BonVivant

The next morning in Morelia. Had to hit the market looking for fresh fruits. Going through the food section first was a mistake. Fresh fruits after breakfast then. It was early in the morning so less than half the stalls were open. After walking round and looking 3 times I picked one that had more people eating. The stallholders were vying furiously for customers. The setup is very much like in Oaxaca (but not as atmospheric). Chilli sauce on the counter. Not very hot. Chicken broth My second dish being prepared Forgot to ask what this this was on the counter. Green pepper schnitzels? Now I must have fruits. One of the best things about visiting warm countries is eating (tropical) fruits. They are always perfectly ripe and flavourful every time. I got mango and melon, in big chunks. Standard size is tiny pieces. I miss Oaxaca's fantastic fruit stalls. One can get a massive bowl of mixed fruits and other fruity things. My first chicharon taco. Wonderfully light and crunchy. 2 surtido (mixed meat and probably organ bits as well) and 1 shoulder. This is a busy local restaurant not in the city centre. Had to wait a bit for a table. Both were good but if I had to choose... surtido. The meat was enough for 2 tacos. Late in the afternoon at a chocolate place near my lodging. We are desperate for chocolate as we eat it every day at home. Hard to find pure/100% chocolate here. This contains 100% cacao. Please rise for the national anthem of Mexico. Thanks for the chocolate, chillies, vanilla, corn, avocados, pumpkins and many more! Wooden frother Re limes I buy at home, they come from Brazil. But lately they also come from Spain. It's good to have choices.

Leaving Macheros after breakfast After a nauseating 4 hour journey on endlessly winding mountain roads we reached the capital of Michoacan where we had our first meal in Morelia. Nice salsa picante but still not "super hot*" for my taste. The partner liked it. (*I like heat level of scotch bonnet chillies) Finally, an IPA. The brewery is far from the city centre but they do have a tap room 3 streets from my lodging. Going there tomorrow to make up for the 2 days they were closed). Ale brewed with native Michoacan blue corn. OK/interesting beer. Uchepos are steamed fresh sweet corn puree. Served with a red sauce, some green peppers and fresh (double cream). So good! Sweet and fluffy. If it were me I would eat uchepos with cream and fresh cheese. An idea for when sweet corn is in season at home. Corundas is a type of Michoacan-style tamal(es), but the texture is super dense and totally different from the typical tamales in other parts of Mexico. What the corundas look like. I broke the top one in 2 so you can see the thickness. This restaurant makes corundas in this shape, but usually they come in triangles and are thicker. There's some tender pork on top in previous photo. Mexican limes are tiny and not too sour. Much better than the crap we get at home imported from a certain country. The little "bowl" is actually the hard shell of some fruit, similar to coconut. We demolished the salsa picante and got another bowl, twice as big. Cecina is a super thin big sheet of beef. Michoacan-style is deep-fried. In Oaxaca I had them grilled over coals. The restaurants sells molcajetes But not this one right behind where I sat Yesterday was Sunday. Mexicans love to go out on Sundays, to sit in the park, socialise, have a picnic etc. After the meal we walked to the centre and just to enjoy watching them. Street musican. The ipad replaces music sheets now? There are many ice cream shops in town. I saw mamey flavour and bought a cone. No mamey taste! I still remember it in Oaxaca last year. Mamey is intensely aromatic and sweet.

