Ancient Apollonia

Last Saturday we had the pleasure of visiting the site of an  ancient Greek settlement some way down the coast, near the city of Fier. Apollonia was established over 2,000 years ago and within a few generations had developed its own distinct identity as a small city-state, neither Greek nor Illyrian. At its height, the population was around 40,000 people. 

The archaeological ruins have only been 6% excavated and explored. What is visible is this partially restored temple, an amphitheater, and the foundations of several homes where families (counting enslaved people) averaging around 30 members lived. 

The major river that was this city's main access highway and irrigation source for the lush farmlands all around was diverted by a major earthquake (I forget when), after which the city declined. 

In the 13th century, an Orthodox monastery was built on the ruins of the city, and it still stands today. We briefly saw a priest in his black robe standing under a tree as we came up the hill. 

It was very dark inside, but we were able to see ancient frescos, stone carvings, and a beautiful floor mosaic that has been partially uncovered.

The layers of history run deep here. 

One of the most fun parts of the excursion was the company of two other families, whose sons are classmates and good friends of Gabriel. The boys were so happy to spend time together on a Saturday! 

After the visit to the archaeological site, we all went out for an amazing fish and frog leg dinner at a nearby restaurant. It was a bit of a drive to get there, but so worth it - a place I'd been wanting to see for a long time! 

 

The Road Goes Ever On and On

We went on a great hike on Sunday, up on Dajti Mountain and around to the back. 

When we walked through this tunnel, I told the kids "We're in Narnia!" 

It's such a relief to have the US election called. It feels like we've all dodged a bullet collectively, and I hope we have. 

I guess it's what you would call and mountaintop experience! 

 I don't think I take enough pictures of Terry :-) I'm thankful for everything he does for and with us. 

Pause

I was walking home after a staff meeting on Tuesday, along a busy grimy street and turned my head to see this amazing sunset. Since daylight savings time ended, the sun sets so early. It was good to be reminded that there is beauty everywhere, but sometimes you have to pay attention to see it. 

Two weekends ago we went hiking with a big group of people, 7 families from our school went in 6 vehicles to an area not far from Tirana where there are some old castle ruins near a little village. To get to the village, you had to hike up a very precarious path, however, so half the group took the wide road around - but went off track and ended up invading someone's private farm. 

Nothing bad happened, we just had to turn around and retrace our steps back.

I was thinking about these steep slopes - how we have to pause to catch our breath, and in doing so we see the big picture. 

Weekends are such important pauses for me right now in this high-stress school year. This weekend the same folks who organized this hike are ambitiously organizing another. We're thinking Terry will go while the kids and I stay home, and pause. 

Shpella Pëllumbasit - hike to a cave

We had this week off from school, a nice long Fall Break, so it seemed like a good opportunity to head out of the city and explore more of Albania. The weather had other plans, however, so we spent Monday and Tuesday hunkered down with books and Minecraft while it rained, and rained, and rained. 

Thankfully, Wednesday dawned clear and beautiful and we were able to borrow a vehicle for a lovely day trip to Petrela Castle: 

We had gone a few years ago when my parents came to visit, but this time the weather was nicer and we're all in better shape so made the short climb to the top to see the amazing view from the top. It was pretty amazing to envision the people who built it, strategically located to look along the valley to Durres.

After that we made our way to Pëllumbas, a small village where we got a bit of lunch to eat before following a well-maintained trail along the mountains to an amazing cave called Shpella Pëllumbasit (the cave of Pëllumbas). 

The silence of the mountains was only disturbed by the rushing sound of the river below, and the occasional braying of a donkey from the village. The trail was not too muddy, and there were handrails and steps installed in the trickiest spots, as well as a few benches at lookout spots like the one above. We saw a lot of mushrooms, beetles, and grasshoppers. 

I was about to give up when we finally got to the cave - it was pretty impressive, having been inhabited by humans since the Paleolithic! (well, not continuously - I don't think anyone lives there now)

There were steps carved into the cave wall here near the entrance.

Apparently you can rent lanterns and helmets to do a proper spelunking, and hire a guide, but we just moseyed around the entrance and imagined being ancient humans living there. The cave floor was quite dry, so it seemed like a perfect ready-made place to hunker down in bad weather between hunting and foraging trips. 

 We don't know much about mushrooms, but there were a number of different kinds visible and I imagine some are edible. 

It was a beautiful, amazing day trip and I'm so glad we did it.

A bit of a melange

It's October already! Life continues to be full and busy. I'm slightly less tired than I was a few weeks ago, and only 30% as scared on the way to and from school. Yesterday Terry used my bike to pick up the kids since I had a staff meeting after classes, and he got a flat tire, so I was spared (ha ha) from having to deal with that. I'm still, overall, really enjoying biking. 

So, can anyone identify the tree that is in this picture, with the broader/bigger leaves? There are lemon, tangerine, and olive trees in the garden at school, and the students are telling me that this new tall tree (upper left quadrant) is an avocado. I'm skeptical but willing to be convinced! 

In yarn-related news, I'm very excited to have all these beautiful new yarns from Indigo Dragonfly! I ordered them a while ago, before I knew whether we would be able to go to the US this summer or not and they'e been living at Rosanne's house. Now a friend of hers has unexpectedly come to Albania and he was able to bring them to me. Yarn heaven! One of these days I will have the energy to decide what to knit next, download the patterns, and get started. The pinkish one is Corona-virus themed (it's named for Dr. Tam, who has headed up the Canadian response to Covid-19; the pattern includes "droplets" in sets of 19 and the colors are based on a photo of the virus).

