We have had my husband's family visit from the states but this spring I had my first visitor of non family origin visit from San Francisco, Lauren. We have been friends since freshmen year of college (19 years ago), we were proud residence of Freddy's 3WW. We have had several adventures through out the years but this was very special, showing someone my forever home for the first time. It started with a two night stay in Rome and then short puddle jump flight to Tirane, the capital of Albania. My husband played the chauffeur/tour guide to this adventure. On our way from the airport to our homestead we stopped at two castles, Lezhe and Rozafa and had lunch in a small but beautiful beach town Shengjin on the coast of the Adriatic Sea.
The next day we spent exploring one of the most scenic drives from Bajze to Vermosh, a small valley town tucked high in the northern mountains of Albania. The drive includes a large overlook of a canyon, beautiful river, bunkers, snow, wandering animals, waterfalls and little picturesque towns along the way. One of my favorite routes to wander so far in Albania. Lauren could have spent hours wandering a trail we found along the way, next time my dear, next time.
The following day we explored my town of Bajze from the mount behind the house, garden, the lake to the small cafes and shops in our small city center. We made our way back south stopping in the city of bikes, Shkoder to walk the main strip of shops and even found an artisan jewelry shop ran by the same family for three generations (Lauren is a master craftswoman in the art of jewelry) right across from a restaurant called San Francisco.
And we spent the last night of her visit in Tirane since she had a very early fight out in the morning and had a feast at my sister in law's home. In true Albanian tradition she was fed until she literally could not chew any more. Next trip for her will hopefully be for much longer and with her husband and the college family, we would get to explore much more like the southern coast and even a few days hiking.
My next visitors were from New Zealand hailed via bike all the way from Greece. They are on an epic bike trip from Greece to Scotland. My friend Johan and his beautiful wife Deborah stayed with us for just one night, they share the dream of one day homesteading in New Zealand and living quite similar to Art and I. We had amazing conversations and laughs through out the evening. To read more about their amazing bike trip check out their blog: https://tourtheeurope.blogspot.com/
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