14th June, Tirana and Durres

 I woke up feeling a bit seedy, took a panadol and once our driver had arrived we took off for Tirana. This was about an hour's drive, and the traffic was interesting.

In Tirana we explored a communist bunker which had video of interviews of people who had survived the imprisonment and torture, and long long lists of those that hadn't. There was also some good examples of the spying that went on, and how people were encouraged to spy on their neighbours and even their family and were rewarded depending on how good the information was.

There was no necessity for the information to be true. 

After this sobering tour, we walked through the streets and past a protest against the Government. There were a lot of police closing roads and redirecting traffic. We walked down an alleyway festooned with Israeli flags; that was a welcome sight. 

Soon we came to a modern structure built in the shape of a pyramid. We've gotten good at walking up hills - when I get home Jenny we will have to put that statement to the test - so we marched up to the top of the pyramid. By this time I was feeling less energetic and definitely fluey. 

We met the driver and headed off to a cafe for lunch. I think we ate beef pie, which was mostly onions cooked in beef stock, and some delicious beef kebabs. Plus the obligatory bread dipped in sweet fruity olive oil. 

After this Xaku and the driver decided to take us to Durres, to the beach to relax until we could meet up with Xaku's cousin and families. After a lot of wrong turns we finally arrived at a beach resort. The sea was warm, and it wasn't too windy, so we swam and sunbathed and I felt sick. I went back to the car. 

We drove into the city, met with the cousin and other family members, drank coffee or orange juice and talked and talked. I just wanted to lie down. 

We went to the chemist and bought sudo-ephedrine for flu, and drove home, arriving around 8.30. I fell into bed, and tried to sleep between the dog barking, the sheet falling off the bed and Bruce snoring. Listened to a few podcasts and as I can't remember what was said, I guess I slept.