[April 2024] Near the ruins of Apollonia in Albania, there is another attraction called the Ardenica Monastery.
It is said that the monastery was started to be built in 1282 on the site of the Temple of Artemis.
It is known that Skanderbeg, the hero of Albania who won independence from the Ottoman Turks for a while, got married here in 1451.
When we arrived at this monastery, we happened to run into another Italian group.
Their tour guide and our guide, Giorgio, seemed to be good friends, and after a long exchange of greetings, Giorgio decided to guide the other group as well, saying, “It would be a waste to guide them separately.”
The other guide flattered him, saying, “Giorgio is better than me,” but I thought he was a bit sneaky.
We listened to a detailed explanation of the icons and frescoes in the monastery’s church.
I think he said there are still two monks here.
There is a staircase in the back room, and when you go up to the second floor, there is a fresco of hell, which was impressive.
After leaving here, we had lunch on the terrace with a nice view of the plains near there.
The red wine that was served in a carafe was rich and I liked it, and the fried frog was also good.
The frog was not included in our meal, but Giorgio ordered a plate and served it to us, and I realised later that there wasn’t enough for everyone.
I quite like frog, and I eat it in Italy, so I wasn’t surprised.
The main dish was veal, which was a bit tough, but tasted good.
From there, we headed to the capital, Tirana, and on the way, we parked in a vacant lot in a town called Arapaj.
I did not know what there were there and it turned out to be Roman mosaics.
Apparently, this week was Mosaic Open Week, and the mosaics that are usually hidden for preservation were open to the public.
Giorgio, who specialises in archaeology, was probably interested in them himself.
We saw mosaics depicting hunting scenes and other things that had no religious element.
