Back on Track in Tirana

It's now been 2 weeks since we returned from our US visit, and besides still not sleeping, life is getting back to "normal". I managed to direct my first TWIG meeting with a guest speaker from Bethany House, a local orphanage, where I also have started volunteering once a week. Bethany House is both state and privately funded and houses babies to 2 years old. There are about 40 children at any given time, and each caregiver has as many as 7-8 at one time!  Can you imagine?  So we go there, play with them, hold them, smile and coo (love is the universal language) and hope that soon all of them will one day be adopted or taken back to the families who for whatever reason cannot take care of them currently.  It's a rewarding couple of hours..
Most everyone in my "group' has returned from their holidays abroad and each one has the same story.. Wonderful to visit, but happy to be back "home".. We're back to coffee, lunch and step aerobics. For me, the class has moved even farther away, so I'll be "walking 25 minutes" before I even begin  the class.. All in hopes of thinner thighs and healthier heart.
Mark had a 3 day weekend, thanks MLK, so we decided to take advantage of another "day trip" to Korca.
A lovely town south east of Tirana, close to the Greek and Macedonia border.  Again, we don't list distance here, it's how long it takes.. and with the roads and traffic,  125k shouldn't take 4 hours...but alas, a nice drive, first stopping on the shore of Lake Ohrid for fabulous lake fish, Koran, which is like our trout.

view from the restaurant

Mark doesn't eat fish, we tried to order him veal, but the head nodding problem prohibited his meal from ever making it to the table.. He had lots of delicious salad, olives and yogurt with honey and walnuts and bread, so happy we were. 
The rest of the drive took us thru Pogradec and small towns along the way, finally reaching our destination of the Bujtina Sidheri Bed and Breakfast. Of course, nothing has a street number, so we had the name, and as luck would have it found our delightful place without too many looks from my wonderful husband

Our room, there are 4 total.. we were the only ones in the place

hallway to sitting room

entrance to breakfast room

We spent the afternoon wondering around the town, all of the museums were closed, this being a very Orthodox village, they aren't like Tirana where nothing is observed.

The largest Orthodox church in Albania built in 1992





2011

Happy New Year to all..
We just returned from 3 weeks in the USA.. Vegas, Omaha and Portland.
Once I get over jet-lag, I promise to start posting again.
I have been appointed Co-Chair of my TWIG Group and our first meeting of 2011 is next
Wednesday.. and my co-chair is still out of the country.
I'll give you the high points of the meeting at the next posting.
till then, enjoy good health and happiness in the new year

Apollonia and Ardenica

I was fortunate enough to be invited along on a US Embassy trip to Apollonia. A small busload of us, including a wonderful family with 3 well behaved children, started out early from the Embassy and headed for the 2 hour drive, southeast of Tirana. Apollonia is the largest archeaological park in Albania. It's quite decieving, because most of the city is still uncovered and lies beneath the beautiful hills of grass.  It is a Greek Colony founded around 600BC.  It is currently about 8 km from the Adriatic sea and was an important port . Over the years, due to earthquakes and the changing direction of the Vjosa Rover, it use to be much closer to the sea and was the beginning station of the southern branch of the Roman road that linked Durres and Greece and Turkey. 

Administrative Center



Gathering spot

Monestary on the grounds





Our guides Blerta and Roza



Ardenica is the site of St. Marys Church, dating to the 13th Century.. We were able to get inside but not allowed to take pictures.. Amazing frescoes on the walls, currently being renovated.. beautiful..

Oh, and of course, the highlight, were these adorable puppies, 5 of them in all..Their mom and dad hang out at the site, Mark remembers them from his visit last February.. Everyone wanted to take them home!



Puppies of Apollonia

A beautiful day, ended with a gorgeous Sunset overlooking the city of Fier

We made the cover of the Embassy Newsletter

TWIG Trip to Kruje

http://albca.com/albania/kruje.html

With the skies looking gloomy, about 9 TWIG friends took the hour drive up to Kruje, northern city, most known as the birthplace of Skanderberg, Albania's national hero. It is a city built on a hill, and on a clear day ( which it really wasn't) you can see to the Adriatic. It's also known for it's local craftsmen and tourist attraction for his castle and museum to Skanderberg.
We had a great day, missed most of the rain, and everyone succeeded in finding some trinkets.


A view from Kruje




the Group




Linda "pretending"




Ready to shop




looming carpets




Handicrafts




the hills





  I bought a beautiful Olive Wood bowl, which now holds our wine corks.

My Olive Wood Bowl

Hiking Mt Dajti

So there's lots of Albanian holidays in the month of November...Mark gets all of them off! We had a beautiful cool day and decided to take the tram up to Mt Dajti.. It is the highest peak in Tirana, about 20 minutes drive, but world's away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Mark's boss, Gary, and co-worker, Martha, and I took the Tram from the bottom to mid way up. We were told there was a "trail" up to the top.. Fabulous views from the tram, just like one you'd take to go skiing or mountain biking up Mammoth.. Built by the Swiss. There's a restaurant and hotel at the midway point, but we were determined to get to the top. The boys said they were "scouts" and we'd find it.. After a half an hour of "scouting", Gary and I decided, oh heck, let's just go UP! And UP we did, with a little sliding and cursing and heavy breathing, 3 of us didn't quite make it... Gary, the man, succeeded.. Here are pics to prove it.. I'm going to total plagiarize Mark's blog.. his pictures and descriptions are soo much better than mine.. I was just happy to make it down in one piece.. Thanks Honey!

http://kickedinthebalkans.blogspot.com/2010/11/gondola-ride-to-mount-dajti.html#comments

Here are a few of mine, but click on his link...

Lunch at the bottom, worth the hike

Catching Up....

It's been a busy couple of weeks..day trips and Thanksgiving in Prague, crafting, dinners, book club, rainy shopping days....
Since my last blog, everyday has been filled with new experiences, new people and a great fondness of this place we now call "home"..
I can hardly believe I've been here 3 months and Mark is almost hitting a year. We've made some wonderful friends and experience things we never imagined.. Sometimes we just look at each other and say "whodda thunk"????

I'm going to post some pics and descriptions of the places and people.. I'll try to keep my memory straight...

I am first going to finish my post from Torre Del Greco and the Great Cameo Shopping Expedition...

Gino and his designer, Ariela



the piece that started it all.. Martha's mother.. given to her by her father



amazing selection

too many to choose from

I found "the one"

Luigi showing us his craftmenship



me and Luigi, with a piece of shell, that becomes a lamp, hand carved



more cameos



my present when I got home

An amazing trip, we will remember forever.. and our new friends from Torre del Greco...