Vlorë, Albania :: Logos Hope visits Albania for the first time in her record.
It was an exciting moment when Logos Hope entered the Albanian port city Vlorë, where the ship will be docked in for the next five weeks, as most of the crew have never been to this nation. And, at the same time, it was a very emotional moment for the six crewmembers on board who call Albania their home.
The crew welcomed the Mayor of Vlorë, Honorable Dritan Leli and the Vice-Minister for Tourism, Vilma Bello, as well as other distinguished guests on board who came for the official opening of the bookfair.
Captain James Berry (UK) who visited Albania 15 years ago with the organisation’s previous ship Logos II, shared excited about his time back then and praised the coffee Albania is well known for. He then said, “I hope [during this visit] we can also build connections to share culture and food… and most important: that [the citizens of this city] meet some of the crew to build relationships and connections with people from around the world.”
Logos Hope director Randy Grebe (USA) said, “[The organisation] has been sailing ships for 50 years… and this is a great first visit of this ship in this country and it's also the very first visit historic visit in this port – so you go into the record books today!”
The Mayor of Vlorë, Dritan Leli revealed that the people in Vlorë are the second-best readers in Albania and said, “So the book ship has made the right choice to come and visit Vlorë!
“As the mayor and the representative of the people of the city I want to thank you for coming to Vlorë… I am sure that this port will be a successful one because the people in Vlorë love books, and they need the knowledge and the hope.”
The vice-minister for tourism said: “I hope that you will have a very enjoyable time and that when you leave you would feel as you were part of this nation. If we have shared knowledge, then we have shared help, and if we have shared help, then we have shared hope.”
The mayor and vice-minister officially opened Logos Hope’s bookfair, which is now open to the people in Vlorë until October 5, 2022. Entrance is free.