Well dinner was nice last night but more about that later.

After we had left the Fortress in the morning we were back on the bus for a short drive to the small village of Dhoksat for a traditional homemade lunch at a private family home. Before eating we were taken around his vineyard and then he showed us his bee hives. Lunch was absolutely sensational, all cooked by his wife, with everything just delicious but in particular, the eggplant parmigana. Yummo!

After such a huge lunch we decided on a very light dinner. A couple of drinks and a snack from the local bakery. And by the way it was still extremely hot. Around 38 degrees but we did have a shower of rain and suddenly a gorgeous rainbow appeared.

Next day we left Gjirokaster to head to Saranda for the night. First stop was the Blue Eye, a karstic spring with supposedly stunning clear aqua marine water. Well we were a little unimpressed as were most of our fellow travellers. 😂

Then we continued on to the UNESCO listed Butrint, one of the “greatest archeological sites in the Balkans”………but according to Greg a pile of rocks.

The site dates back to the Neolithic age and the site was occupied and fought over until the Ottoman period when it was abandoned. Excavations more recently have revealed a Roman Theatre, a Roman Bath house and Baptistery, which we were told had the most amazing mosaic floor which had been covered over 2 weeks previously! Buggar! But the tour guide promised us mosaics in the church. Well, a little disappointing we must say.

We then continued to the shores of the Mediterranean for our night stop at Saranda. It was supposed to be the Albanias answer to the French Riviera, however we didn’t quite see it that way.

We went and had a sundowner at one of the local bars and enjoyed the sunset, however we knew we were in a very tourist location because the price went up!😂

We went out to dinner, which was lovely, however one of these items caused both of us to be quite u well for a couple of days! Thank God for Imodium! 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️😬

So woke up the next morning feeling absolutely shit. Our trip for the day was a very winding road heading up to the Llogora National Park supposedly one of the most scenic drives in Europe. Once the tour guide saw me, she said…..front seat Rhonda. On the way we stopped at Ali Pasha Fortress, a castle on a small peninsular within Palermo Bay.

After the fortress we stopped at Himara for coffee ( hydrolytes for Rhonda) . We think this would have been a much better place to stay than the busy Saranda.

Then we continued onto the National Park for our nights stay. Rhonda slept the afternoon away and enjoyed a piece of dry toast for dinner. Delicious!

Woke up feeling a little better so back on the bus, but still in the front seat….just in case!😂 Our first stop was another pile of rocks, Apollonia , founded in 585BC and dedicated to the God Apollo. The city achieved fame and wealth before joining the Roman Empire and becoming Caesar’s stronghold.

Greg was happy to see some mosaics on the floor of a Roman villa. Then we continued onto the gorgeous town of Berat, known as the town of a thousand windows, with its white Ottoman era houses.

We first visited the Fortress on the hilltop. We went inside the Holy Trinity Church, a 14th century church with amazing icons inside.

Our hotel in Berat was gorgeous overlooking the Ottoman houses. We liked the town, it was not touristy at all, just had a problem finding a bar for a drink that would take credit card.

We had dinner at the hotel that night and went for a wander in the morning as we had a late checkout.

Loved Berat, Rhonda’s favorite spot of the tour.

Today is the last day of the tour. We came straight to Kruja, a hillside town about an hour out of Tirana. The views of the Fortress are impressive however the Bazaar area is agin tourist central, not our cup of tea!

So that’s it from Albania.

We have come to a few conclusions here. Bus trips are definitely not us and we need to do our own thing! Tomorrow we have an early wake up call to take us to Tirana Airport for our flight to Athens and the next part of the journey begins. So Rhonda can tick Albania off her bucket list and Greg says never again!😂

So until next time

Lots of love

Greg and Rhonda.