2024 Balkans Overland Adventure, Tirana, Albania...

Yesterday, was a long day of travel, touring and compounded by my not feeling well. For the past few days, I was coughing continuously, not getting any sleep and feeling worse every day. Yesterday, i was in a major downward spiral...  Our driver Gesi, God bless him, had an uncle who is a doctor in Tirana and with his assistance was able to get me an appointment with a respirologist last evening…. this was quite a feat as it was a holiday, Orthodox Easter Monday. Gesi, Cathy and I went to the clinic. I had a lung X-Ray, breathing and blood tests…after a thorough examination, it was determined I had a moderate airway restriction…no antibiotics necessary but a prescription for a Prednisone shot, two types of inhalers, Viscoflu and Medrol. We cannot thank Gesi enough for his efforts in hopefully getting me on the road to recovery…what a wonderful kindhearted person…he went above and beyond! This morning, Gesi picked us up and we were off to see Berat and Apollonia. First, we stopped at the Belsh Lakes for some refreshments and a walk around the lake. Next up was Berat, Albania, one of the oldest towns in the region.  Berat Castle, a fortress landmark in the city of Berat, Albania, lies high above the Osum River. We drove up to the entrance way to the Castle. On a hilltop, Berat Castle is a huge compound now inhabited by townspeople. Within its walls are Byzantine churches, the Red Mosque and the Onufri National Museum. We climbed up to the Cathedral of the Assumption of Saint Mary and visited the church with its with Christian icons and artifacts…. the inside of the church was beautiful. We walked down to along the walls of the castle down to the viewpoint and saw the great view over the town and surrounding area. Gesi and I climbed up even higher at the castle for better panoramic views and capturing different perspectives of the structure…it was well worth the effort. We drove down into town, walked along the river and crossed the bridge for a better view of the houses. It’s called the city of a thousand windows; the name is pretty obvious where it comes from when you see it. We did some souvenir shopping and left for the Apollonia Archeological site. Apollonia is the ruins of the ancient Illyiran city of Apollonia sitting on a windswept hilltop some 12km west of the city of Fier. While a large part of the ruins remains buried under the ground, what has been excavated within the city walls is lovely. The highlights include; the theatre, Odeon, portico and the elegant pillars of the restored facade of the city's 2nd century AD administrative center. The city area was founded by Greeks from Corinth and Corfu in 588 BC and quickly grew into an important city-state. Under the Romans from 229 BC, the city became a great cultural center with a famous school of philosophy. There is a Byzantine style chapel and monastery built with recycled bricks and blocks from the ancient buildings of Apolonia adjacent to the archaeological site. The monastery and the Church of Saint Mary is dating back to 13-century. Beyond the monastery we walked to see the mosaics that have been uncovered. It was a 2.5-hour drive back to Tirana. We had another wonderful day visiting the sites of Albania. Just pray that I will be healthy again soon, many thanks again all Gesi’s efforts.  Tomorrow, we are off to North Macedonia…