Albania: Reclaiming the Past

Forty years after the death of the dictator Enver Hoxha, whose four-decade rule over Albania drove it into isolation and poverty, Qasa Alom explores how the country has changed for travellers coming there and for the local people.

In Albania's capital, Tirana, he learns how a monument to the late dictator has been repurposed and redesigned for a new generation, before meeting a chef who once fled the country and has now returned to put a new twist on traditional Albanian cuisine.

In the country's southern region, Qasa visits the little-known archaeological treasure of Butrint, before attempting to take part in a swim to Corfu in memory of those who fled the same route during Hoxha rule.