Here it doesnt matter which religion is belong to. Theres a chance one of the things thats special about the church is that its visited by people of different religions by muslims catholics or orthodox. So although its a Catholic Church of the people of other religions come and pray here as well and like candles for their relatives or for themselves i pray for my family and for myself and for all of my relatives as well as for all people in need like the homeless the elderly pushing most of us i pray for everyone who needs help so that god may help. But i also pray for my future so that i can become a good person and above all a good footballer thats my dream theres them but i. Its a dream that many albanian boys share with layo and lady on. To make it come true the brothers visit several times a year. From here the train continues further south. Than. Nearly 50 percent of albanians working population are involved in agriculture. Thanks. They mostly work without heavy equipment and rely on the help of donkeys goats and sheep. In the flats coastal plain west of latch is a sanctuary for rare birds such as domination pelicans and flamingos. You. You. After the fall of communism the shooting up birds and other wildlife skyrocketed. So in 2014 the government imposed a strict ban on hunting since then wildlife populations have been slowly recovering. In the early evening we return to do to us. Rail travel and albania comes to a halt at 6 in the evening. Service doesnt resume until the next morning. The station is right next to albania as the largest commercial port do this is sometimes called the gateway to the mediterranean. Italy is not far away. This morning the 1st train departed shortly before 7 it is headed for. In central albania. And is only 80 kilometers from doris but the train journey takes 3 and a half hours. The eastern route is considered the most beautiful in the country it used to go further to the North Macedonia border but the section beyond eldest son was closed 5 years ago. Anyone who wishes to travel further now has to go by car or hike. Man. Bloody and his colleagues are sad that some routes have been closed. Was reported for publication i dont want to get into politics but the fact is that all previous governments are to blame for the current situation. You should be going down the of since 991. 00 there have been no repairs to the tracks no investments except for a few Railway Crossings the shot. Because. And this is the result of the shrinking railway network. Its the only reason. We still have the trains we had under communism thats a fact it was somewhat. Old bridges and Railway Tracks run alongside newly paved roads to the right and left our historic buildings. At the trailer castle is part of a defense of complex built by scandal back in the 15th century. Ruled over an area stretching from eldest son to take donna today the castle is popular with day trippers. The trailer overlooks the as an alley. Further south the tracks one parallel to the schoolroom beam over. It is one of the largest and most important waterways in the country and has always formed a sort of border between the north and south of albania in cultural religious and also in linguistic terms. Before the train arrives and. Lida and her colleagues clean the compartments. They get water at one of the small stops. A lot of dirt is blown into the carriages through the broken windows so compartments toilets and corridors are mopped and cleaned every day lida also lays out covers a newspaper on the seats for each trip are laid out on im cleaning this carriage ready for my colleagues when i take over tomorrow. The train will do the same journey to obasanjo. We dont have any cleaning staff at the moment so we do the job ourselves. And right now there arent any passengers in this carriage and i do both jobs clean and i manage the train and i check the tickets ok and all that is my responsibility thats why were in a hurry to clean up because soon will be reaching the next station the. Air melinda mama tie doesnt normally travel by train she is here for her work the 28 year old botanist wants to compare the vegetation along the busy and unused railway lines. How many its very well known for its biodiversity a wild landscape which i think we need to preserve and a lot of highways and roads are are posing fragmentation as a high threats to our current door slammed by diversity and biodiversity so when it comes to fragmentation on the railway themselves very nicely put into the wild landscape or for me its kind of a pain cause landscape we like it but at the same time it helps to keep the bio corridor and the. As soon as planned. And melinda is meeting a colleague in l. Bus on from there they will continue one foot. Will start from doris and then 12 bus than when we stop and i will move on from a bus to their brow just pray as up to the border to see how it is developed. Shortly before elder son road and rail traffic run parallel through a wide valley an extension of the coastal plain the adriatic sea is only 60 kilometers away. At 1036 the train arrives punctually in el bus on. Wildlife specialist as his lordship is waiting he too wants to take a closer look at the area east of san. One next to the school being river runs the v a it cannot see are built by the romans in ancient times it formed an important trade route that connected rome with constantinople. The last train passed through here 5 years ago. Nature has since reclaimed the area. Near the small town of li but asked the valley of school bean is surrounded by the yeah plenty its a mountain range. It doesnt take long for air melinda to spot plants which she had not seen alongside the trucks still in operation. For example this is me gail our bassist this is one of my favorite flowers that is very beautiful it is ruder but even the environment was under pressure from the plant it wouldnt be here is the train runs through have only. Had one plant which will flourish in the in a following season like in spring and they will not go they will not be like here are under the train but just around it and as they were very disturbed they will not have the force to create new up no conditions for no other plans to come so almost everything that we see here we will not find in other places. And its not just plants that benefit from the disused Railway Tracks. In many of the tunnels swallows and rare bats have taken up residence. Albania is known as the land of the bats of the 55 species protected in the e. U. More than 32 lived here back to expert b. C. Knows them all. For this for. Apart from the Swallows Nest which we saw at the entrance i saw at least 2 types of bat in the tunnel them. As age of the do young the old are protected species under law and threatened with extinction. That makes this tunnel a very interesting site which we must preserve. And i hope the trains will not pass through it again. Sure. Do it the 4th even though of course that means its a blow to the railway network. Moves north of the. Although biologists consider the train to be the lesser of 2 evils compared to road traffic they also know that nature can develop best when there is no human interference. As can be seen in the sparsely populated east. Or at. The people here are poor almost all families in the region live from agriculture and the official unemployment level is 14 percent although unofficial estimates suggest it is twice that. What it was. Back in elba sun city is the 4th largest in albania with