Today we do (yet another) tour.
We escape the mayhem of Tirana (pop. a bit over 500,000). The traffic is mad.
First stop is Durrës to the west of Tirana - on the Adriatic coast.
It is the 2nd biggest city in Albania and one of the oldest and most significant port cities in the Balkans with ships going daily to and from to Bari in Italy.
We visit the Durrës Amphitheatre of Emperor Hadrian, the 2nd biggest biggest amphitheater in the Balkans, built during the Roman Empire and featuring 15,000 seats.
The Illyrian city walls date back to the 5th century and sections are still intact.
Next, the Venetian Tower: built in the 6th century, it was considered to be one of the most powerful fortresses along the western coast of the Adriatic and rebuilt in the first half of the 15th century when Durrës was ruled by the Republic of Venice.
We walked a little along the Vollga Promenade.
And visited one of the beach resorts - looked very nice!
It is about an hour’s drive to Berat and its imposing Castle overlooking modern-day Berat and the Osum river.
The Castle is a huge compound, now inhabited by townspeople. Within its walls are Byzantine churches and we visit a couple of these: there are beautiful frescoes on the walls and ceilings although some have been damaged by the Communists during WWII.
We enjoy our sandwich with a wine/beer here at one of the many restaurants.
It has been a hot day - at least 26 deg C. Down from the Castle, in new Berat, we enjoy an icecream and have a bit of a look around.
We have 120 kms back to Tirana passing by fields and fields of olive trees and some vineyards. Bledar our guide stops at the pretty town of Belsh which is on a lake.
From here it is an incredible freeway back to Tirana. Bledar drives us up to a panoramic viewpoint Te Pamja overlooking the city along a very narrow winding road and so ends a very good day of sightseeing.
Dinner at the same place as last night - service a bit haphazard but food is good.
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