Breakfasts Today's visit to another monarca sanctuary at Cerro Pelon. First we walked to the start of the trail, which is right in the village here. Everyone got on their horses and the horse-handlers walked with their horses, either between 1 or 2 horses to the start. The trail got rough almost immediately. Again, ankle deep in fine sand, a mini dust storm with every step the horses made. Now imagine 20 horses in row. I wore a face mask and it turned brown like the dust. A lens cloth for cleaning my spectacles also turned brown, but I didn't find out until I got back and sat down to clean my glasses. Anyway, it's a rough ride. The trail, besides being very dusty, is also rocky. I trusted the horse-handler and his horse with my life. My horse is not very experienced or maybe not very bright. I was afraid it would put a foot wrong, literally, and take a tumble. One hour going down and a little more than one hour going up. I held my breath all the way down, focusing all my energy on not falling off my horse. Luckily, he responded well to his owner's certain sounds and words/phrases. What an experience. Glad I did it. That's Cerro Pelon where the colony is located. Altitude is 3000+ metres. Monarcas choose these specific areas and altitude to overwinter so you must go high up there to see them. But when they arrive on the first of November the mountains are still cold you can already see them everywhere in the villages and towns. Clusters of monarcas on branches. As soon as the sun came out they started opening their deep orange wings. And when the sun disappeared (being blocked by clouds) they closed their wings. It went on and on like this for some time. The clusters when zoomed in a little more The Sheriff, aka my horse. A metal badge on his head is a sheriff star. He gave me a few frightening moments when he wanted to take a different path or just being wayward. My very skilled horse-handler, young Alejandro. I gave him a nice tip. He worked so hard with the horses getting me to the colony and back safely. No specialised footware, in control of 2 horses, walked the trail without stopping. It's steep and rough. It took a lot out of me (anxiety-inducing trail, lots of pain after the rough ride). I just wanted to take a photo of the horse but he posed for me anyway. Food after the horse ride. The guest house's restaurant has a small menu, everything is cooked home-style by female employees who live here in the village. Filled with beans and cheese. No (red) sauce. Fried trout with crispy garlic Some beers bought at the bus station in Zitacuaro and brought with us to Macheros to drink in our room. Macheros is a village of about 300 residents. Life here is simple and peaceful. Villagers still use horses on the farm. To be able to live here you had better be content with a simple life, have no health problems, and no carsickness. The next big town (of a few thousands) is half an hour away. The road to get there is endlessly winding with many speed bumps (if you don't have carsickness you might develop it here). All the towns and villages in this region have monarca murals and paintings, entrance arches, monarca this and monarca that everywhere you look. The monarcas are much adored and also a source of income. Tourists like ourselves flock to this region in monarca season (November-March), and Mexican themselves are equally crazy about monarcas so they come here in droves. Knabe und Schmetterling (Wilhelm Hey) Boy and Butterfly Knabe: Schmetterling, (Butterfly,) kleines Ding, (little thing,) sage wovon du lebst, (tell me, what do you live on) daß du nur stets in Lüften schwebst? (that you always float in the air?) Schmetterling: Blumenduft, Sonnenschein, (Butterfly: scent of flowers, sunshine) das ist die Nahrung mein. (that's my food) Der Knabe der wollt ihn fangen. (The boy wants to catch him/the butterfly) Da bat er mit Zittern und Bangen: (then butterfly asks with trembling and trepidation) Lieber Knabe, tu es nicht, (dear boy, don't do it,) laß mich spielen im Sonnenlicht. (let me play in the sunlight) Eh' vergeht das Abendrot, (before the sunset passes) lieg ich doch schon kalt und tot. (I'm already cold and dead.)

First monarch sanctuary we visited today was Sierra Chincua in Michoacan state. Took some time to get there by car, like 2 hours, I think. I sat next to the driver/guide and still fell physically sick because of the hundreds of speed bumps. Every 10 or 20 metres there's a speed bump, you practically have to stop before driving over each one. They are not painted and thus hard to spot. Ambulances here have to deal with them like all the other vehicles. Entering Sierra Chincua sanctuary But first you get on a horse. It's a short ride in the dust to where you get off and from there follow the trail. It's an easy walk but the dust is so fine and ankle deep you are cover in a thick layer of it, all the way to right under your knees. And of course the dust gets into your shoes and socks. We could have walked all the way. We did exactly that on the way back and paid the horse-handlers the full amount plus extra tips anyway. Start of the trail Thisaway Where you get off the horse on the way up. The horse-handlers wait here to take you back to the entrance. Orange clusters in the middle are monarchs hanging onto branches. They huddle together to keep warm. When the sun shines they open their wings to absorb energy. When they are ready they take flight turning the sky orange. It's hard to photograph them in flight as they are so fast and you can't get any closer (there are ropes to prevent you from entering protected areas). From a lowly larva to the prettiest of creatures! There's this beautiful poem by Wilhelm Hey "Knabe und Schmetterling" (Boy and Butterfly). Copy/paste the texts to your favourite translator. Giant thistles. Saw them all the times in the woods here. They also come in yellow and orange. Many souvenir shops on the way back to the entrance. Guide says "all made in China. Terrible idea." Until it's cheaper to set up a factory and cheaper to produce them here. It might never happen. 2 avocados. The guest house get avocados from their family farm and the variety is hass. The leaves are not eaten. Beef tacos. Meat is not marinated, no trace of spices/seasoning. Peppers (capsicum) come from the garden. Came with the trout so I tried it again. Mild tomato soup with shredded tortilla. It's to cleanse the palate. Their trout speciality. Very nice. Still affected by jet lag and altitude, and today's adventure. I went out like a light from 6pm till 6am.

