So an overnight stop in Korce, not much to see not much to do.let me share my misery. Maybe it was late in the day and I was weary, in need of food and beer.
Surrounded by the Morava Mountains, eastern Albania, the town has a population of circa 75k.
Mostly groups of men promenading or enjoying a traditional coffee, whilst their women folk are busy grafting. Interesting fact:
Albania has more coffee shops per capita than any other country!!
Some going about their daily chores.
The Resurrection Cathedral
Constructed as recently as 1992, it is the main Orthodox Church In the town. It stands on the site of a former church destroyed under the Communist regime. It is built as a mirror image of the former.
Through out my worldly travels, seeing various religious icons buildings and artefacts, it never ceases to amaze me how a lot of (esp.hindu) temples, and without question the Angkor Wat complex in Cambodia, look remarkably like space rockets; and how a lot of religious icons and and paintings seem to have all these so called gods and angels with a halo surrounding their heads.
Can't fly though space without a helmet on.
A spaceman came traveling on his ship from afar
'Twas light years of time since his mission did start
And over a village, he halted his craft
And it hung in the sky like a star, just like a star
He followed a light and came down to a shed
Where a mother and child were lying there on a bed
A bright light of silver shone round his head
And he had the face of an angel and they were afraid
Then the stranger spoke, he said, do not fear
I come from a planet a long way from here
And I bring a message for mankind to hear
© BMG Rights Management
Wanderlust takes over
Time to now indulge myself amongst the brutal structures of the town
Beauty so they say is in the eye of the beholder!!
Strolling through the archway.....
....and coming out the other side
Hello!
What do we have here then?
Well it would be rude not to
Wouldn't it?
I seemed to have stumbled into some disused, pikey market, frigging weird, still, don't look a gift horse in the eye.
Well all was going swimmingly until my presence set off a sleeping hound, and he was big, thankfully he was chained, but his woofing set off other dogs around the place. Ah! FFS. Damn good guard dogs I must say as various heads popped up around abouts. Guess it wasn't abandoned, guess it was home to a bunch of pikeys.
Then they started shouting, showed them my camera, still they shouted. Thinking best get the fuck out of here before they throw off the duvets.
DO NOT RUN!, gives the game away to pikeys, stroll away like you own the place, get round the corner out of sight, then run like fuck!
Even the theatre looks glum
Bazaar of the Serenades
When I heard that there was an old Ottoman bazaar at the edge of the town I was thinking "awesome, love places like this" The Souks of N. Africa sprung to mind.
Oh dear Poetic licence, the bazaar burnt down, in the 19th C, partially rebuilt in 1879.
Now i am not sure if this is a shop display or what, there was no one around to ask.
In 2015 $4 million, was invested in the area to transform it into a hub for tourists. Can you see what is missing?
So many bars, that is all there is, apart from a couple of souvenir shops. I chose one and feasted
So that was Korce, did I enjoy such a soulless old place?
Damn right I did!
Real life.
Real people.