albania in pictures: our biggest surprise of europe

a surprising week of r&r and exploring after an all nighter at the athens airport and a bumpy hydrofoil ride from corfu (greece) to sarande. albania started off as the beginning of our trip up the ionian/adriatic sea (for me since haha planned this out) and became my most recommended spot of europe. amazingly friendly people everywhere we went, beautiful warm waters, stunning beaches tucked behind vast expanses of olive groves, waterfront concrete bunkers, herds of cattle on the highway, carpeted buses and hydrofoils, 25 cent gelato, 2000+ year old ruins in butrint and witnessing their world cup win vs romania while in the capital of tirana capped off an unforgettable week in one of my favourite countries of our trip. i can still hear the smooth rocks of borsh beach clacking against one another from the waves of the ionian sea…