HARDWICK – Andrea Brightenbach and Bruce Fortmann gave a fascinating presentation with many photographs of their nine-day bicycling trip through southern Albania last summer, at the Parker Ladd Memorial Room in the Jeudevine Memorial Library in Hardwick last Thursday evening.
As they explained in their introductory remarks, Albania is a very small country about the size of the state of Maryland on the Adriatic extension of the Mediterranean Sea, with Greece to the south, North Macedonia and Serbia to the east and Montenegro to the north. The Balkan Mountains are prominent in the northern half, up to 9,000 feet, while the southern section is flatter. Its history goes back at least 4,000 years, first subject to Greek and Roman rule, then Byzantine Empire and Ottoman control until 1912. There was a period of political instability after that until about ten years of a monarchy in the 1930s, Italian and German occupation during World War II, and finally a communist dictatorship until 1990 which totally isolated Albania from the rest of the world. Presently it could be described as a parliamentary socialistic democracy.
Albania has a primarily agricultural economy and little industry and is one of poorest countries in Europe, having a mean yearly personal income of 860 dollars. Forty percent of the people are Eastern Orthodox Christians, thirty percent Roman Catholic and the remainder Islamic or non-believers. The food is predominantly vegetarian with fish from the Adriatic Sea and lamb from numerous herds. There are still comparatively few cars in Albania but many horse-drawn vehicles, which makes it ideal for bikers. One downside of this trip was that there wasn’t much opportunity to interact with the people, who are very friendly but few speak English.
Brightenbach and Fortmann’s bicycling group consisted of about 15 to 20 Americans and the tour was organized by an Albanian company with excellent guides. They averaged about forty miles a day and stayed together in hotels along the route. Starting at the capital, Tiranë, they visited some major buildings and then enjoyed a fine meal at a restaurant entertained by uplifting music. Their photographs of the countryside were quite spectacular, going down the Adriatic coast, with hairpin switchback turns up and down low mountains, with interesting farms and villages, roadside vegetable stands, fields of grain, sheep and goat herds, old churches and castles, thermal openings, a Roman amphitheater and many other sights. They expressed a desire to possibly return to Albania to tour the northern mountain regions.
Andrea Brightenbach is a retired teacher and an excellent oboist who has had a farm with her husband Harold McCoy on Bridgeman Hill Road for many years. Their son Brent McCoy has a current show of his beautiful paintings at the Highland Center for the Arts in Greensboro.
Bruce Fortmann grew up in Hardwick and is a flight instructor and a musician, just recently graduating from Vermont State University. He has enjoyed four bicycle tours internationally in recent years.
David K. Rodgers
David K. Rodgers is a writer, mason and card carrying dilettante, who dabbles and babbles in art. He has lived in East Craftsbury for the past 40 years.