First dinner in Mexico and I wasted no time eating avocado. When in season a kilo costs about 20 pesos. Good guacamole, not too much onion. Prepared and served in a molcajete (Mexican volcanic rock mortar and pestle). Pan fried local farm-raised trout. The water from the mountain is good (and safe) enough that locals drink it from the tap (we don't). The same water is probably used in the trout pens, they don't taste swampy. This came with the trout. A little sour and weak, shredded tortilla. Basically quesadillas with tomatoes, onions and avocado. Had to take it easy on my first day. Any quick movement and you feel it in your head and heart at this elevation. On top of that I also had a splitting headache due to jet lag and altitude.

I like Moldovan food. Like Albania, it takes a bit of this and a bit of that from its neighbours and invaders. Moldova is also a competent wine producer.

Let's go to the city! But it's not just any city, it's a mega city. Ciudad de México! I have been at the airport a bunch of times but it's the first time I had to exit it after passport control. Ay ,caramba! So good to see you again Benito (as in Juárez, international airport)! Immediately grabbed a taxi to the bus terminal to catch the first bus to a small town in the mountains 2 hours away. It's a massive city from the air, and it's really massive seen from the taxi. Streets are full of cars in pitch black at 4:30am. Getting off the bus in Zitacuaro and another taxi ride to a small village deep in the mountains on the border of Mexico state and Michoacan. We are staying at this lovely guest house, the only place to eat and sleep here. So tranquil and green. Best thing is a hot shower and breakfast after 24 hours straight without sleep. But first coffee. Everything in this part of Mexico is about the butterflies. But it's not just any butterfly, it's the mariposa monarca! Btw, we are off the grid here in Macheros village. The hotel has to build their own communication tower and there's no cell phone service/signal. With cheese My favourite: with tomatoes and onions. Fruits, fresh juice and corn tortillas. Chilli poster in the breakfast room One of the avocado trees in the guest house's garden Some of the things I've brought to give away. I am giving the camera and Chile wool bag (which only this camera fits in) to someone who works here at the guest house, a family member who's also a butterfly guide and one I had been in communication with. Some T shirts, 2 brand new blazers, shoes, headphones, bag, Bolivian cookery books are for the 3 ladies who work in the kitchen. There are also toys, slippers, new underwear and other things that are not in the photo. My rucksack is suddenly half full! Tomorrow off to see the monarcas in one of the sanctuaries. 2 hours on horseback up a steep trail to reach the butterfly colony. It feels fantastic to be back in one of my favourite countries!

Kenneth, yes, I made them. You won't find this combination in HK or anywhere. When on holiday I do "traditional", at home I do what I want. Besides, it's so easy to make your own dumplings at home, not to mention it's one of the most rewarding therapeutic activities. Next time I'll add the prawn roe or fresh roe to the mince. Pumpking Clams! In HK. Boss and an employee at the next table. The restaurant

Qofte is Albanian version of (Turkish) kofte, but simpler. Korçan sausage is a bit like Turkish sucuk, or kielbasa. Thanks! Most people don't know about the existence of Albania, or where it is actually located. Even if they know Albania exists they say "aren't they still under communist dictatorship?", or "isn't there still a war going on?". So far only one person I know wants to visit Albania and that's my former teacher. Nobody else. It's not on anyone's bucket list. So, thanks everyone, for going to France/Italy/OZ etc.! I have also been to this least visited country round these parts. Cheese hall at the central market in Moldova In some less popular countries people seem kinder, too, and appreciate tourists. I bought cheese from this stall in the cheese hall. The ladies gladly posed for me.

Cue The Three Degrees' "When Will I See You Again" Dumplings (filled with beef mince, Speck and calf's liver) Prawn roe brought back from Hong Kong Froze the roe in small portions. They only need a quick toss in a hot wok/pan to release the intense prawny taste. Egg-tomato soup and steamed chard (Turkish market probably sources green house chard) And a Belgian beer Are we in love or just friends? When will I see you again, Hong Kong and Macau?

