Incidentally here is a sachet of sugar from the Stephen Center (sic) in Tiranne, the capital of Albania. This is one side, in Albanian.

And this is the other! Who would have believed a few years ago, when they were suffering the most brutal prosecution, that one day Christians could be as open as that in the capital of Albania.

That's by the way, now back to Macedonia!

On Tuesday after meeting with Pastor Soso, (see Sabbatical Journey Blog) I went back to the office about 1.30. I hadn't had lunch, (in fact I hadn't had breakfast either so Marino offered to take me out and show me around Skopje, the capital, where I was staying. Skopje is divided ethnically more or less, (like Belfast)! One one side you have Albanians who are mostly Muslim and on the other you have Macedonians who are mostly Greek Orthodox. We started on the Albanian side and went through an old part of the city with narrow streets, small shops and a huge market selling everything! We also visited the old castle overlooking this part of the town. A lot of it was damaged in an earthquake a few years ago, but it gave great views over the city.

I bought a few odds and ends including a hamburger, (made out of a few odds and ends!). We then moved across into the more modern part of the city. The centre is dominated by a large plaza and there are lots of upmarket and expensive shops.

When I'm abroad I tend to buy a book as a souvenir of where I have been. In Tirane I bought an English translation of "The concert" by Albanian writer Ismail Kadare, here in Skopje I bought "The Pianist" by Wladyslaw Szpilman, the story of a concert pianist's survival in Warsaw during the German occupation. A film was made of the book a few years ago.

Had a couple of coffee to wash down the hamburger and as it was late afternoon we headed back to the office. I was told that all of us were going out that night for a meal. Which we did in a traditional Macedonian restaurant, and very good it was too!