https://www.absolutelyalbania.com/about daily 0.75 2022-03-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a66f1f61b7982c47390b40/7e6a5874-0115-4597-860e-8abd6ea05818/20211016_165053%7E2-01-01-01.jpeg Absolutely Albania: About Us - Make it stand out Your humble host https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a66f1f61b7982c47390b40/1625860942239-D9GSPAUMKBKV0DCQUNRQ/20210324_163212.jpg Absolutely Albania: About Us https://www.absolutelyalbania.com/contact daily 0.75 2022-06-26 https://www.absolutelyalbania.com/experiences daily 0.75 2021-11-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a66f1f61b7982c47390b40/1626002807150-FR1BEZNX9E4Z7765CLYL/Tirana_1.jpg Absolutely Albania: Experiences Tirana, the chaotic and wonderful capital, is sometimes underrated as a destination, but it is fascinating in its own right, not to mention the place I call home. It’s the best place in Albania to understand post–World War II life under the Communist regime of dictator Enver Hoxha, who sealed the country off from the world for nearly half a century. Walking the city, one sees the stark socialist-realist edifices flanking Skanderbeg Square (above) and statues in the same artistic tradition like “Mother Albania,” presiding 50 feet above the Martyrs Cemetery (below). The House of Leaves and Bunk’art 1 museums explain the darker side: paranoid surveillance, labor camps and executions. A cable car ride caps the day on Mount Dajti, which offers a panorama of Tirana’s sprawl. There’s plenty more exploring to be done—not to mention shopping and nightlife—as well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a66f1f61b7982c47390b40/368c9424-8a1a-4a00-862e-037ddc5e5166/Tirana_2.jpg Absolutely Albania: Experiences - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a66f1f61b7982c47390b40/1625958380469-L6VFU0964QUR1YS3LN8R/Theth_2.jpg Absolutely Albania: Experiences The Albanian Alps are also called the Accursed Mountains (!), though presumably not for the harrowing dirt-road switchbacks one must navigate to get to the heart of them. They rise to nearly 9,000 feet and provide some of the best natural spots where one can feel completely alone and very far from civilization indeed. This tour leaves from Shkodër, a cosmopolitan little city with a magnificent castle, and continues up and up, through year-round snow, to Theth National Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a66f1f61b7982c47390b40/1626002535670-UG5UCTP73X5PTJG3A30S/Theth_5.jpg Absolutely Albania: Experiences - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a66f1f61b7982c47390b40/1625922741194-4WN0QU316EZ9IJ6Z7A9X/Theth_4.jpg Absolutely Albania: Experiences - Make it stand out There are many hikes one can follow from here, of varying degrees of difficulty, passing waterfalls, caves, streams, alpine farmsteads and a bounty of flora and fauna. But I’ve highlighted two favorites: an out-and-back to the iridescent, bracingly cold Blue Eye pool, and the crossing of the Valbona Pass, fast becoming famous for its breathtaking elevated vistas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a66f1f61b7982c47390b40/1626002596196-LTEPHLUVTA5AYE12NSH0/Ksamil_3.jpg Absolutely Albania: Experiences In the south of Albania, near the border with Greece, you can have a culture trip, a leisure trip or, I figured, why not both? First, off to Vlorë (third pic), stopping at the ruins of Apollonia, where the boy who’d become Augustus Caesar studied. Vlorë is a trendy city that marks the starting point of the stretch of beaches branded the “Albanian Riviera,” with good reason. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a66f1f61b7982c47390b40/1626002683764-TODWTC64IF3TLSULBNSE/Vlora_1.jpg Absolutely Albania: Experiences - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a66f1f61b7982c47390b40/1626002926215-LXBKE444S1HNPZLFFBH9/Butrint_1.jpg Absolutely Albania: Experiences - Make it stand out Then, from Sarandë to Butrint, the best-preserved of Albania’s ancient sites. By Hellenistic times, it had become a healing sanctuary, with a complex, including a theater (above), devoted to Asclepius, god of medicine. Unwind nearby in the coves of Ksamil (top). The return trip wends its way to Gjrokaster, an important Ottoman city and UNESCO World Heritage site, and Byllis, my favorite ruins for their remoteness and views of the Vjosa River out to the Adriatic. https://www.absolutelyalbania.com/explore daily 0.75 2021-11-03 https://www.absolutelyalbania.com/home daily 1.0 2022-06-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a66f1f61b7982c47390b40/886f836a-b3fb-4243-9db9-eac99e88617d/20210908_203502%7E5.jpg Absolutely Albania - Food and Drink, From the Source Albania is a natural nirvana for farmers and fishers, and the traditional dishes are not to be missed. The best fine-dining from local ingredients can include fresh shellfish, a farm-to-table experience or wine made from grapes native to the region, with culinary influences from Italy, Greece and the Middle East. Dig in. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a66f1f61b7982c47390b40/1625933060740-TXKU17AE3BFGBUZOG7PC/Apollonia_1.jpg Absolutely Albania - History and Culture for the Ages This sunny swath of land has been home to man since Paleolithic times. In many places, the civilizations that occupied it over the centuries can still be seen: the Illyrians’ hilltop acropolises, the Romans’ amphitheaters, the Byzantines’ basilicas, the Venetians’ medieval castles, the Ottomans’ luxe mansions, and the monumental statues and state buildings of the Communists. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a66f1f61b7982c47390b40/1625958038072-YF8APAQRNT5A3WI2FOEG/Ksamil_2.jpg Absolutely Albania - Beaches, Gemstone-Blue Waters Swimmers, watersports enthusiasts and all-around beach bums can get their fix a stone’s skip away from many parts of the country. The Adriatic-facing beaches west of Tirana keep folks cool in the summer and come alive at night. In the south, the “Albanian Riviera” offers a less-trammeled alternative to Corfu, as it has since Roman times. And don’t sleep on the best lakes in the Balkans … or do. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a66f1f61b7982c47390b40/0e01c927-4ebc-4763-9be3-779612c8a742/20210613_171012.jpg Absolutely Albania - Alps. Yep, in Albania During the summer months, head for the hills. The “Accursed Mountains” (a.k.a. the Albanian Alps) feel more like Switzerland than Sardinia. There’s snow in July, trails for days, caves, springs, waterfalls and sleepy villages with inns for sleepy hikers and backpackers looking to gather by the fire pit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a66f1f61b7982c47390b40/1625938103768-BNXDGQZ7KWJJMFZ2EPVR/UkaFarm_2.jpg Absolutely Albania - Genuine Folks with Generous Souls Albanians may appear in the movies as gangsters and drug lords, but violent crime is exceedingly rare here in reality. To the contrary, most Albanians are extraordinarily welcoming and hospitable, eager to chat, lend a hand and share what excites them about their home and heritage. The people are the best and truest recommendation for Albania. https://www.absolutelyalbania.com/wine-and-food daily 0.75 2021-11-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a66f1f61b7982c47390b40/31e50174-0201-454c-8009-ed695207cad0/20210929_201254%7E2.jpg Absolutely Albania: Wine and Food Adventures - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a66f1f61b7982c47390b40/67ce57f0-859c-4ade-9819-1b46d80d0dba/20210908_111136_2.jpg Absolutely Albania: Wine and Food Adventures - Make it stand out Once we reach the Adriatic, the main dish, of course, is fish, and one can savor crudos with oysters and five varieties of shrimp and prawn (top). A visit to the country’s biggest winery and distillery gives a glimpse into the country’s winemaking history back to pre-Communist times, including a tasting of wines and rakis (brandies). Dinner is a multi-course affair at a property on the vanguard of sustainable and permaculture farming, founded by a former minister of agriculture, or at a family estate that specializes in preparations of veal (below), overlooking a medieval hilltop fortress—your pick. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a66f1f61b7982c47390b40/b887e25a-441e-4a4b-83b2-2471117f99f6/SeafoodCrudo.jpg Absolutely Albania: Wine and Food Adventures I often say it’s hard to find a bad meal here. But this tour highlights the best of the best in central Albania’s diverse dining and drinking. We start at the Tirana outpost of a Berat winery, which makes bubbly from the indigenous Pulës grape, then head west, through the hilly lowlands between the capital and the sea, where the climate, soils and enterprising, heritage-minded winemakers encourage Albania’s native grape varieties to thrive (below). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a66f1f61b7982c47390b40/fc28a690-af4e-49a3-afd0-be1b4cb25d5c/20210912_122221%7E5.jpg Absolutely Albania: Wine and Food Adventures - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a66f1f61b7982c47390b40/507e2df9-ab85-4f76-a0aa-029199fc1d76/Berat_1.jpg Absolutely Albania: Wine and Food Adventures A postcard-perfect town and UNESCO World Heritage site, Berat bears the influences of its many centuries of occupants, but the most striking architectural heritage here is Ottoman, with mahogany-trimmed white houses terraced one above another up the hillsides on the banks of the Osum River. Rising above the city is the kalaja, the “castle” atop the hill. Unlike a fortress or royal residence like Windsor Castle, the citadel at Berat contains a mini-town inside the walls; people still live here today amid the centuries’ worth of mosques, cisterns and churches, including the one celebrating Onufri, the most famous Albanian painter of Christian iconography. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a66f1f61b7982c47390b40/95036d98-ab65-4cf4-974a-25b3e10b4e96/20210929_141411%7E2.jpg Absolutely Albania: Wine and Food Adventures - Make it stand out The afternoon and evening will be devoted to eating, drinking and wandering the vineyards and farmland near the town, where some of Albania’s pioneers of top-quality agriculture continue to make and serve wine, olive oil, seasonal produce, byrek pastries and more from the fruits of their properties.