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Tim Lynette Wilkins
Tim Lynette Wilkins

Tim Lynette Wilkins

traveled in 11 countries Read more
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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaTraveler
    Ottoman houses
    Socialist realist statue of freedom fighterGallery in castle with old gunsView down through gate in castle wallsCastle with later clock towerUS 'spy plane'

    Gjirokaster

    June 7, 2018 in Albania ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    Gjirokaster is another UNESCO world heritage site. Again it is a town of Ottoman houses around an earlier castle, like Berat, but they look quite different as the houses all have thick grey stone roof tiles instead of red clay, so it looks more sombre. We traipsed up to the castle which is not particularly interesting as most of the current buildings are 17/18th century. It houses a lot of old military equipment and a nice little archaeological museum. One amusing item on display is a T33 US Air Force jet the Albanians claim was a spy plane and the US says landed with permission for repair. Whatever, the Albanians released the pilots but kept the plane.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaTraveler
    View of the citadel
    HousesRoadHigh status houses

    Antigonea

    June 7, 2018 in Albania ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Antigonea is another hilltop site that was built by Pyrrhus, King of the Epirotes in honour of his wife Antigone. It is valuable as is was destroyed by the Romans in 168BC and not re-built by anyone else so it provides an uncontaminated idea of Epirote life. It was a large site with little other than remains of wall and buildings but was nevertheless quite interesting.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaTraveler
    Stream from the springs
    Coppery dragonflyBlue dragonflyThe blue eye spring welling upGardens round the springsThe springs

    Blue springs

    June 7, 2018 in Albania ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Out of Saranda on the road to Gjirokastra after about an hour we stopped at a beautiful spot which is the head of a number of really strong springs. The biggest is called the blue eye, it is so clear and blue and bubbles up almost like a fountain in a fantastic pond and stream. The whole area is home to swarms of brilliant blue dragonflies and some coppery-orange ones.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaTraveler
    Basilica
    Corner of the mosaic floor of the basilicaCarving of lion biting a bullBone spoon handle in the museumRoman glassSwimming at Ksamili beach

    Butrint 2

    June 6, 2018 in Albania ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    The largest building at Butrint is a 6C AD basilica still standing to pretty much it's full wall height. It too has a mosaic floor which is covered over except for one corner. One of the gates in the city walls had a beautiful carving of a lion biting an ox, thought to have been moved there from an earlier shrine on the acropolis. The site museum was small and had some nice but not outstanding finds. After a fascinating morning we went for a delicious lunch at a seafood restaurant by the sea and had a lovely swim!Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaTraveler
    Wall of polygonal stones
    TheatreNames of freed slavesMix of early walls, Greek shrines behind and Roman buildings outsideMosaic in niche of fountain6C AD baptistry with mosaic floor covered over

    Butrint

    June 6, 2018 in Albania ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Butrint is probably the highlight of the trip - a UNESCO world heritage site with overlays of remains from 4C BC through to 16C AD. Mercifully the weather today was a mix of cloud and sun so our 4 hour walk round the site was not too hot. Here the indigenous tribes were Epirotes rather than Illyrians. Their material culture was identical but the Illyrians spoke Illyrian and the Epirotes spoke Greek. As usual the earliest remains are the massive stone walls but here there are some sections with polygonal shaped bigstones expertly fitted together. There is a lovely small Greek/ Roman theatre outside which there are many stones carved with the names of freed slaves. There are Greek and Roman shrines and fountains with mosaic. One circular building from 6C AD is a baptistry with a beautiful mosaic that we cannot see because it is covered over to preserve it.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaTraveler
    Campsis
    TortoiseCricket or locust?Cricket or locust

    Flora and fauna!

    June 5, 2018 in Albania ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Wherever we go the sites are covered in wild flowers and we come across animals and bugs of interest. There great bushes and trees covered in flame red flowers that I am told are campsis. Spectacular!

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaTraveler
    MGAs
    Hydrofoil to corfuMGAs and CorvetteThe only Alfa

    Saranda

    June 5, 2018 in Albania ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Arrived here in time to rest, have a icecream and a cup of tea and sit in the sun. It's been a hard couple of days so it was good to get a bit of downtime. Tomorrow we have a long visit to the highlight site of the trip and another night in this hotel. Way hay! Two nights in the same place - luxury!

