Postcards from abroad
Gjirokastra is a fine UNESCO-protected town, home to Ismail Kadare’s (author of Chronicle in Stone, set here) and Enver Hoxha’s families. It is full of wonderful stone mansions, built in the early nineteenth century onwards in the Ottoman style. The castle is high above the town, requiring a schlep up a stone-paved street to reach… Continue reading Gjirokastra – Ottoman mansions and a castle
We drove round the south-eastern end of Albania yesterday, stopping from time to time to give me a break and to view the sights - not so many - on the way. It’s really hot now - expected to be 34 in Girokaster, our current base today - and our car doesn’t have great air… Continue reading Up against the Greek border
If you’re interested in learning something of the turbulent history of this area, join us today on a walk - definitely a walk and not the train - around Korçe. We started early in the morning because of the heat - 31 by midday. Korçe is a charming city with tree-lined boulevards and green parks… Continue reading Korçe – a turbulent history
We left North Macedonia feeling quite pleased with ourselves, and headed to Korce, our next town for a couple of day. We decided to visit a very small church just outside the city, before lunch, and drove up a narrow, steep road through a village to arrive at the church where two other cars had… Continue reading Another day, another ancient church
We drove a few kilometres along Lake Ohrid to a little-used border-crossing into North Macedonia, parking our car on the Albanian side and setting off on foot across the Albanian and then the North Macedonian borders. (Although we had paid the car hire company to take the car into the country, we would have had… Continue reading A walk into North Macedonia