It's not my first day of walking, but I am on my my way across the Adriatic on a ferry from Bari to Durres. I thought it was appropriate to travel the same way the Romans did, rather than flying to Albania direct.
Last night i watched all the big semi trailers reversing on to the ferry and wondered how they would get them all on by ten pm.
If tonight's numbers are any indication, this route is as important now as in Roman times. It surprises me that it is more efficient for trucks to drive down the italian peninsula and spend ten hours on a ferry rather than drive through the balkans. And there is another company doing the same route, plus departures from trieste and ancona as well. That is a lot of trucks.
Had a cafeteria meal of chips and turkey in gravy and went to bed. Turns out the rooms are pretty good. I ended up with a three berth cabin just for me. I almost thought of offfering the other two beds to people who were scrambling to find a spot to lie down in the corridors, but i let my caution get the better of me. The cabin crossing seems pretty good value to me. 150 AUD for a cabin for two and a ten hour crossing on a ferry. I think a car is 90 euros, so just over 150 AUD. Much better value than the car ferry to north stradbroke island.
Big bathroom with good hot water, long shower and to bed. Woken by the sound of the engines at three am and wondered naively why i hadn't noticed them earlier. An announcement over the loudspeakers had me jumping out of bed at seven. More naivety. Thought it must have said we're nearly there! No. The ferry left at three am. Five hours late. So much for a full day of exploring ...
Eventually, reception opened and i got told we would arrive at ten thirty, they had put the foot down apparently. On deck my phone confirmed we were more than 3/4 of the way there and a little later i saw a yellow breasted land bird fluttering around the deck, drinking from rain puddles. Wouldn't think such a little bird vould have wandered too far from land.
After a torrential downpour greeted me on disembarking, i set off under grey skies to find my room for the night. Despite the sky, my first impressions were positive. Very quick passage through passport control and a friendly guard asking where i was from. Walked 2 kms to the airbnb and my host, Albert picked me up form a corner bar since i couldn't find his place. A local rang him for me. Very kind.
A quick look at my excelent lodgings, whole apartmenr for 13 aud!, i got a bus into town, using money albert had loaned me. Found an ATM that would give me leke instead of euros and bought bakery for lunch. Grezt big peice of spinach burek. But they couldn't change my notes so they gave it to me for free! Discovered that i was already walking on the via egnatia, here called rruga egnatia.
Fed, i set off to the museum. Sadly only one of the three floors is open while renovations go on, but it was full of well displayed artefacts and good signage in English. Artefacts frm the Greek/illyrian town of epidamnos as it was then called, famous the dispute over epidamnos, which was one of the cquses of the Peloponnesian war between athens and sparta. Then more from its time as the Roman town of Dyrrachum.
Nothin amazing but worth a look. I particularly liked all the funerary art, with some moving images. Husband and wife looking at each other, two men with theirms aroundveach other, a family of mum, dad and daughter, and illyrian tombstones, which i had never seen before. Turns out the place was a real hotspot in artemis worshipping as well, with dozens of representations.
Wandered around the amphitheatre , with a mosque in the background. While Albania is majority muslim, years of religion being banned under the dicatorship of enver hoxa means most people are not religious.
An interesting feature is a byzantine chapel with wall mosaics built into the foundations. The whole thing ended up being built into the walls pof the town.
As i walked through a gateway in the walls i had my first encounter with some roma people, unfortunately reinforcing all the stereotypes. First one filthy little kid begging and of course, after my fatal mistake of handing over some coins, another appeared. To be fair, they were a lot less persistent than some.
Quick look at the scant remains of the byzantine forum and then it was back to my lodgings to write. Brief wander along the beach on the way from the bus. Not inspiring. There is less rubbish here than Egypt but more than any where else i have been in europe.
So my first day in shqiperia to use the locals use, is at an end. Tried learning two words and keep forgetting them both!
Tomorrow the walking begins.
great room on the ferry! love the museum artifacts
ReplyDeletetoo.