Hello weekend community!
I see the topic for this weekend engagement is "making a choice" and it kinda fits into my way of programming my vacations. Why? Because when I travel I have two main interests that influence my trip: beautiful beaches and/or cultural/historical sites. Not always I can have both, but this time I've been lucky.
A couple weeks ago I've made a trip to Albania. I stayed there from Monday to Sunday, looking for some amazing beaches, because I love to swim and go snorkeling. But the last day, I decided to visit an amazing place to end my vacation in the best way and fulfill both my interests.
Porto Palermo castle
Porto Palermo is a small town near Himarë, in southern Albania, almost Greece.
It is not known exactly when it was built. At the end of the 18th century it was under the control of Ali Pasha Tepeleni, a politician and governor of the region of Ioannina. Ali Pasha was a very important figure for Albania, a supporter of solid alliances with the European nations fighting against the Ottoman Empire. An alliance that brought great benefits and a position of power for Albania in the eyes of European rulers.
The castle was not a particularly useful place from a military point of view, and this can be understood just by looking at its shape and position: in fact it is triangular in shape, positioned on a small peninsula that is however partially enclosed by the bay. For this reason the attack power of the castle was limited.
However, it was used as a support base for supplies and for its sheltered port, first by the English Royal Navy, then by the communist regime that transformed it into a submarine base.
Today the castle can be visited easily by paying a small entrance fee. it has been completely cleared of furniture, but walking around its walls is astonishing. One of my favorite moments was entering the prison: a solid room built with thick walls inside a larger room. It was raining that day so not much light entered the castle. The prison was pitch dark and its walls blocked out most sounds. Being locked in there for days must have been a lot of psychological torture for the prisoners!
The best part of the castle is certainly the roof, where you can admire the view of the bay of Porto Palermo in all its beauty.
I really enjoyed my vacation there because I'm a beach guy and love to discover little beaches with a beautiful seabed. But I also love to visit historical places and I'm so glad that I was in that part of the country because visiting the castle was not scheduled in my trip, I found it when I was already there!
Have you ever been to Albania? If yes, let me know your experience, so maybe next time I will see some new places 😁
And about the travel choice: are you more of a beach person or a city/museum one?
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That castle looks fascinating and it's great to learn of the history behind it. I didn't know much about the back story and it's always good to increase our historical awareness. Glad you also managed to fit in some snorkelling. It looks like a lovely area.
Yes and it's been really fun going to the beach there because there are some pretty big waves coming to the beachside 😁
This looks awesome! I love travelling, I always travel around NZ and love it here, but I am starting to get the urge to explore more again. I have never been to Albania, would love to get some funds together and journey from NZ back to UK without flying. That would be cool!
Great question at the end, I love beaches, nature, forests, mountains so much, but some of the cities in Europe are spectacular! I can't choose... but I'd have to say beaches. The beaches here in NZ are unreal. West coast is black sand rugged (like in my video for 'Everything') but the east coast white sand, it is great. The Coromandel is one of my favourite beach spots here!
Hi, I think you have combined very well your stay there doing what you like, snorkelling and visiting the castle of Porto Palermo.
Impressive that feeling of being in a place that holds so much history and legend.
Prisons have never been nice. Oh, except in Norway. I once read that ‘it's the best country in the world to be a prisoner’. 🤔
Have a good day and start of the week.
Yes, it was quite impressive to stay in there. It's a military castle so nothing fancy. No furniture, it was literally empty. But those stone walls are massive!
And it has an echo for sure in addition to the beautiful views 😊.
I'm not so into beaches, but I do like some history. When I travel I want to see something authentic rather than what has been made for tourists. I've not been to Albania yet.
Yeah me too. Sadly the sea side in Albania is becoming really touristic, because it's still much cheaper than Italy and Croatia. So even the small beaches are easily used for touristic activities that ruin the natural feeling.
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Nice post. I’m actually in North Macedonia now and planning to head to the beaches of Albania next week, so cool to come across your post. We think to head to Sarande. And i guess that must be close to Porto Palermo.
We spent 2 weeks in Tirana and really loved that city, and we are not generally city people.
Where were you visiting Albania from, i imagine somewhere close as it seems it was a short trip?
Porto Palermo is something like 40 minutes north from Sarande. If you want to go up a little more I suggest you visit Himare 😁
I've come from northern Italy. It's a bit more of an hour flight