I am happy to say we have improved our vomit odds with adding only one barf day in the last five. That brings us to nine out of twenty-eight days. We’ve tightened controls around fresh produce, restaurant food, and toothbrushing water, which has perhaps helped make a difference.

Meanwhile, we’ve been busy touring southern Albania. We took a morning detour while heading toward the coast to stop at Gjirokastër. We walked up steep cobblestones into the clouds to get to the castle. Some form of fortress has stood here since the 12th century, and the whole family enjoyed exploring our lofty perch. The clouds cleared enough to see the maze of whitewashed buildings and streets materialize beneath us.

We continued to the coast and Sarandë. Nic navigated the packed streets, and we lucked out and found a really good parking spot. For the most part we’ve enjoyed Sarandë. It feels a bit fancier than anywhere else we’ve been so far in Albania with many stores that wouldn’t be terribly out of place in Italy. We still see trash and stray animals everywhere, but the beach promenade is beautiful, and the weather has been absolutely perfect. The kids have found loads of sea glass on the pebble beaches, and we’ve tried to beach comb a bit every day as time has allowed.

We sacrificed our perfect parking spot to visit Butrint, a fascinating piece of history just half an hour south of Sarandë. This piece of Albania had been fought over and ruled by just about everyone who has ever controlled parts of Albania: Greeks, Romans, Venetians, Ottomans, and more. You see huge pieces of this history at Butrint National Archaeology Park. We wandered through a Greek theater built in the 4th century BC, which is the oldest bit of history we’ve ever seen. We also saw Roman, Byzantine, and Venetian ruins – all for about $20!

Albania has a number of ancient ruins, and we have only scratched the surface of the historical treasures on display. Much of the archaeological work at Butrint began a century ago, but some parts have been discovered as recently as the last decade. Works continues each fall on the Acropolis area. We looked at the woods we walked through and wondered what else rests under the trees, waiting patiently to be unearthed in the future.