Lisandra and Andre were kind enough to invite us on a road trip as they had rented a car, but we were so exhausted from the passage we knew we either wouldn’t get up in time, or wouldn’t be good company. Based on their report afterwards over drinks in the cockpit, we knew we needed to go see some of these places inland. We cheated and took a bus tour, so we didn’t have to focus on the driving.
Our first stop was the Lekursi Castle, which overlooks the Sarande harbor. Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire built the castle in 1537 to defend against the Venetians, and was abandoned in the late 1800’s. It’s now home to a restaurant (that unfortunately gets horrible reviews) and concerts.
After a quick tour of the castle, we moved on to the Mesopotam Monastary, home to an 11th century church built on the remains of a second century BC orthodox monastery. Our guide pointed out how lucky they are to have a building like this, as during the communist regime most of these buildings were razed. All of the Christian iconography was destroyed here, but the building was used to house livestock. The building survived and is now a UNESCO site.
After the monastary, we headed to Albania’s must see Blue Eye. I’m glad we experienced it, but never again, thank you very much.
We arrived late morning and you have to walk under the broiling sun for 40 minutes to reach the spring (we should have rented scooters).
It’s absolutely beautiful but completely overrun by tourists. Who cannot read.
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