Butrint, Albania

April 19
Day in Albania
What a fascinating day. I learned so much about Albania. Frankly I knew very little before this trip. I had no idea that the people of Albania were basically imprisoned in their own country by a paranoid Communist leader for over 45 years. Totally awful and amazing.

We docked in Saranda and took a bus to Butrint, an ancient site in Albania. Currently the country is working very hard to enter the 20th century. (Not a typo) They were not allowed to leave the country, or even to swim in the waters around the country until the early 1990s. Unbelievable. Because of their paranoid leader, over 290,000 bunkers were constructed all over the country and manned by the young men and women during their mandatory military service. All the products of the country, including food, were sent abroad except the surpluss which went to the inhabitants. Unreal.

We went to Butrint and walked among the early ruins following a local guide and Petra. It was beautiful and very interesting.

Before we walked around the site we stopped at a restaurant. We stopped there also at the end of the walk and bought filigree jewelry and T shirts as gifts. Also I had some brandy which was delicious.

We then drove down to the city of Saranda and got off the busses so we could walk along the water back to the ship. We stopped to get brandy to bring home and then walked along the water to the ship. Lots of people were prominading along the water's edge. It is Sunday and families were having fun together.

When we got back to the ship we had a very good lunch and then spent the afternoon in the  lounge. Arvin read and relaxed. I played scrabble with Allen and Susan. It was fun.

Petra gave a talk about Jugoslavia explaning which current countries comprised Jugoslavia and giving a bit of their political and religious history. I was in Jugoslavia in 1962 with our family so I was familiar with the area.

After the talk we had dinner and Arvin went to bed. He was very tired. I helped him with his evening activities and then went to the lounge to add to my diary.