ALBANIA || Gjirokastër & Berat - travel vlog (plus Tirana, Vlorë, Krujë Castle) 15 Degrees North скачать в хорошем качестве

ALBANIA || Gjirokastër & Berat - travel vlog (plus Tirana, Vlorë, Krujë Castle) 15 Degrees North

15° North are travelling again! This time we are in Albania. There we visit: Castle Kruje, Tirana, Vlore, Gjirokaster, Berat, Adriatic Coast. Jérémy and Ben here again! We love to travel and to satisfy our wanderlust, we are on a worldwide odyssey exploring the best places for a break around the world. We love to escape Britain to experience the best culture, cuisine and attractions that the globe has to offer. If you’re a tourist like us and just need a good itinerary for what to do and how to do it when you’re in Albania, we will show you the best things to put on your itinerary. Make sure you subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNCk... Check out our Asia Playlist:    • ASIA   Music: https://www.purple-planet.com Albania is a country on the western Balkan coast, which until recently had a somewhat enigmatic reputation as a country completely sealed off from the rest of the world. A medieval kingdom that formed part of the Ottoman Empire, Albania has been independent since 1912. But following liberation from the Nazis, it became a communist country led by a totalitarian dictator, who closed the borders entirely to the rest of the world until 1991. This means that the country is somewhat behind its neighbours economically, but in recent years it has been undergoing a renaissance, opening up to tourists and welcoming cultural development. The result is a country with lots of tourism infrastructure and rock-bottom prices. So you can see why people are flocking from all over Europe for a slice of Albanian vacation. Tirana is the nation’s capital, containing this rather unusual pyramidic structure... Today it’s an IT centre, but it was actually built as a museum about the legacy of Enver Hoxha, our aforementioned dictator. It was opened in 1988 and then communism fell in 1991, so it was only functional for three years! There are very few historical buildings in Tirana, but to understand the nation’s tumultuous history you have to come here. Hoxha ruled Albania from 1944 until 1985. The early years of his rule were greatly positive, rebuilding the country after World War Two and significantly improving the health and education of its citizens. But Hoxha was an increasingly paranoid man, convinced that sooner or later, neighbouring Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union or even Western European powers would eventually invade his country. He closed the border entirely, completely controlled the media and implemented extensive surveillance of the general public.So much so that by the end of his rule, one in every three Albanians had been either interrogated by the secret police or sent to a labour camp. Western culture was banned. Religion was outlawed. And if someone was convicted of political crimes, their entire family would be condemned along with them. Today, Albania’s tourist industry is centred around the Adriatic Coast. But we spread out our beach days by visiting more cultural sites in between. Gjirokaster is an ancient city in a valley in the Gjere Mountains. Overlooked by an enormous fortress, a town has sat on this spot since the Middle Ages. Initially a part of the Byzantine Empire, it sat at the frontier between various empires, passing back and forth between them many times. Today, it’s the Ottoman influence that you can see clearest of all, with many of its historic houses dating from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Unlike most of Albania, Gjirokaster survived the modernisation building programmer throughout Albania of the 1960s and 70s. I wonder why the town was spared the bulldozer...Althoigh that might be something to do with the fact that Enver Hoxha actually came from here, so his nostalgic childhood connection to the town is probably the reason why it is still standing in all its glory to this very day. And then there’s the fortress itself. And you really don’t get an idea of the scale of the place until you start wandering through its vast hallways, which just go on and on, criss-crossing the hilltop in a rabbit warren of passages and chambers. Berat is our final stop in Albania, heading inland toward the border with North Macedonia. Thankfully, Berat has also been spared the bulldozer and nowadays, just like Gjirokaster, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We loved exploring its cute little old town and climbing the hill to see its huge fortress. But the real surprise of our trip to Albania actually ended up being our favourite in the country. Up in the mountains we visited a gorgeous vineyard that offers a wine-tasting like no other. You taste their wines and eat some lovely food, but it’s not just wine that they make here. Oh no. They also make raki. The national spirit of Albania, it can be made from many different fruits, but here it is made from grapes. Offered to guests as standard Albanian hospitality, it is drunk in abundance by everyone, from teenagers right the way to great-grandfathers.