We're now in one of the poorest and smallest countries in Europe, Albania. It's a country that's had continuous invasion and occupation, communist ruling as well as voluntary isolation for over a decade until 1991. Currently however it's trying to rebuild itself and has applied for membership to the European Union which is still pending. Coming into the capital we had a very scenic and interesting drive from Greece. We drove through the countryside on tiny gravel roads, lined with massive mountain ridges which I'm surprised the bus didn't tip over. Along the way we saw huge amounts of tiny concrete domes which were used as bomb shelters during the communist years. There are over 700,000 of these lining the roads and I've been told that the concrete used on them would be enough to pave every road in the country which is definitely needed. On the drive we also watched the movie "Taken" which is about Albanians who kidnap girls. It just happened to be a coincidence that we were in Albania so we all got a little freaked out. However I've noticed its people are one the nicest in Europe. They'll go out of their way to show you respect and I saw this when we stopped at a service station, went to pay for some drinks and they gave them to us for free. Very friendly people. However in the main city of Terana there are little kids that bug you to buy chewy and they don't stop. They literally hang off your arm which is super annoying. One interesting thing about this country is that if you nod your head up and down, instead of the usual meaning of yes, it's actually the opposite and means no! Likewise if you nod your head sideways, it's means yes. That afternoon we picked up a local guide and went on a tour of Terana, the main city. Not knowing much about Albania, I was surprised that it actually had infrastructure. We stayed in a five star hotel that night. Well it was Albanians version of five star. It was actually really nice. After three nights on a boat it was luxury. Had a three course meal, a great bubble bath and even scored a double bed! It was a shame we were only there for one night. I would've like to get out of the bus and explore the town a bit more, but our next stop is Dubrovnik so I'm looking forward to heading there :)