Butrint and Exploring Ksamil.

Our first day in Albania had been pretty amazing, so we were looking forward to what today would bring. After all the raki last night I was worried we’d be a bit hungover but after a bit of breakfast we were ready to go!

Today we were heading to Butrint, an ancient Greek, then Roman City located close to the reek border. It was first inhabited between the 10th and 8th centuries BC, so it’s pretty damn old! It’s also a UNESCO world heritage sight and national park.

As we were staying in Ksamil we decided to take the bus down to the entrance, they’re every hour and cost around a Euro. It was a leisurely 30 minutes to get there along a road filled with stunning scenery as we wound our way along hills with amazing views of the sea.

Arriving at butrint we were amazed at the beauty of the place. There’s a cute little wooden ferry taking you across the river which we had to try, and from here we explored a small fortress and took in the views. You can see for miles and there are lots of little hilltop churches and villages across the flood plains.

The entrance fee is around £4.50 and there’s a map at the beginning which I took a photo of to give us a clue of what we were looking at. We started off by walking along the river, spotting a watch tower in a beautiful wild flower meadow.

We doubled back and followed the path through the woods and it suddenly opened out to huge remains of old buildings. It was partially flooded which gave it an even more interesting vibe. Butrint was abandoned after an earthquake flooded much of the City and destroyed it.

The amphitheatre was particularly impressive and there was hardly anyone else there, so it felt like we had the place to ourselves to climb and clamber around. There were even little european pond turtles in the water. Butrint is known for it’s biodiversity and you can see all sorts of animals such as grey wolves, sea turtles, dolphins, salamander, jackals and golden eagles in the area if you’re lucky.

Butrint is amazing to just wander around if you have the full day, the Baptisterium was cool with all it’s pillars and is famous for it’s mosaic floor, unfortunately it’s kept submerged under water and mud for much of the year to keep it intact as it dates from the 6th century.

The great basilica was one of my favourite spots as it was really maintained with it’s beautiful archways, we felt like such explorers with all the ruins, and you get more and more views of the surrounding area as you walk around the island. we passed the Lion’s gateway before starting the ascent up to the Venetian castle and Sanctuary of Asclepius.

There’s an interesting museum up here and again, awesome views of the coastline and we watched eagles soaring high up in the distance. The castle is well maintained and you can get a drink and some food at the Dea Art Bar. The weather was really good which was a bonus for us. After the castle we had wandered for a good few hours. So we were ready to head back to Ksamil.

The bus dropped us off on the main road, and from here it was a short walk past a lot of half finished resort hotels. It seemed like there had been a real boom of tourism at one point but it’s a shame it’s a bit run down as when we got to the beaches they were amazing.

The sand was bright white and the water crystal clear, we took our shoes off and had a little paddle around. Then stopped and looked out at the little islands dotted around the bay. I’d definitely like to go back in peak season as the beaches weren’t very well maintained and nowhere looked open.

We had this problem as we looked for somewhere to eat, in the end we bought a typical mediterranean dinner of cheese, olives, bread and wine. We took this back to our hotel and sat on the balcony, watching the sun slowly set over the Ionian sea.

The next day we took the bus back to Sarande, and had a little wander around the shops to spend our last Albanian Lek before we took the ferry back to Corfu. I would definitely recommend staying a few days here over Summer. It was so cheap and there are a lot of things to do and see, I can’t wait to explore more of Albania one day!

48 hours in Kiev, Day 2.

Kiev is such a vast City, the day before I had done a good job of walking around a lot of it, but I still had so much more to see. Read about Day 1 in Kiev

I began the day by walking toward Khreschatyk Street, the main street in Kiev, on my way I passed this beautiful old wooden gate called the Golden Gate, it’s a replica of the original gateway built in the 11th century.

The square it’s located in was also really nice, I got a coffee from a vendor to wake up a little and sat watching the world go by while I enjoyed it. I decided to go into the gate, it only cost 50p and it had lots of history info inside, but the views from the top, looking out over the City made it really worth it.

Afterwards I walked over to St Sophia’s Cathedral, an Orthodox church founded in 1037. It’s an absolutely beautiful building with amazing turrets covered in green and gold.

Entry was super cheap and it was just as lovely inside as out, make sure you climb the bell tower! From here you can walk around the cute Sophia Square, make sure you check out the Bohdan Khmelnytsky Monument, dedicated to the man who led a revolt against the Polish-Lithuanian kingdom in 1648.

Directly across the square is another amazing religious building, St Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery. Originally built between 1108 and 1113 it was demolished by the Soviets in the 1930s but rebuilt in 1999 following Ukrainian independance.

It’s free to go inside, look out for the statue of archangel michael and the refectory. Also just watch out for people trying to dress you up and hold animals for pictures, in the square they were pretty aggressive to some tourists. Just be firm from the get go if you don’t want a picture.

On my way to the next sight, I passed another Monument to the victims of famine in 1933 and a monument to Princess Olga who acted as a regent for her son between 945 and 960ad.

This area was really pretty with some gorgeous looking buildings. I was heading towards the National History Museum of Ukraine but I got a little side tracked at a booze festival in the Arthall D12 building. It was incredible, I had some mulled wine and tried a couple of local beers, it was really interesting wandering around and checking out the different stalls. I even tried these garlicky blue cheese snails!

Feeling a little tipsy I finally headed over to the Museum and learned a bit more about the Crimean annexation by Russia and a little bit more of the history between the two countries.

It was certainly an eye opener and there was also loads of information about Ukraine’s history. There’s a cute little Tithe Church in the same square as the museum and you get some great views of another big orthodox place, St Andrew’s Church.

I honestly don’t think I would get bored of looking at these, the architecture is amazing.

If you want souvenirs then walk down Andriivs’kyi descent, it’s filled with hawkers selling all sorts of local wares, stop for a coffee and enjoy the vibe. I was pretty hungry so I wandered past Kontraktova Square and the Monument Petra Sagaidachnogo and found myself on a street of the same name.

There were loads of restaurants to choose from but I ended up in Star Burger and it was so tasty. I got the bacon cheddar with fries and coleslaw, delicious!

Powered up I went to explore the Ukrainian Chernobyl Museum to learn a little more about the nuclear disaster before heading there myself the next day, you can read all about that adventure here.

There’s a huge monument to Volodymyr the Great who brought christianity to Ukraine and solidified it as an empire by 980ad back past the Star Burger, and you can wander around Volodymyr Hill one of many green spaces in the City. I did a little wandering around before taking the funicular back up the hill.

It was getting towards evening at this point, so I wandered back towards the national museum and checked out the Park Landscape Alley and Peizazhna Alley to look at some random quirky pieces of art, the missile half buried was a particular highlight! I found some cool pieces of street art around this area too, and loads of cool bars.

So I picked one and spent a couple of hours watching the football and chatting to the locals about current events in Kiev which was awesome. They even pushed me to try pigs ear after I told them my horror story of trying it in Lithuania and it was delicious, it was everything I thought it was going to be the first time.

It was getting late now, and I had to be up really early for my Chernobyl tour, so I half walked half staggered back to my hotel, stopping off at Veterano pizza again before going past the Red House on the way through Taras Shevchenko Park.

Kiev has truly been a complete surprise at how much I’ve loved it, there is so much to see and do and such a rich history. The architecture is unreal, the food and drink good and the people are really open and friendly. There is loads more I saw and did that I can’t even fit into the blog posts, so many cool statues and monuments, parks and the underground/tram systems are cool too.