We recently went past this mural, which you can see has been repainted to match our current reality. 

This is what it looked like before: 

Masks are starting to feel normal, to the point that I showed my students a photo of a crowd of people in Tokyo from several years ago and their reaction was "it's so strange that they're not wearing masks!"

Next week is Fall Break! We're hoping to go somewhere outside Tirana 

Feel the breeze in my face

Last year we bought a second-hand bike for Gabe, and a new one for Val. During lockdown there were not many opportunities to use them, and then this summer with all the unpredictable travel restrictions we opted not to do our usual grand world tour of places we have lived before and instead invested that money in wheels for the whole family. We upgraded the kids bikes, and bought two more adult sized bikes as well. 

I absolutely LOVE biking. I think the last time I used a bicycle was around 1997 or so, when I rode one around the Yapacaní area in Bolivia. But a combination of factors gave me a lot of lower back pain, which was exacerbated by biking, so I quit and hadn't mounted one since then. So it has been over 20 years. I had forgotten how much fun it is! 

It reminds of how Harry Potter felt the first time he rode a broom:

“He mounted the broom and kicked hard against the ground and up, up he soared; air rushed through his hair, and his robes whipped out behind him- and in a rush of fierce joy he realized he'd found something he could do without being taught- this was easy, this was wonderful." (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)

There is another description of how the broom seemed to know what he wanted it to do, how it responded to the lightest touch of his hand. That's how I felt on my bike today, gliding down this bike path (below) to school.  

 The current mayor of Tirana has expanded the bike lanes all over the city, and during lockdown continued to do so. Drivers of vehicles are not very happy about it, as on-street parking has diminished considerably. Public use of the bike lanes is also not ideal - a lot of pedestrians walk in them, and people often stop their vehicles in them to pick up and drop off things or passengers. The traffic lights at major intersections are not terribly well organized. However, it sure beats walking (to me - Terry still prefers to hoof it). 

We are planning to have the kids bike to school, at least we'll try it out. If we manage to bike for 60 days out of the 180 school days in the year, the cost of the bikes will balance out the cost of a taxi. The exercise and renewable energy benefits are superlative. 

But most of all, gliding down the street on my bike is just pure joy. 

More Spring

I have to take a pause in the belated revelry to post some more recent photos - last Saturday we borrowed a car and took a wonderful day trip to a dramatic little peninsula just north of Durrës,

 Nearing Cape Rodon

The weather was just perfect. Well, the kids said it was too hot to hike but we made them anyway. There were a lot of young people out playing volleyball and barbecuing meat.

There were also some strange, gigantic bunkers - the small single-serving size bunkers are everywhere, especially along the coastline, but I had never seen any this big, and with weird spikes on the back that made them look like gigantic fossilized battle-tortoises or something sic-fi like that.




There was just something so Albania about the bunkers by the church by the sea (we could see Montenegran mountains from the peninsula), with the scrubby wild brush and young people playing volleyball in the middle of it all.

This is a medieval church there that was apparently built (or made to be built) by Skenderbeg's sister.

We weren't planning to get in the water, so didn't pack bathing suits or anything but on the way back we stopped at a more developed beach and the kids couldn't help it, they just had to jump in. (The resulting mess of wet, sandy clothes stressed me out but we got it sorted.)

And a good day was had by all. 

Christmas Fair

It's kind of strange to remember the dark and cold season, just as the days are lengthening and warming so dramatically. In fact looking at the photos reminds me I need to wash their winter coats for storage.

Over the holidays, there was an amusement park fair set up in Skenderbeg Square, the central plaza of the city. Thus this strange tableau of a lady waving and Skenderbeg in the evening light. 

View from the Ferris wheel

The kids LOVED this ride! They did it at least twice every time we went. It just goes around and around. I don't get it, but it was great to be able to get them out of the house in the dark of winter and enjoy the lights, hot drinks, and festive atmosphere. One night we saw carollers but only just as they were finishing singing, bummer!

Christmas coming

Every afternoon on the way to pick up the kids from school, we pass by this man roasting chestnuts over a charcoal grill! He showed up when the weather started to get cold. He is very kind and always gives me about 50% extra when I buy from him. We have chatted a bit about his family living in New York City and he gladly let me take this picture. Someday I'll ask him his name :-) And hopefully someday the kids will agree to just try one of the chestnuts.

 Near where we live there is a market area called Pazari i Ri, or the New Market. It was recently renovated and fancied up and often there are special events happening there, like this little Christmas bazaar - can you tell what inside the cabin is real and what is fake? (The boy and his mischief are both real, that's a freebie)

And the malls look exactly like malls all over the world at Christmastime. This is Toptani, the newest mall and the only one located near the city center. We also walk past here on the way to and from school. 

So, we bought a little tree! And ornaments that are supposed to look old-fashioned. The kids made a Lego Bethlehem (pics on Facebook).

Today the kids had a make-up school day to replace a day missed a few weeks ago due to heavy rains. It's just a half day, and then in the afternoon they have rehearsal for the church Christmas pageant. So I spent the morning making gingersnaps and listening to Christmas music, so uncharacteristically festive of me!