Adriatic road trip(Croatia - Montenegro - Albania - Greece) |
Karlobag to Dubrovnik |
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The harbour beneath the medieval walls of Dubrovnik |
Looking out over the red terracotta rooves of Dubrovnik |
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Seaward wall of the city |
View southwards from a wall tower |
A lovely bell-tower |
A steep side street |
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Looking down the main street from the wall |
The walls by night |
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Crossing Montenegro to Albania |
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I looked out our window the following morning to see a giant cruise ship anchoring in the bay and boatloads of new tourists being transferred from it to Dubrovnik marina - it was definitely time to leave. We boarded the bus to continue southward down the spectacular Dalmatian coastline, taking 40 minutes to check out of Croatia and ten minutes to check in to Montenegro (so the prize goes to the Montenegrin border police). Reaching Dubva, we switched to a smaller bus, which stopped everywhere to pick up and drop off locals until it reached our destination of Ulcinj, with its pretty old town perched on a headland above a grey-sand cove. |
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Evening light over old Ulcinj |
The bay at Ulcinj |
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Our 17th century Ottoman-style hotel |
The mosque in Shkoder |
A pretty park in Shkoder |
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The runs of the minaret at Rozafa and the Accursed Mountains |
The rich flats of the Buda River |
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On the road again (5 days later) - Tirana to Berat |
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Leaving Northern Albania |
A short detour via Kosovo |
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The beach at Durres |
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The walls and gateway of Berat |
Byzantine artwork |
Our guide, ???, showed us around the white cobbled streets and white stone houses (bring your sun glasses) to see the ruins of church and mosque, fortress and walls, as well as buildings still inhabited and people selling intricate lacework and the museum, a centuries old orthodox church housing the icons of Onufri, the 16th century Albanian artist - fascinating. |
Remains of the Ottoman mosque |
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Then it was down to the new town of Berat for a very late lunch and hotel check-in, with some free time before assembling to partake of a traditional southern Albanian feast. N.B. if you want to sample an Albanian red wine, Kashmer is a nice drop. |
Berat to Saranda |
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One of the thousands of machine-gun bunkers from the communist era |
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The Butrinti Lagoon |
Roman amphitheatre in Butrint |
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Saranda to Ioannina |
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The walls of Old Ioannina |
Minaret of the 17th century mosque |
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