Albania, Communism and Blue birds: Beaches, Mountains Steeped in History

By Dr Chitra Gopinathan

Chitra Gopinathan is a Consultant Anaesthetist working at Queens Hospital in Romford. Her hobbies and passions are varied. She enjoys the creative side of herself. She attempts a bit of writing and drawing when she gets the chance and feels inspired. She has a blog site, ‘Chitra’s musings’ at gchitra.com. Although it was a regular feature, it has now become a bit adhoc as she puts it. She enjoys reading, travelling and eating out.

Ervin’s car meanders along the narrow coastal road towards the Cape of Rodon. We are surrounded by lush greenery, the only added colours are provided by the diverse wildflowers which can be seen in groups or dotted amongst the foliage. The most vibrant being the poppies which share the same hue as the national flag with its black stamen and pistol trying to take the place of the double headed eagle. Then I see them, perched high up on the power wires and covered in blue plumes. “Can it be a kingfisher?”, I wonder loudly. “Probably not”, I continue, “they don’t fly in flocks”. Erwin, our guide, is a wealth of knowledge but fauna and flora are not his fortes. I try to google to get some information. It is not long before we reach the barrier to the entrance of one of Albania’s scenic beauty spots. There are only two other cars in the open parking area which we later find out belongs to the caretaker of the St Anthony’s church and a fisherman trying to catch sea bream from the rocky pier.

Albania was not a country in our radar of places to visit. “Why Albania?”, asked Sabine, our guide for the Capital’s walking tour on Wednesday and then Ervin. Albania is not in the EU, hasn’t been invaded by massive tourism yet and was one of the places recommended at the ‘Times-Destination show’ was my response. When we reached our resort a few days ago, it felt similar to resorts we’ve stayed in around the world and the drive from the airport did not reveal anything special. And yet appearances can be deceptive. Ervin explains how and why Albania differs from its neighbouring Balkan countries. Albania’s history, he says, he sees it in layers. The name he mentions often is Skanderbeg, the 15th century national hero and military commander named after Alexander the Great. The Ottoman Empire ruled over the country from the fourteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth. Skanderbeg was able to provide a major resistance against the Ottomans during his lifetime. Christianity was the major religion before the Ottoman occupation and evidence towards both these periods can be seen in the number of churches and mosques dotted around the country. Communism arrived in the twentieth century and Albania was declared an atheist state during this period. Churches and mosques were destroyed or desecrated and priests and imams tortured, imprisoned or killed. The religious buildings that survived were the ones used as depots, schools or halls for games during the communist era. Most of the frescoes and icons in these structures were painted over or destroyed. Some survived and some painfully restored. The other main interest of the paranoid communist regime was to build expensive bunkers for defence purposes while other countries built up their economy. The number of these bunkers is unclear but is said to be in their hundreds of thousands and can be seen dotted around Albania. Two of the largest underground bunkers in Tirana have been converted into museums.

The Cape of Rodon is a rocky cape situated not far from our resort and to the north of Duress. From our parking spot at the Cape of Rodon, we walk to the church, peer into the bunkers and abandoned tunnels, walk along the beach front and rocky pier where the lone fisherman is only too happy to chat with Ervin. Another narrow path up the hill leads us to larger bunkers carved into the cliff front and from a vantage point higher up we can see the ruins of the 15th century Skanderbeg castle overlooking the Adriatic Sea. As we walk back to the car park we pass a couple and a family who have come to spend the afternoon here. With the temperature hovering around the twenty mark it has been a pleasant and peaceful morning. Ervin normally combines this tour with a relaxing trip to the beach but we’ve asked to go to Kruja instead. He finds a scenic route which he has never taken before. Even though he’s got the satnav connected he still asks for guidance from the locals who are only too happy to help. There’s hardly any traffic on the roads but at one point we have to stop for sheep and goats to move out of our way. The shepherd on a donkey stops to talk to Ervin while his wife moves the herd along.

At one of the hilltop restaurants we stop for a comfort break and coffee with a view. I show the owner the google picture of the birds I saw earlier. He doesn’t know the name but says he sees them for a very short period around this time of the year. The only other traffic we encounter is when we reach Fushë Krujë where there’s a square and bakery named after George Bush. During his visit here in 2007 the President had his watch stolen allegedly, no one knows the actual truth apart from his entourage. We reach the village of Kruja where Skanderbeg’s Kruja castle sits atop a hill. It is almost one in the afternoon and we decide to have lunch before embarking on a walk along the medieval cobbled streets to visit the castle ruins, two museums and bazaar for some souvenir shopping.

As the day comes to an end and Ervin drives us back to the resort, I look back on the few days we’ve spent here. The first couple were spent with day trips to the capital, Tirana and then to Duress, the nearest city to our hotel. At Tirana we did a 2 hour guided walking tour with Sabine who showed us the important sights near Skanderbeg square and in Duress, we walked around the second century Roman amphitheater and along the promenade before settling for a leisurely lunch at one of the sea side restaurants.

On Saturday Ervin took us to Berat. The historic centre of Berat is one of Albania’s four World Unesco Heritage sites and is located in the Osum river valley in Central Albania. The fortified town centre houses the thirteenth century Berat castle, the origin of which dates back to the fourth century. At our destination Ervin drove through the narrow entrance to the fortified city and made his way up the cobbled street to find a parking spot in front of a quaint restaurant which we find out is not only steeped in history but also has breathtaking views. The basement of the restaurant showcases a centuries old kitchen fully equipped with ancient utensils which we can see through a reinforced glass floor. The waiter enthusiastically explains the history of the building, which Ervin translates, and serves us coffee. He then plies us with delicious home baked cherry cakes on the house. I couldn’t think of a better way to get introduced to Berat, a living museum, where Islamic and orthodox Christian religions and cultures coexisted through the centuries. We had ample time to explore the Onufri museum and take in the views before settling for a traditional Albanian lunch in a rustic tavern overlooking the valley. In the afternoon we drove to Mangalem, one of Berat’s two Ottoman quarters, where we visited the mosque and walked the narrow roads between the ottoman era white brick cliff houses which look as if they are stacked one upon the other from a distance. Everywhere we turned Ervin was greeted by his friends and distant family. One of the ladies invited us to visit her house but due to time constraints we had to decline the offer. Another lady was manning the only Jewish museum in the city. We had a quick look around while Ervin exchanged chitchat with her and were surprised to learn that between 1942 and 45, sixty three Berat Muslim and Christian families housed and protected over 600 Jews from Nazi persecution. They arrived in Berat from as far away as Germany, Austria and Spain. I also read that following this period when the communist took over power the sheltered families were able to return the favour and help their protectors.

Our visit to Albania was brief but enough to give us a taste of this picturesque country with its troubled past. No visit to Albania is complete without mentioning Albania’s famous daughter ‘Mother Tereza’. It is difficult to not be aware from the time you arrive at the airport which is named after the Nobel laureate. Our trip with Ervin is coming to an end and he drops us off at our resort. We cannot thank him enough for the two wonderful day trips we’ve had with him. “Goodbyes are always sad”, he says and in this case it really was.