In the evening we visited Mdina and nearby Rabat. We were told that today is the feast of St.Joseph and is celebrated with a lot of pagentry, so we went there. St. Joseph's church is i deed very beautiful. For the feast it is decorated on red. (I believe, on Good Friday the red awnings are removed and replaced with sombre black. We attended the service and a beautiful statues of St Joseph is taken around the entire town of Rabat. Everyone partakes of the festivities Mdina was the old capital of malta before valletta. Now it's almost a ghost town (nobody lives there) except for the tourists who throng there to see the beautiful architecture and for the many beautiful churches Today we visited the blue grotto, very picturesque In the evening we visited the 3 fortified cities Vittoriosa- it's origins date back to medieval times. Very fascinating with its beautiful churches and with a beautiful waterfront. Cospicua a walled city and Senglea Malta is an island country of historic walked fortresses. It has a madeival charm. Today we are in Tirana (Albania). Albania has a history of oppression in the last century. It started with the rule of the gendarmes whose policing was oppressive. Then after the first world war it came under fascist rule. After world war 2 it came under communist rule which was the worst of all. Visited Bunk Art 2 a museum built in an underground nuclear bunker . Albania had 750,000 underground bunkers under the communist regime. The museum depicted the horrible state of affairs in the last century till 1990. The tortures inflicted on dissidents were mind boggling. It was indeed a disturbing visit. After 1990 Albania is developing into a modern country with some sort of freedom. But it is still a single party state. Some remnants of the communist Era are there, with decrepit buildings but side by side new buildings with beautiful modern architecture are there. There are beautiful parks. The Skanderberg square is central to the city surrounded by beautiful buildings. Churches, mosques, cultural buildings are there. Today we are on a day trip to Montenegro. A mountainous country overlooking the Adriatiic sea, the drives along the sea shore was a real treat. Dramatic Iandscapes, quaint historical towns made for a great trip The historical town of Kotor situated in a fort, situated on the sea shore Another town Budva, also had its old town with churches, market etc and a beautiful marina Today it is a tour of Kosovo. The country shares a history of Albania and got it's independence from Serbia with help from US. Saw statues of Madelyn Albright who initiated the intervention and also of Bill Clinton. We visited the capital city Prishtina. Next visited Prezerin a much prettier city with churches, mosques and monastery. Today we head from Tirana to skopje in north Macedonia. The route is very pretty. From my bus window I see snowcapped peaks and cherry blossom trees (i think) in bloom. All very pretty Skopje is an amazing city A major earthquake in 1963 had destroyed 80%of the city which has now been rebuilt. The city center has some amazing buildings and statues i have seen. The area throbs with life. While walking from the bus stand to our hotel, i felt Sofia to be a gritty and a little drab city. However when we roamed the city in the evening and today, we saw breathtakingly beautiful buildings, stunning churches and mosques, large city squares, lots of green spaces. During the excavation work for constructing a subway in 2010, the ancient Roman city of Serdica of 2nd century CE was discovered. This was in the city of Sofia and is truly amazing.