This is Berat, a 2,500 year old city about 3 hours south of Tirana. The castle pictured here dates from the 13th century and was built by the Turks on a hilltop overlooking the city. The city is hoping to be named as a UNESCO world heritage site soon. The castle contains the remains of many Orthodox churches. One of these now contains a museum which displays a wide range of icons painted by Albania's most famous painter of icons, Onufri. There is a good website here. (You'll need Flash and it won't work on Firefox - shame on them).
I was watching Top Channel last night, first the news, then Fiks Fare. According to them Tirana's citizens now have a choice not only between Rama and Olldashi, but also between Rama and Rama. A minor right-wing faction, Parti 'Balli Kombetar' , submitted papers to the election authorities registering their candidate, Akile Rama. The people on Fiks Fare got hold of the papers and sent a reporter and camera team to the address listed for Mr A Rama. After much ringing of the bell the gate was reluctantly opened by a middle-aged woman who refused to speak to the reporter and tried to close the gate on her. Back in the studio Saimiri and Doctori - the two presenters of Fiks Fare - revealed that Mr Akile Rama was 73 years old, in hospital, and did not know he was now a candidate for mayor. They also compared two documents - the papers submitted on his behalf, and a genuine document he had signed. The signatures were not even remotely similar. There was an interview with the lea...
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