Lunch at a nice Korçan restaurant a few streets from my lodging. The food is in the style of the town Korçë located in south-eastern Albania. Best qofte. Don't want to have to come back to Albania so I can visit Korçë for the qofte and Korça beer! Korça sausage Mixed pickles. Very nice. Chewy, warm, fluffy, big pittas. Grilled mixed vegetables. Oh wait, mostly courgette. Grrr.... Most expensive item is lamb's ribs. Except there's no meat on them. The fat and bones tasted good, though. Lamb's ribs are most common lamb thing on menu in Albania. What happens to the rest of the lamb then? I never saw other cuts. Yoghurt sauce for the qofte and lamb's ribs Whilst the country is changing for the worse, mainly the capital, the beer scene is changing for the better. One small step at a time but it's better than on my first trip. Then there were only domestic weak industrial beer and one private brewery in Tirana. This small supermarket hidden between apartment buildings in a residential neighbourhood carries foreign beers! I can't even find Aventinus Eisbock at home anymore! Italian supermarket chain Conad also stocks Danish beer, but mostly Italian. All rubbish, though. I had this before in Alsace Kaon and Birra Tirana (both brewed in the capital) used to be common, now it's hard to find. From Montenegro The dark one is quite good. Chocolatey. Finally, probably the only Albanian IPA. Nobody could tell me if there are more Albanian craft breweries besides this one. The only non industrial brewery in the capital, or the entire country. I went there every day to drink beer on my first trip. The young brewer showed me round the tiny brewery (only a few small fermenters right inside the restaurant in photo below) and we chatted for a long time every time. He couldn't brew other styles besides "Weissbier", "dunkel", "pils" etc. The reasons? The government wouldn't allow or approve of other recipes and styles. He learnt English from an American peace corps man who stayed with the family when he was a boy. The same American later also introduced him to beer and home brewing. Unfortunately, the brewery is either a victim of Covid or a bad business decision had been made. Well, like the saying, everything has an end, only the sausage has 2. I flipped through the cookery book (in English) when I exited the arrival hall and again before going through security. Don't want any more cookery books! I had 5 kilos of Iranian red pistachios in my bag and I liked that better. Glad I got to experience the "old" and new Albania. It's a trip like no others. I got to meet with some strangers I took photos of. Never thought I would be taken with this country but turns out to be one of the most bitter-sweet, mixed with intense (emotional) memories and the kindness and hospitality of Albanians I met along the way. So apparently I'm a "badass", because according to Albanians I not only returned to the country where they all want to leave, but also that I came in the winter. No tourist in their right mind would want to come here in the winter, they said.

Every bakery has different types of bread. I noticed the bakeries are not like a chain so they make different types. Yoghurt from dairy shop in my building but on street level. BK has a couple of restaurants in the capital. Chicken Royale is same as "original chicken sandwich" in the US, according to internet. 550 lek = US$. They want so much to be Westernised and now with more Western fast food brands arriving I am already seeing fat Albanians, worryingly many of them are the young ones. Rope bridge at this playground is in the form of Ottoman stone foot bridge Tirana has a nice artificial lake. We went for a walk a couple of times, in both directions. Takes 1,5 hours to complete the entire the lake route on foot. Butter comes in 2 shapes. Forgot to check if they are also in tubs. 2 cheapest brands come from Indonesia and this one, China. When it comes to sardines I only buy from certain countries. Parking just like the a-holes we have at home. Hard to get round in a wheel chair here. Albania has many churches, and mosques. A cheese grater. Cheese in the compartment on right, to grate turn hand crank. A cheese maker Every day I went to the new market to find the elderly herb seller but she had left early. I had wanted to buy some herbs to take home and give her a certain big amount of money. Hope I can return before she retires. This is the photo I took of her 7 years earlier And that's her now, the day we met again.

Duck 2 ways, from a small whole duck. Lasted 2 meals. With preserved lemons With ginger and fresh turmeric From both sides of the southern Andes (Mendoza, AR and Valle de Casablance, CL). Both regions are well known for their immense wine production. --- Another meal: Bought a bunch of Iberico charcuterie from a secadero* in Alajar village where I stayed a week. (*Secadero is a shop/business where the hams are dried and aged, the specialist also makes all sorts of charcuterie from the Iberico pigs' parts. The place smells so good!) Treasures from the freezer. Actually, I made 3 things from 1 duck. Got the butcher to remove the breasts and chop the rest into smaller pieces. I cured the breasts for a week. They were the tiniest duck breasts and thus not suitable for curing too long. Mojama (dried tuna loin from Murcia, Spain) in Oaxacan chilli oil. Sardines brought back from Lanzarote. Rye bread I have observed this in several countries: someone from XYZ company oversees how their products* are set up in a supermarket. They have a diagram which they use to arrange the products on the shelves and they have to be in a certain order. This explains why the (Fackelmann) display is the same nationwide. (*Btw, I mean non food products.) I enjoy checking out the kitchenware section in every country/supermarket. If anyone here ever visits Germany make sure you browse the kitchenware floor in a department store. A.ma.zing. They have everything Staub, everything LC, all the well known German brands and many international brands.

