http://michaelhussey.com/albania Documenting our travels to and through Albania Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:43:37 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Ksamil is a small coastal village 15 minutes south of Sarande and just north of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Butrinti. There are a number of small hotels and restaurants on the mainland all serving fresh fish from the local waters. Three are also four small islands you can ... http://michaelhussey.com/albania/2009/09/ksamil-beach-in-southern-albania/ [caption id="attachment_256" align="alignnone" width="475" caption="Click the image to see the full 370 megapixel photo"][/caption] Syri i kalter is a natural spring believed to be fed by Ioanina lake in Greece. Divers have not yet been able to touch the end. The name is said to come from a sound engineer who ... http://michaelhussey.com/albania/2009/09/swimming-in-syri-i-kalter-the-blue-eye/ [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="264" caption="Click this image to see it in full 830 megabyte resolution"][/caption] Nestled into the cliffs overlooking the Ionian Sea, Hotel Liro in Vlore, Albania is a rare experience. Offering balconies almost straight above the clear, cool, transparent Mediterranean waters. the hotel offers free use of kayaks, canoes, ... http://michaelhussey.com/albania/2009/09/hotel-liro-in-vlore-albania/ New write-ups and lots of amazing photos coming soon... http://michaelhussey.com/albania/2009/08/returning-to-albania/ [caption id="" align="alignright" width="160" caption="Taiwan Center"][/caption] After a long day looking at churches and sites in the southeast of Albania, we worked our way back to Tirana in time to have a late dinner with Kejda's cousin Dasara. We chose the Taiwan Center, even though we'd been there once already ... http://michaelhussey.com/albania/2006/08/last-night-in-tirana/ After squeezing in as many sites as possible, it was finally time to get back to Tirana for a late dinner and to catch a few hours of sleep before I had to set out to Rinas Airport for a real early flight back home. Here are a few photos ... http://michaelhussey.com/albania/2006/08/driving-home-to-tirana/ Michael found the beaches in Tushemisht too littered for a comfortable non-repugnant swim, so he seemingly decided to give up on Lake Ohrid. We stopped in quite a few places with better cleaner beaches than Tushemisht; Pogradec was one of these places. But Michael seemed convinced in his decision so ... http://michaelhussey.com/albania/2006/08/a-quick-swim-in-lake-ohrid/ Three very old churches and a monastery and lunch for $4.50. Voskopoja, Albania - Land of Many Churches Aug 3, 2006 - 77 Photos http://michaelhussey.com/albania/2006/08/voskopoja-land-of-many-churches/ [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="160" caption="The Church of Ristoz - Mborje"][/caption] Finding the Church of Ristoz, what the local population claimed was the "oldest church in the balkans," was not easy. The people of Korce all seemed to offer generalized directions ("by the beer factory" or "up that way") so it took ... http://michaelhussey.com/albania/2006/08/the-church-of-ristoz-korce-albania/ Korca The drive from Pogradec to Korca was pretty uneventful, or so I am deducing because I do not remember anything from it. Once in Korca, I was shocked at how bare the city looked baked in the sun. And then I remembered that Korca is a city whose center is ... http://michaelhussey.com/albania/2006/08/korca-albania/