Renegade Albania

Tough little Albania.

One of the last holdouts to Ottoman conquest during medieval times and the only eastern European country to rid themselves of the Germans without Soviet help during WWII, this beautiful mountainous country on the southern Adriatic just above Greece is quite the frontier land.

Despite being one of the most Muslim countries in Europe (64%), it is one of the only countries that ended  WWII with more Jews than before, actively resisting deportation despite being under a succession of Italian and German rule (only 1 Albanian family was sent off to concentration camps) and actively welcoming and sheltering Jewish refugees from neighboring countries.

Although Communistic after the war until the early 90s, Albania aligned itself with China and to some extent the Soviet Union but was not subject to them, clearly evidenced by the fact that it is the only country in mainland Europe without international train access (an unthinkable development under train-loving Soviet rule).

Friendly, welcoming, but without the star tourist pull of its Adriatic neighbors, Albania is an honest slice of Balkan Europe off the beaten path and all the more appealing for it.

The pictures are primarily from the fortress of Butrint in the far south and the capital city, Tirana.