Adventures with Julia

October 8, 2017

We are finally enjoying a warm sunny day at Sveti Stefan after a very stormy first night and a cold windy day yesterday.  We have been for a walk through the Sveti Stefan village and thought about hiking up the mountain to a vista point at a ….yep…monastery.  We came to our senses and decided to enjoy the patios in our suite.  There will be plenty more hiking ahead of us and we need another monastery like we need a hole in the head.

So I am back at trying to catch up with our adventures.  On October 5, we checked out of The Rogner Hotel and went for a walk to Skanderbeg Square.

 

It was just finished in June this year and is really huge.  It covers an equally huge parking lot.

As we walked around we took a photo of the legendary natwonalhero, George Kastrioti, aka Skanderbeg, who in the 15th century fought off the Ottoman armies for more than 20 years.

Statues of him are all over the country.  Also fronting the square are the National Museum and the Ethan Beg Mosque.

The mosque was built by the great grandson of the founder of the city, Suleman Bargjini, who built a house, bakery and mosque on the site in 1614.  Tirana became the official capital of Albania in 1924.

 

 

 

 

 

It was planned by Austrian architects and built and occupied by Italians under Mussolini until 1943.  The mosque was closed by the dictator Hoxha, but saved from destruction to avoid offending too many people.  Is nice inside, but not special.

Forgot to take a photo of the exterior.

Then we went to the National Museum.  We asked Elvis to show us only the most interesting parts, so, except for stopping at another statue of Skanderbeg where we got close to his famous helmet with a goat head on top, we skipped over ancient and medieval history and got to the parts that interest him, which are 20th century history.

 

 

 

We say photos of Mother Teresa, especially in her youth, and a whole section about Fascists, Nazis, Communists, including one of the guns that killed Mussolini.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learned about Ismail Qemani, who was a member of the Albanian national movement, is considered the founder of Independent Albania and was its first president, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister from 1912 to 1914 until he was forced to step down by the International powers of the day.

 

 

Back in the car we drove through the city streets full of maple trees and many modern new buildings.  We also passed Enver Hoxha’s house when he was president as well as the Office of the current president a few doors away.  Traffic was very heavy, but we eventually left the capital behind as we drove north to Kruja.

 

 

We slowed down as we drove through Fushe-Kruja so we could see George W’s statue and the restaurant where he had a coffee in 2007.  He came to this town to visit an orphanage and the place has never been the same.

 

Then we climbed up and up toward Kruja.  The road got steeper and curvier.  Finally we reached the town, but Ardi kept on driving higher until we were at the top of the mountain.  We went for the view, Elvis said, and it was pretty good, but hazy.  I was happier when we got back down mountain and into the town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kruje is a historic and picturesque town situated on a hillside.  Unbeknownst to us, it was the stronghold …..of  course….of, the national hero, Skanderbeg.

He had a fortified castle here that held off the Ottomans for more than 2 decades and was the center of Albanian resistance until his death in 1468.  Between 1443 and 1468, Albania was a free country under Skanderbeg’s rule.

 

 

The Ottoman’s tried and failed three times to capture this castle.

We checked into our hotel and had lunch while viewing the castle.  It was very picturesque, especially from our hotel room, but not so interesting up close.

However, the houses within the fortified walls certainly were.  There are several that are still occupied as well as one that has been made into a museum.  It is a 200 year old house built by a wealthy Albanian, who had been an Ottoman general, Kaplan Pasha Toptani.  As houses go, it was very large, with many rooms to house a big family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After visiting it we struck out to explore the rest of the castle and found a Bektashi Teqe (mosque for the Bektashi sect) that had green trim and green coffins inside.  Apparently green is their favorite color.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we found a tunnel that led down and out–a great escape.  Fun to follow it, but no where to go but back.  So we went around the back side of the castle and found doors that lead into homes that were clearly in use.

Encountered one lady who posed for us and another who was gardening in front of her house.  There were no tourists around anywhere, except us.  Finally we ended back where we started and hiked down the hill into town.

 

 

 

 

Our hotel, the Panorama, was right in the middle of the scene.  We wandered around the shops, had dinner at the hotel (not very good) and went to bed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the morning, October 6, 2017, we took it easy and wandered through the bazaar taking photos and chatting with locals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We bought slippers we do not need and had our photo taken with hats made from the same felt material.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, we left Kurja so we would arrive timely at our prebooked lunch stop, Mrizi i Zanave.

About 20 minutes from our destination the sky opened up and poured rain as we passed cows, pigs and sheep along a narrow country lane to nowhere, except this restaurant.

 

 

 

Turns out the owner/chef was from here, went to Italy to learn cooking and returned to his home village to start a small restaurant.

It grew and grew until now he employs 45 staff on site and supports 300 nearby families by purchasing the products they grow for the restaurant.   It was quite an experience.

The place was packed for mid

week lunch.  There was no menu.  They serve an abundant anti pasta plate followed by soup if you want it (we did and it was the best soup I have had on this trip), a main course and dessert.  Our main course included goat, pork and duck.  I liked the duck best.