The entrance to our flat building. It's a bit low, the partner is almost 2 metres in length and had to bend down to enter/exit. It's typical in Albania the building has an inner parking area and a few entrances like this all round. Albanians have a preference for German cars, specifically Mercedes. I've asked why, turns out they just really like Mercedes, and also because it's easiest to find parts. In the car park at my building half the cars are German and in good condition. A swing for wheelchair. We don't even have one in our municipality. Street book stall Albania has more cafes than any other country. One of them is round the corner from my flat. Staying in a posh part of the capital. Back in communist days only the highest ranking officiers of the regime could live in this part of town. Now there are many expensive restaurants, suuuuuuper posh cafes whose clientele are suuuuuper chic, young and dress to kill. They drive big, new German cars. I have seen a couple of Hummer in the neighbourhood. And on my posh street Old drawers next to pizza restaurant where I ate yesterday Lunch at a local restaurant next to my flat building. The have a different dish of the day for every day of the week. Couscous with vegetables. Chicken (flavoured) soup Roasted vegetables and chicken Checked out a dairy shop and bought some goat's feta. Butter balls This kind of dairy shop sells only products from one brand. I tried many brands of supermarket yoghurt but they were all meh. Everything tastes better from these dairy shops. From supermarket, price is higher than most brands, tastes OK.

Back in polluted capital. Had more than an hour to kill until we could enter the flat. No restaurant was open so we had some beer and nibbles at a cafe in the neighbourhood. On my previous trip I took photos of missing covers. This time most covers are there. They used to steal manhole covers to sell for scrap metal. Child seats we have are on the back of the bike and they are bigger with higher back. Albania has many, many bunkers. They have destroyed a lot of them over the years. I was told the army destroyed them so they could sell the iron. A chunk of the Berlin wall I spent a lot of time with a family in Gjirokaster who told me some horror stories about how their (grand)parents and Albanians suffered under brutal communist regime. They still haaaaate them. Went to a pizza restaurant round the corner from my flat. There's a restaurant next to this place that was completely full of (Italian) tourists eating pasta, risotto, pizza. There's a big green "TA" sticker on the door. I tend to avoid places with that green sticker. We took half back to the flat for another meal.

Must be a typo or unclear translation. It should be 1 regular chouriço, plus 1 chouriço de sangue (contains blood, looks completely black). I have had a look in my fantastic Portuguese book to see the ingredients for cozido. It's my number one Portuguese dish, which surprises all Portuguese. This is how they know how much a foreigner loves their cuisine or country as it's not a dish many tourists know about or want to eat whilst on a short holiday. Cozido de Portuguesa, is also Portugal's most loved dish, on par with sardinhas assadas.

It's still blowing a gale, has been relentlessly for a week now. All I've got in the house. Frittata with broccoli and goat's cheese brought back from Lanzarote. Very pungent hard cheese. Should have tasted it before adding more on top. So now the frittata contains more cheese than all other ingredients. Smoked sprats from Latvia. I am partial to sardines but like (smoked) sprats almost as much. Polish supermarkets stock them and I really like the plastic ring pull which requires very little effort. It should be the norm by now. Rye bread (sourdough of course) I got in Duesseldorf. Do you need this in your life? Woman reading on train. Poster: Journalists manipulate us in the interests of the powerful.

Thanks, Shelby! They were both so chuffed. They work really, really hard for their guest house. No help from the government and zero income during Covid time. Whole family survived on the wife's modest salary until the country opened the border again more than a year later. History has been unkind to Albania but the Albanians choose to remain kind. They are some the kindest people I've met in my travels. Me kissing a whale (the creature is kinder than any human!) I usually bring haft a rucksack full of things to give away on every trip. Then fill it up with food souvenirs on the way home! Win-win!

