Culinary Trip to Albania (10 Days Tour)

DAY 01

Pick up from the Tirana International Airport and driving to the hotel. After accommodation, free time. Optional visiting the National Historical Museum. 19 00 Dinner at the restaurant. Egg and cheese pie, baked snipe with peas, ‘hashure’ wheat and nuts dessert, fruits, Stela beer.

DAY 02

• 08 00 After breakfast to the hotel driving to Shkodra, in the North-West of Albania.
• 10.00 Arriving in Shkodra and visiting the castle and the Marubi Phototheke.
• 12 30 Driving to Malesi e Madhe.
• 13.30 Arriving and visiting a artisanal cheese diary. Knowing the process of fermenting the cheese. Tasting the different sort of cheese. Only in this region we can taste spicy cheese called ‘Mishanika’ blended with herbs, garlic,prunes, etc. Also the yougurt from the goat milk is lovely.
• 14 30 Lunch with the tradition dishes. Season salad, ‘Kacamak’, polenta dish, ‘Ferlik’ roasted sheep meat, ‘Fli’ multi-layed foglio pie filled with butter and milk, and thana (Corneus sanguine L) raki, tradition sweet and season fruits, baked chestnuts and dried plums. Finishing with a Turkish coffee.
• 15 30 A short tracking to the village.
• 16 00 Driving back to Shkodra.
• 17 00 Visiting the lake and the fish market.
• 18 00 Free time .
• 19 30 Dinner at the restaurant dressed salad, cabbage soup, Shkodra baked ‘Carp’ fish with sauce, onions and herbs, sweet with caramelized quince and dates fruits, white wine of local cantine and finishing with an Italian expresso and cognac liquor.
• 21 00 Accomodation in the hotel.

DAY 03

• 07 00 Breakfast at the hotel.
• 08 00 Driving to Berat. Short stops in the trajectory.
• 11 00 Visting the castle and the Onufri museum.
• 12 30 Lunch at the restaurant . Cheese and olive salad, filled paprika with rice, leeks pie, kukureci innards lamb meat, ‘kulac’ baked bread in oven, rehani grape syrop, dried figs, home made red wine. Finishing with fernet, nuts-made digestive drink.
• 14 00 Visiting the Ethnografical Museum and the Lead Mosque.
• 16 00 Driving to Kutalli.
• 16 30 Visiting the ‘Cobo’ wine cantine. Degustating the different sort of wines and spirits, walking in the grapeyard.
• 17 30 Driving back to Berat.
• 18 00 Accomodation in the hotel.
• 20 00 Dinner at the restaurant. Spinach and lemon soup, fried-eggs cauliflower, river ale dippened in apple vinegar and tomato sauce, ‘shendetli’ almond baked cake, home made white wine, iced-pomegranate juice, dried apples and pear –made digestive liquor.
• 21 30 Accomodation in the hotel.

DAY 04

• 07 00 Breakfast at the hotel.
• 08 00 Driving to Apollonia.
• 09 30 Visiting the Apollonia site.
• 11 00 Driving to Zvernec.
• 12 00 Visiting the monasteries.
• 13 30 Lunch at the isle. Peasant salad, nettles pie, vegetable soup, grilled mullet, oven baked bass, ‘kabuni’ cake, orange and medlar fruits, Norga beer. Finishing with rose tea.
• 15 00 Driving to Vlora.
• 15 30 Accomodation in the hotel.
• 17 00 Visiting the Independence Museum and the Kus-Baba hill.
• 18 30 Driving to Kanina hill.
• 19 00 Dinner. Grilled vegetables, peasant bread, marinated olives, mix of young goat meat in broach, ‘Narta’ red wine, lemon-compote, thana fruits, finishing with grape cider.
• 20 30 Driving back to Vlora.
• 21 00 Accomodation in the hotel.

