Europe #16: Saranda
March 5 – Water and Electricity supplies
What are the electricity and water supplies like here? Well, power cuts are not uncommon – we had two in Durres and a two hour one here in Saranda last week, which is really long.
As for water, the water meters and the equivalent of our stop-cocks are located in the street, open for anyone to tamper with them – see this photo of the meters in our block of flats. Yesterday there was no water, nor this morning. I contacted the airbnb host and she said that kids sometimes fiddle with the taps – it seems like a common occurance that people just put up with. If there’s no water, you go out and turn it on again. So I did and it’s now fine. Just one of those Albanian things!
March 7 – a walk along the seafront.
Saranda has a long seafront, around half of it accessible to the public, so I had a wander. Here are a few snaps. All very typical of Albanian resorts.
March 11 – Museum of Tradition
Saranda has no theatre or cinema. You really have to go to the capital, Tirana, for that. There is one museum and art gallery squeezed into a tiny building on the Saranda seafront. The museum is devoted to Albanian history and tradition and the art is by local artists. It would be really interesting, but there are no descriptions or captions in English. Here are some photos that might give you a flavour.
March 13 – A view from Lëkursi Castle
Climbed up to Lëkursi Castle this morning – Saranda to the North, Mountains to the east and the Greek islands to the south and west. Intense blue sky, no wind.
The castle was built in 1537 by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire. It’s now a ruin containing a restaurant that gets very busy with people coming to see the sunsets. I would like to come back in the evening, but it’s so steep, and I’ve had enough of steep hills for the time being.
