Day 148: Sarandë

Aug 29 - Down to the beach, with the intention of not using any transport. The beach areas in Sarandë are mostly full of umbrellas and lounge chairs, which must be rented for 1000 lek/day. There is very little free space for people wishing to just sit for free. The beach is covered in gravel, mostly pebbles from limestones. Nothing like a sand castle can be built, as Odette soon realizes. The population at the beach is mostly Albanian, with a significant number of Italians.

In the afternoon, go to the city center to review where the buses leave from, since there is no bus terminal. The buses for Tirane leave from the street east of some ruins that cover a city block:

There is little on site to explain the ruins. They are the foundations of a synagogue and the center of the old Jewish community. There were several mosaic tile floors discovered here, not visible now.

South of the town center is the Embankment, which is promenade along the ocean.

This odd pillar sits right on the sea shore, one of a few stone ruins along the beach. I could not find out what it was, but looks medieval in age based on the type of blocks used.

As a matter of interest, Albania, like many countries, has a name that is placed on most world maps, and a different name it actually calls itself. in this case, the latter is Shqiperi. It derives from the name for the Albanian language, which is called Shqip.

Albania