Butrint Albania

We could hear thunder as we woke early this morning. We were on a trip to Albania and it was raining heavily as we waited for our taxi to Corfu Town. It was still raining on the ferry to Saranda and we arrived with the hills surrounding the town covered in cloud. We then set off for the amazing UNESCO site of Butrint. It was a quick tour through the site which has buildings from 8th Century BC, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman civilisations. This shows ( I think ) the area of a chapel 4th century BC dedicated to the god of Asclepius. Many of the floors had mosaics but are covered with sand to preserve them. One of the extras shows the oldest walls of the same age. There were remains of Roman Baths where small frogs only found here were seen. The remains of an aqua duct, a theatre. A baptistery of 6th century with a covered mosaic floor. The lake gate a Hellenistic gateway and the Lions Gate where mythology has the exiles from Troy entering the city here. A Venetian Castle and lots more.

After this the weather had improved and a visit to the Turkish Castle Leikurse at the top of a very high hill. The views were wonderful.

The history of the rapidly growing town of Saranda and the changing nature of the country which is rapidly embracing tourism in this area was also fascinating.

A really interesting day.