DAY 05

• 07 00 Breakfast at the hotel.
• 08 00 Driving to the Riviera.
• 08 30 A coffee break to Llogara pass.
• 09 00 Driving down to Borsh.
• 10 00 Visiting the Ali Pashe Tepelen castle in Porto Palermo.
• 11 00 Driving to Borsh.
• 11 30 Visiting the ‘Borshi’ olive oil cantine. Degustating the olive oil, the home made wine. .
• 12 30 Driving to Saranda.
• 13 00 Lunch. Filled cheese in oven, ‘harapash’ dish, baked common cuttlefish and squid fish with orange juice, apple pie, pompelmous fruit, white wine, finishing with a thana drink.
• 14 30 Accomodation in the hotel.
• 16 30 Driving to Butrint.
• 17 00 Visiting the Butrint amphitheater.
• 18 30 Driving to the mussels aquafarm.
• 19 00 Visiting the process of breeding the mussels.
• 19 30 Dinner. Mushroom soup, oven-baked mussels, grilled octopus, pita bread, cake, apple, white wine , finishing with orange liquor.
• 21 00 Driving back to the hotel.
• 21 30 Accomodation in the hotel.

DAY 06

• 07 00 Breakfast in the hotel.
• 08 00 Driving to Blue Eye spring.
• 08 30 Visiting the spring.
• 09 15 Driving to Gjirokastra.
• 10 15 Visiting the ‘Skenduli’ and ‘Ismail Kadare’ houses,
• 12 30 Visiting the castle.
• 13 30 Lunch in the restaurant. ‘Qehai’ regional pie. ‘Qifqi’ spicy meat balls, marinated lamb ribbons, cheesecake, dessert, quince fruit, mulberry raki drink, finishing with Turkish coffee.
• 15 00 Accomodation in the hotel.
• 18 30 Visiting the anti-atomic bunker, a communist era underground fortification.
• 19 30 Dinner at the restaurant. Chicken soup, grilled river trout fish, home made white wine, ‘kompekai’ dessert, fruits, finishing with plum raki drink.
• 21 00 Accomodation in the hotel.

DAY 07

• 07 00 Breakfast in the hotel.
• 08 00 Driving to Permet. A short break at Kelcyra gorge.
• 10 00 Visiting a cheese diary.
• 11 00 Visiting a wine and raki cantine and degustating the drinks.
• 12 30 Lunch in the restaurant. Pumpkin soup, veal chop with dried tomatoes and rosmary, different vegetable compotes, red wine, finishing with juniper raki drink.
• 14 00 Driving to Voskopoja.
• 18 00 Accomodation in the hotel.
• 19 00 Dinner in the restaurant. Beans pie, different vegetables pickles, partridge poultry filled with nuts, Korca beer, blueberry forest fruits, finishing with kocimare raki.
• 20 30 Accomodation in the hotel.

DAY 08

• 07 00 Breakfast in the hotel. Two-laid cabbage foglio pie, soup beans with ham.
• 08 00 Driving to Korca.
• 09 30 Visiting the ‘Bratko’ museum and the ‘Vangjush Mio’ painting house.
• 12 00 Driving to Lin.
• 13 30 Visiting the village.
• 14 00 Lunch in the restaurant. Okra dish, oven potatoes, grilled alcoran with spinach and celery, dessert, fruits, white wine, finishing with brandy.
• 15 30 Driving to Elbasan.
• 17 30 Accomodation in the hotel.
• 19 00 Dinner in the restaurant. Rissotto, ‘Tave kosi’ dish with oven lamb meat, red wine, ‘Ballokume’ dessert, fruits, finishing with Muscat raki .
• 21 30 Accomodation in the hotel.

DAY 09

• 07 00 Breakfast in the hotel.
• 09 00 Driving to Lezha.
• 12 00 Visiting the ‘Mrizi i Zanave’ agro-tourism farm.
• 12 30 Lunch in the restaurant with only slow-food farm products, tasting the ‘Kallmet’ wine.
• 14 00 Driving to Tirana.
• 16 00 Accomodation in the hotel.
• 17 00 Optional a panoramic tour of the Tirana centre.
• 19 00 Dinner in the restaurant. Filled eggplant, kefta with wine and tomato sauce, chicken porridge, Tirana beer, dessert, fruits, finishing with digestive drink.
• 21 00 Accomodation in the hotel.

DAY 10

• 07 00 Breakfast in the hotel. Tirana ‘fergese’ dish with veal livers.
• 08 00 Driving to the airport.
• 08 30 See-off greetings.

End of Tour.