Today, we visited the very fine UNESCO-protected archaeological site of Butrint – and I thought about posting some photos for you. But instead, I was prompted by our leave-taking from our hotel this morning (but not from Albania – we have another two nights) to do a post of stories of some of the people we have encountered – the loveliest, most friendly, charming people ever. (And I don’t have any photos of the many, many kind men who have helped me reverse in the most difficult circumstances including this morning in the middle of the main pedestrian street in Gyrokaster …)
First, Tatiana. Tatiana’s family built what is now one of the UNESCO-protected buildings in 1812, and she, her husband and sons turned it into a showpiece of a traditional building:
Tatiana was so sweet, warm and generous that leaving was genuinely sad – she and I both had tears in our eyes (Google Translate really did the communication trick!). And then she gave us a little bottle of raki and homemade jam – so sweet of her. So here she is with Sue:
Second, Edward (sp?) and his wife ran the guesthouse in Theth in the mountains. He even parked my car for me in very difficult circumstances! And here they are, with Sue – we decided that she was the brains behind the business and kept him in line as she yelled across the garden to him to fetch and carry.
We told you about the charming Geri and his cousin Elvis who looked after us in the mountains above Bajram Curri. Geri’s father turned up to cut the grass and he turned out to have been the only person with a camera in Bajram Curri during the Communist period, so he took all the wedding photos – and he was keen to take us all together:
We haven’t included all adventures by any means in the blog, and one involved driving out to the Tumulus of Kamenica, apparently one of the most significant prehistoric burial sites in the western Balkans. Three groups of graves have been found with the earliest dating back to 12th or 11th century BC. We arrived at a gate which looked shut until a woman rushed up, looking hot and sweaty, and let us into the tiny museum telling us about the site. She then showed us the site, explaining bits about it through Google Translate (though we didn’t really get the hang of speaking into it). She kept patting my arm, so was obviously quite positive about us. So here’s a picture of her and Sue:
My final picture is this charming and very skilled man who was making very nice images of lizards, frogs etc on old roof tiles outside the castle in Gjirokaster yesterday.
A wonderful finish to the story of your trip to Albania, thank you. Not surprising to know there are platoons of amiable men ready to give you directions and even take the wheel 😆
Not in the least surprising – these guys are everywhere, always ready to signal this way, that way, you’re fine etc – always smiling but not really mocking I think – just helping…
I’ve really enjoyed following this trip, though the driving sounds very daunting. Do they do trains? Lovely photos, I see Albania in a new light!
How lovely that you’ve been following us during this amazing trip. They don’t do many trains – mostly buses: furmans I think they are called. There are always people at the side of the road waiting patiently, with phone in hand, so I’m not sure how efficient the timetables are – but it’s how many people travel. I thoroughly recommend Albania to you! XX
Over the weeks you have captured for us blog readers, a wonderful picture of your journey. To be there must be extraordinary. You must be bursting with joy.
Ah, Nicky – we are, we are. Such an interesting and appealing place, so many stories…
Its the lovely people you meet that makes a trip so memorable!!
You’re completely right! We’ve had so many warm, often tiny, encounters with people here
I was so touched by this post… and indeed Jens and I were commenting yesterday that following your trip has been like a virtual immersion in the culture for us. So interesting and keenly observed, all you have seen! Much love, now from Firenze
So lovely to hear from you – and just across the sea , in Firenze. The charming encounters make me think of your affection for people in Italy.
What a lovely lot of people you have come across in your travels – often those encounters are as memorable as anything else. And, of course you can now say that Elvis is alive and well and living in Albania and what’s more you have met him.
These encounters have been very memorable and lovely. In terms of Elvis, we only learned his name on the second day as we were leaving. We both exclaimed ‘ Elvis?’ and the guy we’d spent most of two days talking to said : ‘ yes, yes, Elvis, as in the rock star’ – like we wouldn’t necessarily have known…