We drove to Korce, retracing our route along the lake side
and, this time following a sign that meant that we avoided the centre of Progradec.
We parked up at Korce Camping, just to the south of the city. A very small site
but intriguing with a lovely garden with places to sit in the sun and shade and
a cherry tree, full of cherries that we were encouraged to pick from – they were
delicious. We chose a pitch, plugged into the electricity and then set off for the
20 minute walk into Korce.
The Albanian / British couple that we met at Lin had told us that there was
folk dancing happening this weekend in Korce and we decided to find it. We made
our way to the old bazaar, now converted into an area of shops, cafés and
restaurants. Sure enough, there was a stage and lots of bunting and a small
group of brass players were doing sound checks. We found an outside table at a café
that gave us a view of proceedings and I checked with the band manager – “Yes”,
he said, “it is my band and they will be performing now”. There might have been
something lost in translation as they spent the next hour repeatedly playing
odd notes on all of the instruments. How long does it take to do sound checks
for a 5-piece band? They played no more than 30 seconds together as a band and
the manager seemed to be very pleased. It was traditional Albanian folk music
and sounded good but we would have liked more than 30 seconds of it! And then
the heavens opened. The clouds had been building and the forecast had promised
rain but this was a full-scale thunderstorm with torrential rain and hail. The
stage was uncovered, so all the instruments were put away, microphones
withdrawn and speakers covered in plastic. It was so bad that we had to abandon
our seats under cover outside and retreat inside the café. We had another
coffee and waited for the rain to stop.
We knew that there was an archaeological museum in Korce and the Bradt
guidebook showed it on their map. It had nearly stopped raining but was still very
threatening and the waiter had told us that the local forecast had promised
four more hours of rain. Clutching umbrellas we set off to find the museum in
the back streets on the other side of the city centre. The map was not good,
roads not named on the map or on the streets and even the locals didn’t really
know where it was and suggested that it might not be open. We gave up and
started to head back when we stumbled across it - we had been within a few
metres of it very early on. There had been no signs to it at all and the
building, looking semi-derelict, only had a tiny sign confirming that it was
the museum. The door looked closed but opened to my push – there was nobody in
sight and no obvious reception. I called out and a young man came out of an
anonymous room. He looked startled, surprised that anyone was visiting the
museum especially in the evening. He directed us upstairs where we found
displays of prehistoric finds either completely open or in large glass
floor-standing cabinets. The cabinets were all unlit and we had to experiment
with the random switches to light them up. The finds were very interesting but
there were no labels. A very occasional very small board in Albanian and
English might give very basic information about the cabinet contents but that
was all. It all reminded us of the Greek museums in the late 1970s, although I
seem to remember that they were a lot dustier. The guardian came up to see us,
I am guessing that he was surprised that we had stayed more than five minutes.
He noticed that we had switched on all the lights and was very apologetic and
embarrassed by the state of the museum. He is a qualified archaeologist and
explained that the finds were good but the display wasn’t – we totally agreed.
When he realised that we were interested in archaeology, he told us about the
excavations he was involved in. There are lots of hill forts around Korce and
he pointed out their locations from the museum’s (very dirty) windows. There
are many tumuli associated with the Bronze Age and he had been excavating some
of them. He was an enthusiastic archaeologist and I felt his pain in having to
be the guardian of such an uncared-for museum. He also told us that the folk
dancing was due to take place at 18:30 in the old bazaar but, given the
constant rain, it was highly unlikely that it would happen.
We now had two choices – find a restaurant for a meal and hope that the weather
improved or walk back now. It was still raining, but only gently and there was
no sign of a likely improvement. Jane decided that walking back was the best
idea. It was a good decision. It rained gently for the whole of the 25 minutes
that it took us but, soon after we arrived back, the rain turned heavy and
continued most of the night.
The campsite offered a set meal and, although we were a little late for the
19:00 start time, they were happy to accommodate us. What followed was an
excellent spread of salad, cheese filo pie, sliced chicken, rice, stuffed
tomatoes, local cheese, bread and cake accompanied by a glass of local wine. We
couldn’t eat it all, leaving some cheese and pie but they insisted on wrapping
those in foil for us to take bake. The lady made it all herself, including the
bread, either in a wood-fired oven or over a fire. She even made the filo
pastry herself, which she insisted was easy – it isn’t! It was an excellent
meal and the filo pie was definitely the star – light and a very tasty filling.
Photos: The garden at Korce Camping; The stage in the old bazaar and the band
that never played; This large complex bordered on our campsite and was a Greek
school for Albanians, funded by and staffed by Greeks.
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