Durres, Albania

We had left The Boat Club in Chalkoutsi in the middle of a heatwave with temperatures soaring to 45 degrees C.  We had all day in Athens trying to keep cool until we could board our overnight bus to Albania at 6 pm.  I had thought we were planning a fairly relaxing European tour of some of the countries we haven’t been to.  It was only as we were waiting to board the overnight bus to Albania that I realised we have planned to visit 10 countries over the next 6 weeks!  The overnight bus was fairly torturous and I had some serious doubts about our sanity with this peripatetic lifestyle.  

It was with much relief that arrived at our very nice hotel in Durres, Albania.  We spent three days in Durres, an interesting holiday spot on the Adriatic.  Durres has a large port making it one of the most economically important cities in Albania.  It also has some nice beaches, which the locals flock to, and a smattering of historical ruins.

The view from our hotel room

Beach Mediterranean style - we are spoiled in Australia

Plastic lounges on the waterfront

The country of Albania has quite an interesting history.  Like all of this part of the world, Albania was occupied by the various powers of the time but seems to have fared worse than many of the other countries in the region.  Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Venetian, and Ottoman empires ruled the area.  Then from the early 20^th Century, Albania tried to assert itself as a sovereign nation with limited success.  During WWI, Albania was occupied by the Italians and the Nazi’s during WWII.  By the end of WWII Albania had a long way to go to be a viable country.  

 

One of the major factors, to my mind, in Albania’s difficulties to nationhood was the fact that Albania never had schools which taught in the Albanian language.  All the occupying regimes established schools in their own language, excluding the vast majority of the population from education.  As a consequence, by the end of WWII, 85% of the population was illiterate.  After the war the strongman, Hoxha, established a harsh Stalinist regime and killed or imprisoned anyone perceived as a threat to his power.  A secret police extended the reprisals to the family members who were banished to remote villages after their loved ones were killed or imprisoned.  Life was pretty grim under this Stalinist dictator.

However during this despotic reign, Hoxha did do some good.  He advanced education and the literacy rate of Albanians is now equal to that in any Western country.  He also advanced the rights of women.  The traditional code of law in Albania described women as “a sack, made to endure as long as she lives in her husband’s house”.  Today more women than men attend university.

Hoxha died in 1985 and Albania began its transition to democracy and economic reform.  Sadly corrupt and greedy officials brought the country to bankruptcy in the 1990’s through a national Ponzi scheme.  Nearly two-thirds of the population invested in these schemes and collectively lost half the value of their GDP.  The collapse of the pyramid schemes led to a year long civil war.

Today Albania seems to be a modern European country; a bit poorer than most but with all the conveniences of modern life (for better or worse that this entails).

A pier that seemed a bit of a commercial folly and the commercial port in the background

Major road going to the mosque and the town square

Waterfront with the Royal Villa on the hill

We spent a relaxing three days just taking in the atmosphere of Durres and the Albanians.  We checked out the Venetian tower and ancient Roman city walls.  We walked along the waterfront and through the streets, saddened by the lack of urban planning and rather soulless concrete blocks of apartments but intrigued by the statues and monuments. 

Patriotic statue with tower blocks behind

Venetian tower in the middle of road works

Roman amphitheatre

Bob with a bronze fisherman

More statues and concrete tower blocks

We climbed up the hill overlooking the sea to the Royal Villa of King Zog (love the name!).  Zog, although an aristocrat, was a self-proclaimed king.  He became prime minister in 1922 then  declared himself King in 1928.  He built his summer residence on the hill above Durress.  The residence is not open to the public and a bit derelict but the views from it are quite impressive.

Royal Villa

View over Durres and the Adriatic

Roman ruins and modern port

As in all these Mediterranean countries, the towns come to life in the evening.  In Durres, the women put on nice dresses and everyone walks along the waterfront with their partners, friends and family.  They all gather at the sea lido to watch the spectacular sunset and stroll through fun fair, munching on roasted corn cobs, ice cream or popcorn.  It seemed a lovely, happy community time.

All the fun of the fair

Sunset over the Adriatic