The sun rose over the mountains of Albania at 5:11 a.m. A fresh six-knot breeze from the northeast was with us as we entered the beautiful Corfu channel. The lushly green Greek isle of Corfu is only 1½ miles distant from the Albanian mainland. We docked in the small port city of Sarandë and boarded buses for our trip to the UNESCO World Heritage site of ancient Butrint. Albania was off limits to visitors for many years and isolated from the world by an oppressive communist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha. The residue of those years was apparent as we drove along the roads with many half-finished buildings. Today the average annual salary is about $3000 with approximately 15% unemployment. The best five-star hotel in Sarandë is less than $100 per day.
We arrived at the beautiful ancient city of Butrint and walked all over its precincts. The Italians under Mussolini’s direction led by the distinguished archaeologist Luigi Ugolino undertook the excavations here in the late 1920s. The layers of architectural history revealed are stunning from the 4th century Hellenistic B.C. structures to the 16th century Venetian castle. The Greek theatre is surely one of the most impressive sites as it is cut into the hillside, has quite good acoustics, and originally sat 2,500 in the audience. The 6th century Byzantine baptistery has the most wonderful mosaic floor and immersion baptismal font. Much of the ancient city is at sea level, but we pushed on and reached the Venetian fortress and very good museum at the top of the hill.
After leaving Butrint we returned to Sarandë and visited the Ottoman fortress built at the summit of the mountain. Musicians in traditional dress greeted us. One man in traditional dress played a simple flute-like panpipe that clearly had its roots in pre-history. There we were were treated to a sampling of delicious Albanian wines and beer and assorted local appetizers. We retuned to the Sea Cloud for lunch.
After lunch Tom Heffernan gave a lecture on the Fourth Crusade and Venice’s maritime and trade dominance over the Adriatic and the Aegean. Minutes after the talk Tom O’Brien announced there would be an opportunity for a swim off the ship. About 25 hardy souls braved the 69-degree water. It was exhilarating and certainly got your attention.
We had cocktails in the beautiful evening sunshine and a barbecue dinner on the lido at 7:30. What a wonderfully full day. Tonight we sail on to Durres and the capital of Albania Tirana.