    On the way here we stopped at a viewpoint over the whole coast line and found a Italian classic car club trip - for some reason mostly MGAs.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaTraveler
    Fòuntain
    FountainRock cut stairsShop with well, grinding mill and holes for amphoraRoad with steps through the siteCommunist era submarine base

    Oricum

    June 5, 2018 in Albania ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    A quick trip this morning to the site of Oricum, a 6th century port on the Adriatic coast. As the coastline has changed over the years much of the site is now underwater and in any case it is in an Albanian navy base, requiring clearance and security checks. Perhaps not surprisingly it isn't on the usual tourist routes! It is on a hillside over the sea and very much overgrown so we had it to our selves and it was lovely clambering around and finding bits of stuff. Carolyn, our friend who is the archaeologist for the trip, is just so bubbly and enthusiastic so it's a pleasure to watch, listen and learn from her. There are also people of the trip who are very knowledgeable, in particular a man who was an RAF engineer and amateur archeologist who is very useful to have around. The remains included a semi-circular building that they think was a fountain with some impressive water engineering, rock cut stairs and houses and shops cut into the bedrock. On leaving the site there was a bonus as it's a location for training Albanian special forces and about 2 dozen of them came out of the water in their swimming trunks.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaTraveler
    Seating of the stadium for Greek games
    Monumental tombsFoundations of a Greek temple with a Christian basilica in frontUnusual vaulted gate into the cityBaby chickBaby lamb

    Amantia

    June 4, 2018 in Albania ⋅ 🌙 23 °C

    Our visit this afternoon was to a site rarely visited - it's not even in the guide books. Now we know why. The journey there and back is on an unmade road for an hour in each direction, climbing up a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains. Once there, it's another 15 walk round the hill to enter the city proper and then there is not a lot to see. May have had Illyrian origins but mostly Greek style buildings. There is a spectacular stadium, damaged by earthquakes and an arched gate but no monumental buildings. The stadium and temple remains are outside the city on the only flat bits of land. The top is occupied by an old lady and her animals which generated more appreciation than the ruins. On balance, probably not worth the lengthy trip which meant we only arrived at our hotel at 8.15. It's up in the llogara national park about 1000m high.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaTraveler
    Ottoman style house
    Entrance gate of the citadelView of the river valley13th century churchCitadel walls mainly OttomanCistern, probably Roman

    Berat

    June 4, 2018 in Albania ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    This morning we walked around the ottoman era city of Berat, which is a UNESCO heritage site. It's a jumble of ottoman houses in a river valley overlooked by a citadel which has Illyrian foundations, Roman bits, mediaeval churches and Ottoman walls and mosques - a right jumble - plus its still lived in. The earliest church dates to the thirteenth century and the citadel includes a huge Roman cistern and tunnel down to the river to provide fresh water. One of the churches is now a museum of icons dating from 15C to last century.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaTraveler
    Illyrian rock cut stairs at Byllis
    Early Christian basilica at ByllisIllyrian and Roman walls at ByllisView from Byllis down to the riverA Roman cistern under the stadium until an earthquake lifted it up

    Byllis

    June 3, 2018 in Albania ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    An hour and a half from Apollonia is another hilltop site at Byllis. This was the home of an Illyrian tribe called the Byllines an it was never colonised by the Greeks but was invaded by the Romans. It is a very large site with massive walls around the hill and the remains of many buildings - Illyrian stoa, houses, agora, Roman theatre, stadium, and several basilica and Christian churches. The views down to the river below are spectacular. We had a lovely lunch in a cafe onsite where locals were celebrating a birthday with polyphonic singing and dancing.
    Tonight we are in Berat - a UNESCO protected site of traditional Ottoman houses. Our hotel is in one of the houses and we have a beautiful room with carved wooden ceiling.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaTraveler
    Communist bunker
    Roman Bouleterion with Odeon behindOdeonIllyrian stoaRoman road up to the acropolisSeats in the odeon

    Apollonia

    June 3, 2018 in Albania ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Another long hot day with visits to 2 spectacular sites. But first this morning we stopped at a Communist era bunker, one of 300,000 Hoxha built across Albania fearing a Russian invasion after the invasion of Prague. This was on the way to Apollonia a sister city to Durres, inhabited by Illyrians then colonised by Greek immigrants then taken over by the Romans. The foundations of the walls and some buildings are the big blocks of the Illyrians but most of the remaining buildings are Roman brick built. There was an earthquake in the 3rd C AD that changed the course of the river that gave access to the sea and the town was abandoned. In the 13C a church was built on the site and this has lovely frescoes and Roman mosaics have recently been found in the refectory.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaTraveler
    Roman forum
    Bath houseRoman road - with cart rutsMosaics in the chapelAmphitheater for 15,000Internal corridor

    Durres

    June 2, 2018 in Albania ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    After a massive lunch at a lovely restaurant by a lake we went on to Durres on the coast. There were probably Illyrians living here first but the Greeks came over from Corfu in 7c BC and founded a colony. There is not much to see from this period as it has been continuously inhabited ever since and the Romans re-developd much of it when they took over in 229BC. There are some Roman remains - a forum and some baths found when they were building a new theatre a few years ago. But the most spectacular site is a Roman amphitheatre that was capable of seating 15000. It has not been fully excavated but the passageways around behind the seats are well preserved. When the gladiator spectacles were banned in the 5c AD the amphitheatre found other uses and some Christian chapels were built into it - one contains some beautiful wall mosaics very much like ones we saw in Ravenna.
    This evening we had dinner at a restaurant on the beach and watched the sun go down.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaTraveler
    Lezhe city walls
    GatehouseCity gateCitadel from the lower townPossibly shops on a harbour front

