Paradise, Albania

We were driving in the mountains somewhere near Permeti (southern Albania) when we drove past one of the most beautiful lakes I've ever seen. It immediately reminded me of Canada... a still lake surrounded by green pines and mountains. We slammed on the brakes and backed up. There was a small building that we assumed was a cafe so we wandered down to the water and tested the antique dock and wobbly plastic chairs. It felt like heaven. An thin old man with a smile on his face assured us the dock was safe and we ordered our espressos and water.

Half an hour in Paradise... pure bliss.

Time to be on our way.... I walked up to the little cafe looking for the old man so we could pay for our coffees. I peaked in the windows of the cafe and found myself watching an incredible scene. A dozen people were occupied with stacks and stacks of honeycombs! It was then that I noticed I was surrounded by a lot of bees. I was bothered by them but they didn't seem to care about me... whew! I called to my friends to come and see. The always friendly Albanians invited us in and though I was nervous about all the bees I couldn't resist the opportunity to see how the honey was being processed.

Everyone had their job to do...

From scraping the honeycombs...

to using the improvised centrifuge...

(notice the chandelier and elegant curtains!)

and then pouring the 100% organic honey into empty Coke bottles.

And of course, after being served a huge plate of honey to taste test, how could we resist buying a litre or two of this liquid gold to take home with us?