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| At the entrance and super excited about our day |
We woke up this morning and spent some time relaxing before
heading to Butrint National park for some hiking. Oh my god!!! It was beautiful
and incredible in so many ways. It wasn’t like I thought it would be. I knew there
were some very ancient buildings, but I thought we would have to hike through
some wilderness to reach them. Cortney compared the whole experience to that of Machu Picchu, only with less hiking. The buildings in Butrint are actually
older than those of Machu Picchu, and after hiking through it we decided that
in 10 years it will be a way different experience than we had, because it will
be much more valued, and therefore more roped up. The way we were able to
explore it and touch things was incredible.
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| Pretty View of the sun coming up and the ruins. |
We walked into the park after paying less than expected
(apparently 3 people count as the group rate) and were able to walk right up to
the door of a Venetian Tower. I mean I literally walked up the steps to the
door and tugged to see if it was open. The trail continued next to some
partially broke down walls, which I walked on top of just because I could.
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| Walking on top of the wall |
The wall took us to a Roman town house, and then to a
fountain followed by the 2nd largest basilica in the world. The
basilica was gorgeous (probably my favorite part,) especially with the shadows
in the background. It seemed like around every corner there was another
beautiful ancient building to see. The land was so beautiful and we felt free
to explore as we wanted.
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| check out those shadows! |
So, we took a very random pathway to the Lake Gate to
reach some giant walls, rather than the path they had created for tourists. The
back path had some very old stairs and we couldn’t help relating ourselves to
Indiana Jones. The great big walls led us to the Lions Gate, where we were forced
to listen to some kids as we took pictures. Eventually they passed us and we
stopped to take a snickers snack break.
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| The carving shows a lion eating a boar. - at Lions Gate |
The Venetian castle followed, including a museum that
contained pottery from 14
th century BC. That is some old pottery!!
We were so intrigued that we were able to touch old sculptures without being
yelled out or getting nervous about getting kicked out. There was also a lot of
interesting pictures to look at and information to read. I mean, who knew Cesar
was in charge of Butrint and treated it like his adopted son for a portion of
time? So Interesting!
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| Touching the sculptures |
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| looking out at the top of the Venetian castle onto the Albania flag. |
Next on the list was the famous theatre, built in the 3
rd
Century BC. We goofed off on the stage performing some tap dancing and hand
stands, and took some contemplative pictures in the stands. Apparently they
still do performances on the stage, but usually these take place during the
tourist season. On the way to the theater you can see Greek inscriptions on the
wall, which apparently are indicative of the release of slaves.
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| hanging out in the theatre |
The final thing on the map was by far the most interesting.
Not because of the beauty(because we were unable to see it,) but because of the
history behind it and the relation it has to my life. The baptistery was built
in the 6th century and contains a mosaic representing Christian
Salvation. Unfortunately the mosaic is so incredible that they want to preserve
it, (imagine that!) therefore they have used some sort of blue plastic and sand
to cover it and keep it safe. Apparently the rising and falling of the water ruins it, so they open it only once every few years, and only
for a few days. I wish we could have seen it, but it is also sweet that
Albanians are preserving this history.
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| Baptistery- in the middle is where they do the baptizing. This sand is coving the actual mosaic to protect it. |
Pretty much my only compliant about the park was that there
was still trash (minimal) in some areas and that the mosquitoes were awful. If
you go I recommend bringing a trash bag (do your part) and some bug spray (so
you don’t get malaria.)
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| At the Monastery |
On the way to Butrint we noticed a sign for a monastery and
promised ourselves we would check it out on the way back, so we did. The hike
was covered with huge random rocks, but we managed to walk our way around them
and up the large hill. The rocks were super interesting to look at and I’m
hoping that my soils friend Erika Wertz might be able to tell me something
about how they were formed and why they are like this. The monastery made me
feel like I was home. Mostly because there was a basketball court next to it, a
couple of cows, and a large cross overlooking the mountains. It reminded me of
church in Wisconsin. We happened to notice a deserted beach below, and vowed to
come back to go for an afternoon swim since our morning had been so productive.
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| I'd say it was a gorgeous day! |
It was only about 1:00 when we got back to the apartment to grab Scott (who
stayed home to work) and head back to the beach for some swimming and a bottle of
wine. I had probably my most hippie like experience ever. I skinny dipped in
the Ionian Sea (because why not?) and then proceeded to put on my pants (sans
underwear) with my new hippie-like scarf, and to drink a bottle of cheap wine
directly out of the bottle.
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Monastery beach from up top
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