Butrint – Blue Eye Spring – Gjirokaster

Sunday, April 28

Our streak of wonderful breakfasts continued this morning on the rooftop terrace of our hotel.  The sun was shining, the water and skies were blue and the views of Saranda, the bay, and across the water to Corfu were right off a travel poster – if there is such a thing anymore!

Our first stop this morning was Butrint, Albania’s first UNESCO designation.  On a peninsula surrounded by a lake and the Vivari Channel, the site contains both standing ruins and unexcavated areas.  Because the presence of a temple dedicated to Asclepius, the god of healing, many traveled to Butrint in search of comfort and cures during Hellenic times.  The Greek theater has been beautifully revealed, and one of its walls contains several stones inscribed with declarations freeing named slaves and other public announcements.  Following the Greeks, the Romans arrived in the area and extended the area and the structures within the city and its suburbs. Remnants of a forum, shrines, baths, an aqueduct, cisterns, a baptistery, mosaics, necropolis, and basilica from the Roman period have been excavated here.  Subsequent occupiers and builders at the site included the Byzantines, Normans, Venetians, Angevins, Napoleon, and the Ottomans – the full complement of the usual suspects.  It’s a remarkable timeline of successive eras and was a very popular destination on this gorgeous day.  We arrived early when things were quiet, but by the time we left, there were tour groups and other visitors everywhere.  

We stopped for cold drinks on a patio overlooking a beach, several islands, including Corfu, and the crystal clear aqua and navy waters of a white-capped bay.  It was an idyllic scene, but the breeze must have made it chilly for those who were venturing into the water.

Heading inland, we stopped to see the Blue Eye Spring, where clear blue water gushes forth from a depth of at least 150 feet.  The spot quickly forms a fast-flowing river, propels a power plant, supplies water to towns and cities downstream, and eventually reaches the Ionian Sea; it’s quite a phenomenon and attracts lots of visitors.

We continued to Gjirokaster, where we climbed a long way to its hilltop fortress, which dates from at least the 13^th century.  Its 19^th century restoration and expansion by Ali Pasha is an expression of power and monumentality.  Before and during World War II, the Italians and Germans occupied the fortress, the Italians adapting it as a prison at the request of  Albanian King Zog; it once held 5,000 prisoners.  The end of the war created a power vacuum, which the Communists took advantage of to seize control of the town and castle until the fall of the dictatorship in the 1990s. 

The old town of Gjirokaster is a UNESCO-listed site, designated for its heritage as an Ottoman town.  It’s known as the City of Stones, for the main construction material of the old town -- everything from the streets and sidewalks to the roofs of the houses.  Unfortunately, the streets and sidewalks in the old town have all been torn up and the stones are being reset; it’s quite a mess and walking is pretty treacherous.  The shops of the old center, with their wooden and glass storefronts and uniform signage are quite lovely, but they’re dealing with significant disruption to the ambience.

We had a late afternoon late lunch/early dinner just outside town at a restaurant owned by one of Enea’s cousins in the village where Enea’s mother grew up.  We’re far south in Albania, very near the Greek border, and many of the villages here are home to ethnic Greek populations.  

We returned to Gjirokaster’s old town, where we’re spending the night.

A couple of things I forgot to mention about Enea in yesterday’s post.  In a country known for terrible drivers, where traffic “does battle with itself and with pedestrians,” according to one guide book, Enea is the one you’d want behind the wheel.  He never gets flustered, takes it all in stride, and is a really careful driver.  Also, he teaches in a school that trains national guides and everywhere we go, he greets former students, museum curators, restaurateurs, and hotel managers and others.  He also once worked as the chief of staff to the mayor of a municipality, and pilots a boat for tourists, both of which afford him another raft of contacts.  I’ve asked him – only half in jest -- if he knows absolutely everyone in Albania!  We’re in great hands!