Albania! Day 4 & Partying with the Locals!
If I didn’t get enough steps in yesterday, I have another chance today as we go for a walking tour of Tirana. This modern capital city was originally built to accommodate 250,000 people. Current population is 1 million!
There are lots of multi-use high rises being built along with highways and other infrastructure improvements. My son, Michael, is a structural engineer so some of these pics are for him!
The railroad system is non-existent even for cargo, and this is part of Albania’s plan for modernization. Until 1991, you had to receive permission from the state to purchase a television or telephone. TVs were small, black and white, and only received one channel, and you can guess who controlled it. Ingenious people created homemade antennae from aluminum cans and placed them in their windows to receive other stations….and I guess they still work!
Our guide said beer was for celebrating after soccer, and Coke was to make antennas!
The largest Orthodox Church in Albania….not Greek or Russian Orthodox but Albanian Orthodox…. was built in Tirana from funds donated by a NYC businessman. It is still under construction, but the paintings are incredible!
Along the side of one of the city parks were bowls of beautiful flowers.
The Russian and Ukrainian embassy buildings use to stand next to each other in Tirana. After the invasion of Ukraine by the Russians, the Albanian parliament changed the name of the street to “Free Ukraine Blvd”. The Russian embassy had to change all their addresses and endure until they moved to another section of town! Ukrainian flags now hang along this street.
When communism was abolished, statues of Lenin and Stalin were defaced. I found Stalin behind a fence, but my close up pic has given him a “firry” mustache!
Another park held a piece of the Berlin Wall.
During the communist years, the government wanted bomb shelters to be built for everyone. Eventually, there was over 178,000 built…some small dome ones held two people and larger ones greater numbers. These dome structures still dot the landscape. I’ve seen them in the countryside and this one was in the park. The Albanians now decorate them to turn a dark part of history into something fun such as wire structures on top at a farm, Santa hats, flowers, or just as a commemorative symbol.
This beautiful mosque was built outside of the city, and is a branch of Muslim known for tolerance of all religions including Catholicism, Jewish, and Albanian Orthodoxy. Green represents Peace which is the dominant color of this gorgeous marble structure.
In the 1970’s, a secret bunker was built for the continuity of the communist government in case of a nuclear or chemical attack. This bunker, built into the side of a mountain, has been turned into a museum and is called Bunk Art.
You enter the mountain by car through a narrow one-lane road before reaching the main door. The decontamination chamber was a series of small rooms with heavy doors.
There were offices and living quarters for officials, an assembly room, and a gym which all contain memorabilia of the communist years. An interesting display told the story of an American plane in 1943 which contained nurses and doctors, running low on fuel and disoriented, mistakenly landing on a lake in Albanian. The Germans threatened to execute anyone who helped them, but the Albanias got them all safety back to Allied lines.
Our next stop was Dajti Mountain which is a national park! No boys, no ranger tours here, but we did enjoy a cable car trip on a lengthy 15 minute ride up the mountain where we had another amazing lunch looking down at the scenery below.
I knew the clouds and rain were coming, and it started while we ate lunch. However, it paused enough for us to walk around, and take some pictures. The leaves were just starting to change colors on the hillside.
This beautiful plant with brilliant red leaves and blue berries was growing on the granite. I found out it’s Virginia creeper….but it isn’t the one in my yard!
There was a playground and putt-putt course, and although we visited on a quiet Monday, this place is busy with families on the weekends. My grandkids would love it!
It was time to rest…or write…for a couple of hours before joining our guide for a taste of the Albanian national alcoholic drink, raki. It’s pronounced “rocky” and is distilled from grapes with an alcohol content of 42-57%. Families often make their own supply, but the Komiteti-Kafe Muzeum is known not only for its eccentric collection of items from communist-era Albania, but it is also home to “baked raki” which is mixed with cinnamon and syrup to make this fire water more palatable.
Popular with tourists and locals, I told our guide I wanted to go so he agreed to take us and get us safely home! Robyn and I bought everyone a round of raki, and even though Robyn doesn’t drink, she tried a couple of sips before ordering a Coke. She said it tasted like cough syrup, and that is about right. However, it didn’t prevent me from enjoying mine!
There were so many interesting items in the cafe, and Robyn and I wanted to take some home for our businesses. However, Albanian jail doesn’t appeal to me so I just “took” pictures!
After our huge lunch, no one in our group wanted dinner, but three of us headed to the Chocolate Shop for dessert. I had gelato…mixed berry and milk chocolate…with a chocolate syrup. It was delish and was the perfect ending to a physically and mentally tiring day.
AND, gelato went really well with the raki!
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