Most restaurants are closed, 3 or 5 days, in the first week of new year. Only some cafes are open because Albanians need to drink coffee, be outside, and smoking. We had more walking and exploring to do today. Poor aloe Old bus seats replace bench at bus stop I watched the children use these swings. You are looking at a playground in a third world country. They don't have swings at home in the garden. Elderly couple and more plants in the shade Just like little me. I had no toy and no one, but I had access to books and my imagination. Saw big bones like this multiple times every day. Probably turkey bone, almost as long as my shoes. I think people ate and then left it on the street for feral dogs. There's a big number of feral dogs in the country. Even Albanians looked shocked seeing this a-hole parking. All parked cars Gulls elsewhere eat seafood and whatever meat they can scavenge. Here they congregate where there's a sewer and fight each other for what comes out of it. A parent emptied a bag of beach toys next to a tree. Turns out her children could play in the soil. A primary classroom, appeared to be abandoned for sometime. Right outside the classroom. Obituaries are posted in public. Any wall or surface will do. Restaurants and bakeries were all closed during the first week of the year. We bought some bread and cheese the day before and stored them in the mini fridge in the room. Fresh ricotta and mozzarella from a dairy shop nearby. The bakery is only steps from my lodging has great breads and phyllo pastries. We bought bread and phyllo pastries from them every day. Never found anything like their bread again when we returned to the capital. This bread is super airy and the crust is chewy but not mouth-destroying hard. There's very little dense mass inside. Breads were the thing we enjoyed eating the most in Albania. Would never have thought! Washed down with a super fruity Albanian wine. I got the peanut flips mixed up. Bag in post above was the worst: salty and not too peanuty. One on right in this photo was the best version. Not salty and had most peanut flavour. It's from North Macedonia. Replay is OK, produced in Albania but probably for someone else (Elka is an Albanian distributor.)

The most common shape of byrek (phyllo pastry) is triangle, and the most common fillings are soft cheese, and soft cheese-spinach combo. The triangles only has cheese. Both were just out of the oven from the bakery few steps away so we decided to eat them straight away. Roman road and walls, still in use. Remains of an amphitheatre. Not in such good shape as one at Butrint. Remains of a Byzantine market square Doughnut shop. Appears The Simpsons is also popular here. But nowhere is more than Argentina, the biggest fan of The Simpsons. Btw, there are soooo many dental clinics and barber shops in Albania. I haven't seen a hairdresser for women yet, though. Only for men. Where do the women go to get it done? Wanted to visit this museum but it's closed, of course. My owners and slave drivers. We all work like dogs for them (and everyone else) and in turn they let us live. All the things I find (highly) irritating at home also exist in Albania, but here they take it up a notch. The parking is particularly brutal, with zero regard for pedestrians and cyclists. The nicer looking the car the more brazen the driver and his parking. I see it all day long. As soon as I leave my lodging and step into the street I see it. Double-parking is super normal We walked for so long everywhere. Time for a meal, mezze-style today. Stuffed peppers. I noticed rice with some vegetable bits in the filling were most common. Hand-formed qofte I'm not the type who tells you only the positive side of things. Albania has the same climate and ingredients as other countries in the region, however, the quality is much lower. Was disappointed on my first trip. The quality is still low but not terrible. On the other hand, as soon as I crossed the border into Greece it was like flipping a switch. The quality of ingredients is much higher, and the dishes have more depth and creativity. Another example is yoghurt sauce. This is kind of "fancy", with slices of cucumber and an olive. That's it. Albanian food is like this: take some of this and some of that from its neighbours and invaders and then make it even simpler.

People sell almost anything on the street anywhere. Olive oil and pickles in the boot and on top of the car. In a residential area "Feta*" from Gjirokaster. I tasted some and bought the most expensive of these 3. (It's called "white cheese" and is very similar to Feta but can't be called that as Feta has PDO status) Bottom shelf Italian "Riesling". About to drop the postcard in the postbox. Last time I sent a few, also to my own address, but none arrived. Let's see again if it does. Went to see the Ottoman stone bridge. Last time I biked through a back road, over disused railway tracks, through mud, got swamped by a flock of sheep. Couldn't find the same way I used, tried to look for it from the taxi. I waz here (again). Back from seeing the old bridge. The restaurant has a photo of the same bridge as wallpaper. I drank beer at this restaurant-cafe-beer bar many times before, it's now under new management and the name has been changed, as well as the type of restaurant. Adventure in eating in Albania... "furnace beef" (as in cooked in the oven) in some kind of mild tomato sauce. Meat slices are very thin. "Qofte with eggs". Turns out it's flattened mince dipped in flour and eggs then shallow/deep-fried. Grilled vegetables always come with more courgette than other things. I don't like courgette. Strange that Birra Tirana can't be found in the capital any more, but is still available in other towns. It used to be the most common beer in the capital. Peanut flavoured flips from Serbia. Not salty and most peanut-y.

