Albania, Durres and Tirana 21st October 2025

Blessed to start each morning with the Hotel sequence of the DailyJ so I feel a lot better eating the 3 meals a day. Michael and I try not to but the organised lunches are difficult to refuse. Today we started in the town of Durres, Albania. The guide explained the different foreign invasions that Albania had to contend with. From the Byzantine empire, Ottoman empire, Venetians, Otto Hungarian, Romans, Greeks, and many more with Churchill handing them over to the communists. The victors write the history so much is swept under the rug with victims forgotten and great sections in history unrecorded.

Much evidence of unrest and uprisings.

Fantastic building with outrageous colours and shapes.

We travelled to a farm, a sustainable farm, full circle of life, using insects of different kinds to protect as well as enhance crop growth. Different insects have different purposes. Don't till the land bellow a few centimeters and bring back natural vineyards as apparently Albania is the source of all of the different wine cultivars.

We ate a perfect lunch, farm to table. All sorts of cheeses, vegetables, bread and we think goat. I did not eat the goat but Michael says it was very tasty.