    Lezhe

    June 2, 2018 in Albania ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    This morning we went north to Lezhe which is most famous in Albania as the burial place of Skanderbeg - the hero of Albania from the 14c, credited with winning battles against the Ottomans for 25 years. But for us the main interest is the remains of the Illyrian city from the 6c - 2c BC. In truth there are not many remains to see as the city has been built over them but an earthquake 20 years ago revealed some and they excavated. The most Impressive are the gatehouse from 6c and later 4c and the walls which originally went all the way up the hillside from the lower town to the citadel on the acropolis. The Illyrians did like to build their walls with massive blocks of stone.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaTraveler
    Watchtower 1400ish
    Medieval churchFrescoes in the old house / museumKruje football stadiumCommunist era picture in the museumView down from the citadel

    Second day in kruje -2

    June 1, 2018 in Albania ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    During the afternoon we joined up with rest of the group to go back to the citadel and see the other bits. There are fantastic views from the top and you can see why it was an important stronghold in the past. There is a communist era museum, and an interesting museum of life in Albania in the 18th century.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaTraveler
    Ceiling of the shrine
    Fresco of constantinpoleTomb of two hajjisLocal wine is really good!As is the local food!

    Second day in kruje - 1

    June 1, 2018 in Albania ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    We walked up to top of the citadel this morning and looked at the places that we thought the group would not have time to see after they arrived this afternoon. In particular the tomb of a shi'a imam called hajji Muhammad baba, covered inside by wonderful frescos.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaTraveler
    View from our hotel room over the city
    Mosque next door - dawn prayers are at 3.45 am!Zgerdhesh city wallsMore wallsView down the stepped approach to the citadel

    kruje

    May 31, 2018 in Albania ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    We have a day on our own here before we join up with rest of the party tomorrow. It's a lovely old hill town on the side of a mountain. We took a short taxi ride to the site of the Illyrian city of arbandon ( Roman albanopolis, now called Zgerdhesh ) dating from 1000 BC. There's not much there, just a few of the city walls, and some post holes, water channels and flights of steps cut in to the bed rock of the Acropolis, but great views and nice to get into the mood of the trip.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaTraveler

    Going to Albania

    May 30, 2018 in Albania ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Arrived OK in Tirana, but it seems a long journey. Our train from mill hill was cancelled so we had to wait half a hour for the next one, then when we changed at Farringdon for the gatwick train, that was cancelled as well, and the next one trundled slowly all around south London. Then the flight was a hour delayed leaving but they made us sit on the plane in case they got a earlier slot .... Still, we are here now, and it's warm and not raining!Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBack to JerezTraveler
    Last lunch in tapas restaurant
    Trying to avoid the wavesPlaying on the beach in a gale

    Last day

    March 1, 2018 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 14 °C

    It was a wild night with Gale force winds and much rain. We have all had a virus this week with high temperatures , headaches and tiredness but it has not prevented us from having fun. Despite the continuing gales force winds and frequent showers there has been much sunshine today. We all went for a last lunch out at a tapas restaurant and after naps, Natalie, Andy, Finlay and Emily went for last walk on the beach and Finlay fell over into the water trying to avoid a big wave. Madness!
    We are hoping that our return flight to Stansted will operate as normal but are dreading delays and a nightmare drive to Lincoln for Andy and Natalie.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBack to JerezTraveler

    Just like bank holiday!

    February 28, 2018 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    It's andulcia day here - a public holiday - and another storm blew in during the night. Torrential rain and strong winds, but that wasn't going to stop Finlay going to the beach!

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBack to JerezTraveler

    Stormy weather

    February 27, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    A big storm blew in during the night with torrential rain and strong winds. Fortunately the rain had stopped by morning and the wind died down enough that it was ok. Natalie and Andy had a day out to visit Jerez, that Andy hasn't been to before, and sent us pictures of having chorros and chocolate for breakfast, and tapas for lunch, and walk around the centre of the city. Back in chipiona, the sun was out and it was nice even in the wind, so they went down to the beach and flew a kite. People were kit-surfing but Andy decided that do that in the atlantic in February would be a bit cold!Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBack to JerezTraveler

    The rain in spain . . .

    February 26, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    It was another sunny morning so we went back to the beach and Finlay built his first sandcastle (with a little help!) . we had just come in for lunch and set out a table of food out on the roof when an enormous storm blew in with strong wind and rain so we had to rush it all back inside. The weather forecast was for clouds and rain showers all this week, so I guess it's arrived!Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBack to JerezTraveler

    Afternoon on the beach

    February 25, 2018 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

    It was quite cloudy this morning but lovely this afternoon so we spent it on the beach. It was Emily's first time on the sand and she loved it, and jumping in the waves seems to be inherited from her mother!Read more

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