almost 130000 inhabitants and it has a colorful past thanks to its favorable location it became a prosperous trading town during the Ottoman Empire era. Nowadays the city is known for Steel Production and is home to albania as biggest metal plant every day freight trains come to the old factory which opened in the 1960 s. During the communist era. Local residents and authorities today still suffer the negative consequences and are mental Protection Measures for the plant are said to be inadequate. Many farmers believe that air pollution is having a negative impact on their vegetable and fruit harvest and that the soil is contaminated. One of those who opposes the factory is chef named bash molly he says it has become increasingly difficult for him to find good quality fruit and vegetables in recent years. Examines the prady use at the local market there a carefully. Yes out everybody has one even if you cant stop shop of it but a farmers from the area around the plant used to solve vinyl and i know you have a chip on your book or neck not but we cant use this produce anymore if its from here especially the high end leaves of stoppards which were used for a special local dish called that the beemer if you like your she now they are too contaminated by nearly as great as fruits and ground vegetables are all spoiled because of the mass of soil and air pollution. So im against the plant as a chef and as a citizen if. No name wants to make tough im a coon and target corsi to local dishes they are lamb with herbs and unripe plums and yogurt cake with goat they will be eaten at the feast of sacrifice celebrated at the end of ramadan. In the yogurt cake with goat the whole animal is used head brain and eyes are regional specialties. I besides being a chef naim also teaches at the university an elder son this means he only cooks in his free time on special occasions out of. The whole family celebrates by a dam in his Fathers House across the river not far from elba son center. Not. Yet. Nines father yaho bash molly who worked as a cook for 40 years when he was young trains even traveled to albania remote areas. Fresh eggs and flour make up the basis of the main course stuff a corsi yogurt cake with goat yes. No big deal. And. Meanwhile. Prepares to. Lamb with herbs and on the right plans. The family meets at 9 parents home every weekend im. Going to have a very. Much larger now im in the need of a social event and. They will be meeting again tomorrow for a bio when they will sacrifice a goat. The animal seems to sense its a looming fate. On route to the south of the country there are always 2 drivers in the cab today thats a lot he and a colleague while lotty keeps an eye on the track and the safety of the passers by his colleague drives the locomotive towards fear of the. The train used to go on to florida but that section was also deemed on profitable today the coastal town can only be reached by road. The train passes through all of plantations and vegetable fields fear the last station on this route is located in the 1st tile missing plane this used to be swamp land but it was drained a few decades ago. The train passes numerous small villages. Where you know. The top of the next big usually its dangerous we have a lot of problems on this route because of the crossings. To stall stall. But. He was riding his bicycle. Hes gonna forget it hes gone. To heaven or shell be here that the. People in the countryside dont have their wits about them that we gladly travel so slowly. Mind gone if the train went at a normal speed that would be a disaster it. Wasnt. Would it be sure you know that. But that wont happen because the tracks are in such a poor state that we have to travel slowly a lot of the young. Lady in the but its dangerous. For. Sure there are too many crossings because you know the girl is on the limit. There is just one train a day going south. The small stations just before fear seem deserted. When. A little further south lies the coastal town florida which used to be the last stop on the Southern Railway line the service was discontinued 3 years ago. The town and the nearby lagoon are popular Summer Vacation destinations. South of here the albanian riviera begins. The region is known at home and abroad for its mediterranean climate and long often deserted beaches. After an hours stop its time to begin the journey back north. For lita it might be the last time she travels this route. She will be retiring in just a few days time. Among men. Sometimes i even cry when youre in the mornings when im getting ready i often think but then i pull myself together. Im sorry its a whole lifetime. Since i was 24 years old and now its over i guess everybody goes through this. Maybe i will start another job why not im used to being on the road for 38 or 39 years i was always on the move on to the thought of staying at home feel strange but it will pass it will be difficult but then im sure i will feel better. About sickly. Which others feel that i love to travelling by train although these days they dont care about the Railway System as you can see. In my life being on a train anyway even if the rocking motion is a bit tiring. But i still like it very much. Not everyone can say that after 38 years in the same job. After 2 and a half hours the train has traveled to 80 kilometers back to do this its the end of the line for lida and the passengers. Every evening the old locomotive is uncoupled from the carriages and driven to the nearby depot where it stays overnight. The late. Fall. Most of the time its lottie who checks the locomotive before heading home as a mechanic he is also responsible for maintaining the engine. This is one of the 62 year olds favorite moments of the day. The young i fell in love with trains because i was able to raise my children thanks to then. Its my passion and i feel like im at home with them but i. Am so happy here its hard to describe. This engine was there when i raised my children when i got engaged and married if you know anymore thats why im so passionate about trains and i cant separate from them i dont know what ill do when i retire. So. Its just a lot he has 2 more years to think about that then he too will retire. To. Its still unclear whether the Diesel Locomotives will still run without him. But albania is always good for a surprise maybe the trains will run longer than most people expect. Literature in the age of corona. Award winning novel some. Experimenting with an online book fair. And a female poet his awarded literatures highest honors. Costs 20. To 30 minutes on d w. Every journey begins with the 1st step and every language with the 1st word published in the book. Nico is in germany to learn german why not come with him simple online on your mobile and free to set d w z learning course nikos speak german meetings e. Been told it is for me. Is for. Beethoven is for. Beethoven. Beethoven is for. Beethoven is for embryonic. Beethoven 2020. 150th anniversary here on d w. Play. Play. Play. Play. Play. Bass is do you have any news line from berlin News Coronavirus cases surged past 7000000 the subcontinent is set to overtake the United States as the worlds worst hit nation workers fear tougher restrictions will bring more job losses also coming up hes back Donald Trump Tells cheering supporters he feels great his doctor says the president is no longer at risk of transmitting the chrono pirates. And a truce between 2 former soviet republics in the caucasus comes under severe strain