Destination Vlorë
Day 3
Sunday, 7 July 2024
Last night was the most glorious night of sleep I can recall having had in a long time. I was so tired that I could have probably slept comfortably on a concrete park bench, but a super-comfy bed and cool air-conditioning made for a glorious 9+ hours of uninterrupted la-la land here at the Hotel Giulia.
After enjoying the wonderful hotel breakfast buffet and an espresso (or three), we packed up and began our journey south toward Vlorë.
Our host and guide for this mission trip is Altin Kurraj, the Balkans Director for Radstock — a global network of churches. Joe and Charlotte Bubar have known Altin for several years now and their relationship with him, and with Radstock, is what led to this mission trip. Altin was in the U.S. last month on Radstock business, and during that trip, we had the pleasure of meeting him over dinner at the Bubar’s home in Knoxville, Tennessee back on 13 June.
About 35 km south of Durrës driving on SH4 and near the town of Rrogozhinë, Altin suggested we stop for an Albanian tradition — BBQ corn.
Yummy!
Shortly after this stop, Altin realized we were going to pass very close to the 2nd century roman city of Apollonia and asked if we wanted to see it. And with an enthusiastic “yes,” that’s exactly what we did.
Here’s one of my favorite photos. An ancient Roman column — nearly 2000 years old — just lying on the ground in the parking lot as though it’s nothing. That’s what it’s like in Albania. So much history that just blends into the background of the modern world.
And a few yards away, you have Ottoman Empire ruins from the late 15th century.
And not far from this, you have one of the 750,000 concrete bunkers built during the 1960s to 1980s under the communist government of Enver Hoxha.
The Museum of Apollonia is well worth the visit. Here is a very small sampling:
The ruins outside were equally amazing.
I could have spent hours more at this amazing site, but we had to get some lunch and continue heading south to our final destination for the week.
Just after 4 pm, we arrived at the Hotel Tragjasi where we would be staying for the next five nights and where the mission retreat would take place.
It was here that we met up with Paulin Veleciku, Pastor of Dardania church in Gjilan, Kosovo — the church sponsoring this retreat and that our church back in Tennessee is supporting.
Home for the next five nights:
Our view:
Around 7 pm Paulin kicked the retreat off with welcome remarks and a brief worship service.
What an action-packed day!
See you tomorrow!