Touring around

With the couple that we met from BC, we rented a car from our agent to tour areas around Saranda (Albania). We crossed a rickety cable ferry to see the Venetian Triangle Castle, which is as exactly as it says - a castle in a triangular shape. Wasn't much to see but we walked around the small perimeter and peered in the open windows. Wished we had a drone!

Cable ferry

Venetian Triangle Castle

Next was the adjacent ancient town of Butrint. It was a naturally near perfect site for the ancients as it is located at the end of a lake with a contiguous fertile delta. The channel to the ocean allowed shallow draft ships from far and wide access to it.

Delta

The Romans developed most of this site, then others that came later added to it. There was a well-defined amphitheater and many other ruins.

Ancient amphitheater

We drove into the foothills to the most unusual natural phenomenon called the Blue Eye. It was surreal to see a small spring of sparkling clear blue water come bubbling right out of the ground, up from a deep abyss that has never been explored past 50 metres deep, flowing at 7.5 cubic m/sec. It is always only 10°C but the cold water didn't stop people from getting in or diving from up above.

Blue Eye

Bubbling Blue Eye (4-sec video)

We crossed over a mountain pass via a narrow road with hairpin turns into an interior fertile valley to the City of Gjirokastra where the main attraction now is the old Gjirokastra Castle. Perched on a promontory on the side of the hill, we had to wind our way on narrow streets through a charming Old Town to get to the gate.

Modern Gjirokastra below

Cool arches

It was interesting to see rock roofs on many houses and on areas of the castle. Heavy! The castle was used right up to the end of the Second World War.

Rock roof

Clock Tower