The food, especially the desserts, were delightfully  presented and delicious.  Dessert was crazy.  Four different items came and, as stuffed as we were, we ate them all.  First was a cheese cake with pomegranates, then a frozen cabernet sorbet on a grape vine stick, a coffee flavored panna cotta sprinkled with roasted coffee beans and finally, a lava cake to die for.

During the meal, the owner, Altin, came by to greet us as we had told the staff we knew a friend of his, Debbie Thomas.  (Debbie is Barbara and Ed Thomas’s daughter and was a Peace Corp volunteer in Albania for the last 2 years.)  He was very pleasant and told us how grateful he is to be able to help so many people while selling great food and making money too.

 

 

 

 

By the time we rolled out of the restaurant we were feeling like the pigs we saw on the way there.  But, in an hour we were at the town of Shkoder, which is a town with Austrian influences and the home of one last major castle and a museum Debbie told us not to miss.  As it was still raining, we went to the Marubi National Museum of Photography first.  It was in the heart of the city so we got to see a bit of town.  It contains a collection of over 500,000 black and white images mainly by the Marubi family dating back to 1858.  Many images demonstrated manipulation of photographs.  People were removed or added depending on the desire of the buyer.  Many political figures found themselves erased from history through photo manipulation.  There was a section of crowd photos were interesting to look at when you did not know why the crowd had formed.  The suggestion was that each crowd was saying “Long Live” whatever.    It was a very interesting exhibit.  So much so that I forgot to take any photos of the photos.

Fortunately, the rain stopped and we even had a bit if sun to enjoy the castle.  For me, this was the best castle we have seen on the trip.

It is a 400BC fortress made of three levels that are still very complete.  The first level was for the army, the second level for for officers and civilians and the last level was for the leader and his entourage.

 

 

 

This was another castle that was never taken.  No surprise a it was quite high and nearly surrounded by rivers.  There were also the remains of St Stephens Church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back on the road, we passed quickly out of Albanian and into Montenegro.  It was 7:30 by the time we reached Sveti Stefan and our room at the Aman.  We were very tired of being on the road and glad to stop.  We said good bye to Elvis and Ardi, who had been with us for 7 days, more than long enough.  Time to have time off.

Not at all hungry after our orgy at Mrizi Zanave, we checked out our digs and kicked back until bed time.

The sky was black and ominous except for where the moon peeked through a hole in the clouds.   Not long after we went to bed, the storm picked up steam.  The wind and rain blew in gusts all night long, the shutters banged against the walls and some were ripped from the building.  In an effort to close shutters, Mark found water on the floor and realized there were leaks in addition to ripped shutters. Major lightening and thunder seemed immediately overhead and it was nearly impossible to sleep.  What a night.

 

 

 

 

When we went to breakfast the next morning, October 7, 2017, the mess was everywhere.  Downed trees and limbs, greenery ripped up, broken shutters hanging on many buildings.  Although the rain stopped, the wind kept up and the sky stayed overcast.  The staff looked beleaguered.

Breakfast was served.  No buffet.  How nice is that?!  Afterward, we walked around the island as we had not seen it in the dark when we arrived.

 

 

 

Even though the place was a mess, we could see how pleasant the facility is and why people come here.

 

 

 

 

We took a bunch of pictures and spent most of the day relaxing, reading and writing and I had a deep tissue massage almost as good a I get from Greg Whitewater at home.

 

 

 

 

We walked off the island to a place called Olive for dinner.  Mark had a good pasta dish and I had lobster.  It was very difficult to eat as the shell was very thick and tough.  The waiter ended up opening it for me and I did not bother with the little legs as I usually do.

 

 

The wind had quieted down and the sky was clearing when we went to bed for a good night’s sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This morning, October 8, 2017, we walked around the village of Sveti Stefan and then came back to our room to enjoy the day on our 2 patios.  The sun was out and we moved with it from one patio to the other.

I learned that the Island was inhabited by fishermen  starting in the 15th century. By the 19th century there were 4 churches, 36 houses and 400 people.  Early in the 20th century the island lost its strategic importance and people started leaving the island due to war, hunger and immigration to America.  By 1912 there were only 150 people and by 1950 there were only 20.   The Communists evicted the last few people and converted the island into a city-hotel during the 50’s.  The resort opened in 1960 with 120 rooms and became very popular and famous among the jet set.  People like Sofia Loren, Kirk Douglas and Bobby Fisher stayed here.   During the 90’s the place the break up of Yugoslavia saw the decline of the resort.  Finally in 2007, Aman Resorts won a contract to revitalize the property.  It reopened in 2009 with 52 rooms, each uniquely different, and is still go strong.

At 2pm Mark went to the spa for a Thai massage.  He thoroughly enjoyed it.  In the late afternoon we went for a walk on the beach next to the hotel and relaxed before dinner.  I suppose this is more than enough photos and info about  Sveti Stefan.  You might notice that we really enjoyed this place and hate to leave.

It is now the morning of October 9, our 24th anniversary, and we head for Dubrovnik.