The bus ride from Tirana to the north, Cathlic stronghold Shkoder city, should take about 2 hours, but it actually took 3,5 hours. That's 1,5 hrs stuck in a horrendous traffic jam. We couldn't get the key to the flat until 3 so we ate at a simple local restaurant in the same building. The rice dish with grated cheese, some sort of sauce and qofte was "dish of the day". But we got a standard small portion from the menu. I noticed most Albanian men eat 2 portions of this rice and qofte. The women had the same but with less rice. Vegetables often come with this balcalmic vinegar sauce. I don't mind balsamic vinegar but not when it's in the food without me knowing. I like to add it to my food myself, don't make that decicion for me. It's called qofte in sauce. Very soupy. The meatballs were super strong in taste. I asked an employee what sort of meat but apparently it was just beef. Well, we didn't get sick afterward so it wasn't spoilt meat. Home-made yoghurt, same super strong taste. Owner said it was cow's milk. Many Albanians also ordered the yoghurt for afters. After dropping off the rucksacs we went to the street market in search of someone I once talked with. I found the byrek shop that I remember. I was trying to look for a shop where I had spoken with a young, very intelligent girl who lived with her family there. I had a short story tranlated into Albanian and showed it to everyone in this area but nobody knew anyone like that. I went inside all the shops and asked, people on the street couldn't escape me either. It was fruitless. It was in late afternoon and some people were starting to close for the day so I decided to come back the next morning and try again. This byrek shop where I bought and ate cheese, spinach pies on the spot. The girl's shop should not be beyong this point. Later in the evening... Food in Albania is basically this: Albanian = meat. Italian = pizza and pasta. At some point you will want something that does not contain meat . --------------- The next day. I went back to the street market to find the girl whose family had a shop. Again, with the translated texts to ask people where I could find her. I decided to start with the first shop this time. A young man and his mother were in the shop. I showed him the Albanian texts and he said "I think it's my sister!". He showed me her photo and I recognised her at once, even though she's no no longer a teenager. The brother, mother and I talked for a long time, it was emotional. Suddenly a tourist showed up and made everyone cry shortly after they opened the shop. The mother remembered me. The girl I was looking for is now quite successful in her career and living in Luxembourg. I knew she would be a success. Well, long story short, we are now back in touch and hoping to meet up in a near future. Not that long ago horse and/or donkey carts were a common site in the city. I notice everything Boiler outside Plant pots on trees outside someone's house. Also, this street is unusually clean. My eyes are not used to seeing that. Shkoder is exactly as I remember it: scruffy, crowded, noisy, sprawling street markets, dirty, so much rubbish everywhere. The government is in a great hurry to destroy and modernise the capital but the rest of the country remains pretty much the same Albania I experienced on the first trip. They installed these bike racks all round the city. 5 bikes can park in the space of a car. On close inspection turned out a German organisation paid for it. Germany is your pay master. In my travels I see many things are paid for by Germany. What is nostalgia good for? I take photos of old phones wherever I travel. No longer work and they haven't removed them. Lunch at a restaurant popular with both locals and tourists. We were the only tourists there at that moment. The lighting is crap (only orange light). Grilled vegetables and that thick balsamic venegar again. Stuffed aubergines. They didn't say "stuffed with onions only". Puffy warm bread Flattened qofte. I think whenever the meatballs are flattened they take less time to cook. Roast lamb. Even when it's not the ribs it's still mostly bones and fat. And almost muttony. Hey now. The toilets at this restaurant. Later in the flat... Supermarkets have plenty of cheese but I prefer to buy it from a cheese specialist or small shop. They always seemed surprised to see us. Albanian produced sardines. I'm used to tender sardines from Spain/Greece/Portugal/Croatia etc, these was quite firm. Comes down to quality and how it's processed. Home-made wine given to us by guest house owners in Gjirokaster. 1,5 litres, took us 3 days to finish. HeidiH, bread is always warmed in the oven.

