Urban Sunset

View from balcony

The view from our summer apartment. Shamelessly I'll promote it here as well, in case anyone is visiting Albania this year. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/5509812

Goodnight

[caption id="attachment_2511" align="alignnone" width="660"] Goodnight[/caption]

Sunset in Patos

[caption id="attachment_2278" align="alignnone" width="660"] Sunset in Patos[/caption]

Patos is a small city close to Fier. The latter is the next city after Vlora on the way to Tirana. My mother is actually from Patos and my father is from Fier. Patos had its greatest days during communism. The regime built close to Patos the biggest oil refinery (there is the biggest oil field in Albania) and they brought engineers and intellectuals from all over the country to work and live there. With the fall of communism, things started to change, people would leave the city to move to Fier or Tirane or even emigrate to Greece or Italy. While the refinery is still there, it is outdated and not working on full capacity. We should also take into consideration that during communism unemployment rate was zero therefore every industry was overcrowded with people and technology was not that efficient. Most of the biggest factories in Albania were built during the 50's-70's by the Russians and after them by the Chinese. After the Chinese we were on our own and things started getting worse. There was no possibility to keep up with new tech and machinery so more people were brought in to do the hard work... Now it is depressing to watch the same city deep in unemployment and poverty. When I was young I remember there was a circus, a cinema, a culture palace and many other buildings for social gathering. Now most of them do not exist at all, those were demolished to make way for bars and coffee shops, the only profitable business in our country.

I guess I could talk for hours and hours about Patos or Fier, if you have any questions feel free to ask :)

Saranda Skyline

[caption id="attachment_2235" align="alignnone" width="660"] Saranda Skyline[/caption]

Garbage Train

[caption id="attachment_2232" align="alignnone" width="660"] Garbage Train[/caption]

Sunset over Ereikoussa as seen from Saranda

[caption id="attachment_2202" align="alignnone" width="660"] Ereikoussa[/caption]

After a long and tiring day, we finally got back to Saranda to enjoy the sunset from the Castle of Lekures. It's not a castle any more, there is a restaurant on top of the ruins. At least it doesn't look like a cheesy one, it resembles a medieval villa or smth. The view from there is fantastic and everything from Butrinti Lake to Ksamil, Corfu, the bay and Saranda itself, lie on your palm.

Dark Horses

[caption id="attachment_2120" align="alignnone" width="950"] Dark Horses[/caption]

When you cross from Gjirokaster to Saranda there is only one way for the moment, the Muzine's neck. There are some hard turns and when you reach the peak, the view is amazing. There are  mountains all around but there is the sea in front of you, albeit far away. It was afternoon and we had the sun in front of us, hence the silhouettes. Those horses are not wild, there are no wild horses in Albania. They run free though, there is nowhere to go and they have plenty of grass where they are. There are no houses near, only a gas station and a bar-restaurant. Great place for a stop, especially for bikers (or photographers).

Rain & Sun

[caption id="attachment_1811" align="alignnone" width="950"] Rain & Sun[/caption]

Rainy Afternoon

[caption id="attachment_1789" align="alignnone" width="950"] Rainy Afternoon[/caption]

Catch the Sun

[caption id="attachment_744" align="alignnone" width="950"] Catch the Sun[/caption]

Enjoying Sunset

[caption id="attachment_617" align="aligncenter" width="950"] Enjoying Sunset[/caption]

Urban Sunset

[caption id="attachment_595" align="aligncenter" width="950"] Urban Sunset[/caption]

Through My Sunglasses

[caption id="attachment_516" align="aligncenter" width="950"] Through My Sunglasses[/caption]

Cloud Factory

[caption id="attachment_440" align="aligncenter" width="950"] Cloud Factory[/caption]

Sunset Colors

[caption id="attachment_422" align="aligncenter" width="674"] Sunset Colors[/caption]

The sky's on fire

[caption id="attachment_291" align="aligncenter" width="950"] Skyfire[/caption]

Leaving Sun

[caption id="attachment_246" align="aligncenter" width="950"] Leaving Sun[/caption]