Today was a non flying day sightseeing around Tirana. After a leisurely start, we visited the National Historical Museum which gave a fascinating insight into the history of Albania from pre Roman times to the present day, although somewhat short on recent history, followed by the National Art Gallery. The so called art was generally bad from an artistic viewpoint but interesting from an historical one as it was mainly devoted to communist propaganda pictures from the post war regime with idealised people working the land and industrial machinery.
Pause afterwards for necessary refreshment and we then took in a mosque, new RC cathedral and finally and most interestingly of all, the underground bunkers of Enver Hoxha, founder of the xenophobe regime from 1944 to 1991. I remember when I first flew to Greece in 1977 in November B the warnings to keep clear of Albanian airspace, to be disregarded at one peril and it became clear from our bunker visit just why this was so.
Then back to the hotel to meet up with the other members of our group who had arrived by now from Belgrade after good flights in much better weather than yesterday and out for a good reunion dinner. Tomorrow we are off for a tour in the countryside so rather an earlier start than today!