Durres Albania. A surprise!

Doing some research before we left, I had read about Albania being a slow and somewhat backward state, the North Korea of Europe, a failed, inward looking ex Maoist state, struggling and out of touch with modern Shengen Europe.

No doubt some of that was historically accurate, but after spending time ashore in Durres, seeing the economic hustle & bustle and hearing about the people adapting their lives, shaking off the shackles of totalitarianism, to modern ways of thinking and living, I must say Albania surprised us, a lot.

There are still struggles to endure switching from a very hardcore, Maoist inspired version of Communism to a free market, Euro rules based economy but it is happening and quickly. The economic plan is to make Albania a major Mediterranean tourist destination, to construct an extensive railway network linked to building a new mega seaport that will provide ocean access to their landlocked Balkan neighbour states. Large $$$Dubai investments and deals involved

We had a very interesting day in Durres, from exploring their
Ancient Greek and Roman archeological sites to visiting another winery (!) and it will be interesting to watch from afar as Albanians seize their opportunity to join the 21st century

A most interesting day.Read more