Haha... the bakllava above ^^... I could count the bits of nuts inside on the fingers of one hand. Expensive phyllo dough. ------- Sweet milk rice. I didn't touch it. Last breakfast at our guest house in Gjirokaster. I requested the home-made yoghurt again. They made a short video clip of making petulla (fried dough) for me. Will miss their lovely family, whose hospitality and kindness are a way of (Albanian) life. This is how a guest house business should be run. Gave them extra money and left the wife my spare (new) camera with batteries and charger. She has mentioned she's never had a camera and I have many so I thought I'd give her one of mine. Both of them were delighted to have my camera. I also gave them some of my Iranian red pistachios for their new year home-made bakllava. The morning I left got a big plastic bottle their wine. Back in the capital and staying the night to break up the long journey. Clusters of seed heads? Went to the new market to find the elderly herb seller but she had already left for the day. I printed out an A4 photo I took of her a couple of weeks earlier and left it with her neighbour to hold on to. I took one and only photo of the new market. You can put lipstick on a pig... At the old market all these pickled vegetables were piled high in plastic pails in the open. Stuffed aubergines were probably the most intriguing to me. Haven't seen any yet this time. Mister Bean in his Mini Cooper Austrian processed "cheese". I have seen some people eat a wedge alongside their qofte (kofte). "TFC". Near my lodging, but doesn't have fried chicken like KFC. Haven't been inside. Maybe soon. There's also "AFC" (Albanian fried chicken restaurant, and Albanian version of Macca's) I hope they are well Same area, 7 years apart. Where the 2 old men playing game of stones on the pavement. Time to eat. This local place has King Pils on tap. Pickled peppers stuffed with young cheese/ricotta. Qofte. Puffy bread Albanian sausage "Suxhuk" (from Turkish Suçuk/beef sausage) Skewer And more bread Same, dude. Same. (Mural outside the restaurant)

Day-aaaam.... a whole year flew by just like that. It was an expensive year for me but I got to travel again. I'm still in Albania, it's not warm and "easy" like last year in tourist magnet Madeira (more developed but also costlier). Just a tiny pinch of pistachios. Pistachios are expensive here (imported from 2 biggest producers Iran and Turkey). It's not even common to see pistachio bakllava due to the cost. Albanian version is often filled with walnuts or other nuts. Bakllava is a treat for Albanians, and also for us. With or without pistachios it's expensive for Albanians. And last of the 3 packages of Lebkuchen I brought with me. When I am home again it'll be zizzzz! Happy new year, all! Safe travels and good health!

Long day on the road today. The distance is short but the time spent sitting in gridlock traffic takes twice as long to get to your destination. Horrendous traffic. Move over, LA. It was not like this on my previous trip. More Albanians can afford cars in recent years so now most roads in big cities are congested at all hours of the day. Traffic comes to a painful crawl before enter the city from the motorway. The air quality is so bad. I wear 2 masks and the one on the outside turns black. Finally got to our lovely guest house here in coastal town Durres(i), not far from the capital. Saw this local restaurant around the corner from my guest house and decided we would eat there. Well, we went there straight away after getting the key to the room. A small family-run restaurant, 2 women in the kitchen and a young man takes care of the customers. He's professional and speaks excellent English. Typical Albanian dishes, with lots of vegs, carbs and very little meat. First dish is slow-cooked beef with cabbage. This one piece of meat is perfect size for us, that's usually how much meat we eat at home. "Oven potatoes". Not golden roast potatoes we had in mind. They were quite wet. Must have been cooked in the oven then let sit in a savoury broth. Bake yoghurt. Another typical winter dish. Came with a small piece of meat. Yoghurt was good and creamy. I thought I ordered mixed grilled vegetables. It's mixed vegetables but in a broth (the vegs were cooked separately). And mixed pickles Checked out a couple of supermarkets nearby after eating. Italian supermarket chain Conad is sucessful here in Albania. Conad is everywhere and stocks mostly Italian products. We don't have this kind of amazing supermarkets at home in (food) hell. Fancy salami comes in a gift box that looks like an old book. Opposite the supermarket is a dairy shop that sells products from a certain dairy producer. I got fresh ricotta and yoghurt. Lovely airy bread from a bakery a few steps from my lodging. Albanian wine. Pretty good. Ate this in my room later. Bread: 60 cents. Wine: $10. Yoghurt and ricotta: $1.40 (for both) Smithy, re kiwis. He wants to try something different.