Balkan Odyssey: Ohrid Churches, Macedonia

We drove  over the mountains from Albania to the Macedonian city of Ohrid, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (one of the oldest human settlements in Europe) on the shores of Lake Ohrid. This is a lively and attractive town for tourists (the next Dubrovnik?) with many old and interesting churches. We visited two of the most notable.

St. Sophia is one of the largest and most important churches in the area. Its medieval frescoes are outstanding.

The Church of Our Lady Perivlepta has some of the finest early Renaissance-era frescoes in the world. The paintings, which have been recently restored, have a vigor and dimensionality very different from traditional Byzantine painting, and some rival the contemporary works of Giotto in Italy. Unfortunately, photos of the interior are forbidden, but the exterior is itself worthy of a picture.

Balkan Odyssey: Durres and Berat, Albania

Our third day in Albania took us out of the capital, Tirana, to the cities of Durres and Berat among other interesting sites.

Durres is Albania's second largest city and an important port. But I was charmed by this scene that illustrates the strong Moslem influence.

Because of scenes like this, Berat is sometimes called "the town of one thousand windows".

Balkan Odyssey: Tirana, Albania

Albania has a dismal reputation, dating from the decades after WW2 when a Communist government under Enver Hoxha was in power. Therefore, we were surprised and delighted to find that its capital, Tirana, is lively, colorful, well organized, and increasingly prosperous.

This is one example of the surprising use of color, on a building in Skanderbeg Square, named after the ancient Albanian hero who led a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire.

In the afternoon, however, we saw a different aspect of the city: the huge (more than 100 rooms) underground Bunker 1 which Hoxha prepared in case of nuclear attack.

Balkan Odyssey: Montenegro to Albania

We took an early walk in Budva's Old Town, just behind our hotel, and came on this lovely scene of the old Citadela glowing in morning light.

Then on the bus and over the hills to Albania, where we spent most of the day in Kruja. The Ethnographic Museum held many interesting exhibits from olden days, including this one of a bride inspecting her new kitchen.

Balkan Odyssey: Montenegro

From Dubrovnik we drove to Montenegro, arriving first at Kotor on the Bay of Kotor. This is a beautiful, mountainous country with a striking history, but what we found most striking was the enormous cruise ship docked so as to dominate the city.

After lunch we drove up a steep, very winding road to some other small cities, but first stopped at a viewpoint to get an overview of the Bay of Kotor. One can see the cruise ship sailing out of the bay just below the center of the photo, and its dock in the lower center.

Balkan Odyssey: Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik is a famously picturesque small Croation city on the Adriatic Sea. But its beauty can too readily lead to picture postcard photographs. I decided to choose a couple that are less predicatble.

Laundry drying outside an apartment in the small area of private homes inside the walls of Dubrovnik

Patio of the cafe outside the top of the cable car tramway in Dubrovnik. I was struck both by the contrast of the white umbrellas with the black shadows, and by the very hazy horizon between sea and sky.

Balkan Odyssey: Mostar

Mostar is the third stop on our Balkan Odyssey. It is an ancient city, the capital of the Herzegovina region of Bosnia-Herzegovina, largely but not entirely Moslem. Its famous medieval Stari Most (Old Bridge) was destroyed in the war with Serbia, but was rebuilt in 2004. The bridge, and the shiny stone-paved Ottoman market street, make it a huge tourist attraction. (So crowded as to be severely uncomfortable, to my taste.)

A view of the bridge along the Neretva River, emphasizing its natural beauty rather than its uncomfortable crowding.

Detail of exquisite carving of a door in one of the historic Ottoman houses open to tourists.