Phew! What a Korce!
January 14, 2012
And we’re back.
It’s five months since the last post here which came from Tirane, Albania. Lots of lovely Albanian places were visited after Tirane but I kept them to myself during a self-imposed social media holiday.
Well, no more of that, because I’m back in Albania (for the 4th time in those five months) and this time it’s for an extended stay.
Tell people you’ve been spending time here and the most coming response is, “What’s Albania like?”. And that’s the thing; places that have previously closed themselves off to the outside world (as Albania did for 45 years or so under Enva Hoxha) remain, even twenty years after opening up, relatively unknown to many of us even when less than three hours and a hundred quid away.
So in the next few weeks I’m going to have a go at working out ‘what Albania’s like’ and I’ll be writing about it here and here (but not yet here).
If you’re interested keep reading. If you’re not there is loads of other stuff on the Internet to distract you from what you should really be doing – have a look at some of that stuff instead.
Still with me? Good.
What’s Korce like? In January it’s cold and snowy as well it might be 937m above sea level. It’s also very pretty, at least in the cobbled old town and on the main boulevards and on the tree lined paths and parks. At the end of most streets you can see a snowy mountain or two.
The bazaar is lively with lots of good looking fruit and veg on sale alongside a vast amount of cheese (Albanian fact 1 : cheese with almost everything). You can also take your pick of a good range of inflatable animals.
You can eat tasty traditional food at very reasonable prices (soup and steak at a slightly fancy place with wine for €7) and there are some new and pretty upmarket bars, restaurants and a smart boutique hotel. (You can pay €27 for a rib-eye steak at the place the President stayed the other night if you wish.) Summer might be the best time to enjoy the ones with extensive outdoor areas and even pools.
If I can find it I’m off to have a look at the museum of Mediaeval history (I’m in need of an icon fix) this afternoon before catching a French theatre company’s experimental video and performance piece at the freezing cold and somewhat run down theatre. That’s the real reason we’re here and the thing that will take us over the next few days to Elbasan, Vlore and Skhoder via Tirane.
Let’s see what they’re like.
Getting here : We came here by minibus from Tirane which takes about four hours (800 lek = €6). It’s a lovely trip coming via Elbasan and then climbing up towards Macedonia and skirting southwards the wonderful Lake Ohrid that I first saw from the Macedonian side as azure blue during the summer heat but which now shimmers with a wintry silver and reflections of the snow covered mountains all around. Still Europe’s best kept secret in my book.
Sleeping here : Hotel Anton is modern, clean, warm and friendly – all for €25 for a double.
