A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

   

Voskopoja

Monastery at Apollonia

I love pictures. Whether taking them myself and sharing them with others or viewing photographs taken by friends, for me a picture truly does say a thousand words. My photography skills aren't great but they are improving. Regardless of the quality of pictures I take I make a point to document our adventures through photographs where ever we go.  More often than not I have a camera ready whenever we are in the car. After all, some of the best shots are those that appear when you least expect it. Posted on Facebook they provide friends and family with glimpses of our Albanian life. Words often cannot describe our experiences but pictures can.  I've lost track of the number of times someone tells me I can't really be describing some place or some event but once I show them the picture they can see for themselves exactly what I am talking about.

My pictures fall into two categories; those with people and those with only scenery.  We've made a point of taking a family picture on each and every one of our trips. From Dubrovnik to Istanbul, Copenhagen to Prague, all of our travels are documented with an iconic city skyline as a back drop.  While I post these pictures on Facebook we've gone one step further and printed and framed a single picture from each trip.  These pictures line our stairwell and as a result inspire conversations when friends visit.  The waterfall 

A river runs through Thethi

backdrop?  That was taken during a family trip to Thethi last June.  The one where we are wind blown, squinting through snow squalls, and wrapped up in so many layers? The top of the Zugspitze this past winter. Looking at the pictures brings back fond memories of our travels and serves as a daily reminder of the amazing opportunities we have had while living overseas.  (They also remind me of how much Sidney has grown. Whereas he was a little baby when we arrived, as is evidenced by our most recent picture, he is now a toddler).  And much to my delight, these pictures also provide hours of story telling for Sidney.  He loves to point out the pictures and talk about what he remembers from each trip. Whether or not he actually remembers the location doesn't matter. He knows that Mamma, Daddy and Sidney were there together.  I do suspect he does remember snippets of certain trips. Our Rome picture inspires talk of water fountains while the picture from Budapest has him talking about all of the trains we road with my friend Miss Pam.  If I ever had any doubt as to why I do it, this is why I take so many pictures.

Cape Rodon

The second category of photographs are scenic shots capturing the places we have visited.  Whenever possible I omit people from these pictures and focus on the natural, or perhaps man made, beauty of the world around us.  I first did this during a trip to Italy with my mom.  Three of those scenes are now framed and on display in our public reception area.  The majority of my current scenic pictures were taken in Albania.  From Rozafa Castle in the northern Albanian city of Shkoder and the UNESCO designated city of Berat in the south, to a monastery in Apollonia, the churches of Voskopoja, and the iconic aerial view of Cape Rodon, I have captured aspects of all of our visits.  I've taken the best of these pictures, enlarged them and had them printed on canvas.  These pictures are now on display in our reception space along side my Italian prints.  Whereas the Italian pictures cover a small portion of one wall,

UNESCO houses in Berat

an entire other wall is filled with our Albanian adventures.  These pictures are quite impressive if I must say so myself. More importantly, they show our guests, especially our Albanian ones, that we are getting out, visiting, and appreciating their country.  It doesn't matter what the event is, there is always one guest who happens to be from the village, city, or area we visited and they love to talk about their birthplace and find out what we liked the best about our visit.  Sure these pictures could serve as conversation starters during slow moving dinners but more importantly, they capture a part of this country that we have visited and enjoyed.  By displaying a picture we are letting people know that we value that little piece of Albania and that simple picture says more than all of the words in the world ever could. 

The History of Rozafa Castle

At a very windy Rozafa Castle.  Additional pictures can be found here.

My parents have been visiting and as is true anytime we have visitors, we provide them with a whirlwind tour of the best sites our current home has to offer.  This past Saturday, that meant a trek to the northern Albanian city of Shkoder.  Shkoder sits on the southern edge of Lake Shkoder, the largest lake in the Balkans.  A highlight of any trip to Shkoder is a visit to Rozafa Castle.

To change things up a bit, below you will find a story of Rozafa Castle that I'm borrowing from Mitrush Kuteli's Old Albanian Tales.  I first read the tale in Albanian, but I've included the English version here.


There is a beautiful but bitter legend about the building of Rozafa Castle, which has come down to us from olden times.  Here is what that legend says:


On the summit of Valdanuz Hill, three brothers were working.  They were building a castle.  The wall they built during the day collapsed at night, and so they could never get it any higher.


Along there came a nice old man, who greeted them. "All the best to you too, you kind old man." the brothers said.  "But as for us...by day we work, by night it collapses.  Can you give us any advice?  How can we keep the walls standing?"


"I know," said the old man, "but it is a sin to tell you."


"On our heads be the sin, because we want this castle to stay up."


The nice old man thought about it, and then he asked:  "Are you married, brave lads? Do you have three lasses at home?"


"We are married," they said.  "All three of us have lasses.  So tell us what to do to keep this castle standing!"


"If you want to keep it, swear this to each other on your honor: don't tell your lasses, don't speak at home about what I will say.  Whichever of your wives brings your lunch tomorrow, take her and wall her up alive in the wall of the castle.  Then you will see that the wall will stay in place and remain for ever and a day."


This is what the old  man said, and he left.  One  moment he was there, and the next he was gone.


Alas!  The eldest brother broke his word of honor.  He spoke at home, told his lass, just like that, and he told her not to go there the next day.  The middle one too, broke his word of honor, he told everything to his lass. Only the youngest kept his word of honor.  He did not speak at home, he did not tell his lass.


In the morning, the three of them got up early and went to work.  Hammers struck, rocks broke, hearts beat, the walls grew higher.


At home, the lads' mother knew nothing.  She said to the eldest"  "Daughter-in-law, the workers want bread and water; they want a gourd of wine."


The eldest daughter-in-law answered her: "Upon my word, mother.  I can't go today because I am ill."


She turned and said to the middle one:  "Daughter-in-law, the workers want bread and water; they want a gourd of wine."


"Upon my word mother, I can't possibly go today; I'm going to my parents' house the night."


The lads' mother turned and said to the youngest daughter-in-law:  "Daughter-in-law."


The youngest daughter-in-law jumped to her feet, "Yes, mother?"


"The workers want bread and water; they want a gourd of wine."


"Upon my word mother, I would go but for my little boy.  I am afraid he will want the breast and he will cry."


"Oh you go, we'll look after the boy, we won't let him cry," said her sisters-in-law. 


The youngest stood up, the good girl; she took bread and water, she took the wine-gourd, she kissed her son on both cheeks and set off; she climbed up Valdanuz Hill and drew near the place where the three men- her two brothers-in-law and her husband- were working.


"May your work go well!"


But what was this?  Their hammers stopped striking, but their hearts beat faster and faster.  Their faces grew pale.  When the youngest saw his wife, he threw the hammer from his hand, he cursed the stone and the wall.  His wife said:


"What is the matter, my lord? Why do you curse the stone and the wall?"


The eldest brother-in-law broke in, "It was a black day when you were born, our dear sister-in-law.  We have sworn to wall you up alive in the castle wall."


"And all the best to you, my brothers-in-law.  But I have one request for you.  When you wall me up, leave my right eye uncovered , leave my right hand uncovered, leave my right foot uncovered, and leave my right breast uncovered.  Because I have a little boy.  When he starts to cry, with one eye I will see him, with one hand I will stroke him, with one foot I will rock his cradle, and with one breast I will feed him.  May my breast turn to stone, may the castle stay firm, may my son grow up brave, and may he become king and rule!"


They took the youngest wife and they walled her up in the foundations of the castle.  And the walls rose, they grew high, they did not collapse as they had before.  But at their base the stones are damp and mossy to this day, because of the mother's tears still fall for her son.