Vlore

The second stop on our road trip was Vlorë, but before heading there, we spent the morning exploring Durrës after a quick breakfast. This mostly consisted of wandering around an old Roman amphitheatre. Lewis is an incredibly curious and talkative individual, so it was hilarious watching his brain unravel as he questioned what each section might have been used for. It definitely added to the entertainment value.

Although the amphitheatre was relatively small, the unrestricted access to all the different areas made it really interesting. There were some brief historical explanations scattered around, although they weren't exactly the most detailed or exciting descriptions. Still, we spent about an hour wandering around before heading off to find a sports bar to watch the Women's World Cup. Australia were playing Denmark, and it was a big game for both teams. We initially struggled to find somewhere showing the match, but the old reliable Irish pub came through once again and managed to find a way to put it on. We were the only Aussies watching, but that didn't stop us from getting very invested in the game. When Australia got the win and secured their place in the quarter-finals, we celebrated before setting off towards our accommodation in Vlorë.

By the time we arrived, we only had time to briefly park up at the hotel before heading out to find some dinner. It was already quite late, so we took a quick walk along the waterfront to see what Vlorë was all about. There was quite a bit happening. It was summer in Europe, so it seemed like there was always something going on, but it was particularly nice walking through the streets at night and seeing families and groups of people out enjoying themselves.

Despite Lewis and Erin somehow managing to get us lost, I eventually took charge and navigated us back to the accommodation. This is noteworthy because I'm absolutely shocking with directions, while the other two are constantly bragging about their incredible memories and sense of direction. Vlorë itself wasn't quite as nice as Durrës, but I think our accommodation was much better. For the first time in a long time, we could actually sit on a couch, eat snacks and watch Netflix like we were back home.

We settled on Beasts of No Nation. This was a mistake. It was an incredibly confronting movie and, while it was genuinely very good, it was absolutely not the movie we should have picked given the occasion. We were looking for something uplifting and light-hearted. Instead, we scarred our mental health, caused decades of emotional damage, lost faith in all of humanity, and questioned the state of planet Earth before heading to bed.Weiterlesen