might have seen. Though there do seem to be a large number of fancy newish looking Mercedes, most of which are dusty and dirty in a way never seen in the US. It is either nearly impossible to keep cars clean there due to the many dirt roads or there is little desire to keep cars clean. Either way the Mercedes population is more just a mode of transportation than a symbol of luxury. There aren’t many symbols of luxury around anywhere.





Lee

Evan & Derek

You may be surprised to learn that Albania was listed by Lonely Planet travel guides as the number one country in their annual list of top destinations last year. I know I was surprised to learn that, though I am sure it has something to do with the as yet mostly unspoiled by commercialism and capitalism old world feel that is still present there. There are no chain stores, no McDonald’s, very few of the clutter that you find in most places. The stores are mostly small, independently owned and specialize in a very specific type of item.









Most things are readily available and there are plenty of decent restaurants, banks with ATMs that distribute both Euro and the local currency the Lek. There are no movie theatres, at least in Saranda, though there is an outdoor pier with a large screen that serves as a theatre during the evenings in summer, showing American films with Albanian subtitles.









I had plenty of time to explore the city, enjoying the restaurants, markets and bustle of the tourist town life. The pace here is simpler and seemingly less fast paced, that is unless you are driving. Driving rules, if they exist, don’t seem to be followed well. Cars speed along and give little or no right of way to pedestrians or each other for that matter. It is as crazy a driving country as I have ever seen.









One of the more interesting places that I was able to check out was the military base that serves as our base of operations for the field school. Once a thriving military base, full of pil boxes and fortifications, barracks, training facilities and a large radar installation that housed hundreds if not thousands of soldiers, the base is largely abandoned. Only a small crew of soldiers still man the radar installation and the rest of the base has been mostly abandoned and left to become overgrown. Still off-limits to the average Albanian citizens, the base commander allowed us the freedom to explore, swim on the beach as well as operate our vessel and dive operations from the base.









Exploring the abandoned Pil boxes and bunkers, which still had fading paintings of enemy aircraft for easy identification were really interesting to see. Howard & I spent an entire afternoon checking out the massive hill on the base and its many fortifications with stunning vistas overlooking the harbor and over towards Corfu.







Michael & Lee