Albania Day Two. December 16, 2017

Greetings from Tirana –

First, why Albania? We were already heading to Europe rather than going on one of our more unusual and distant locations because Mike’s niece (who lives in Geneva) was having a baby in early December and we wanted to meet the newest member of the family. This shaped the trip and is naturally the centerpiece of the 2+ weeks. So we will be in Albania until Christmas Eve, then fly to Geneva in time for dinner, then head to Bordeaux for New Year’s Eve and back to the US. For us, this is a pretty relaxed trip.

OK… So after breakfast on Saturday, we headed to the Blloku neighborhood (not mis-spelled, they use a lot of consonants bunched together! — tough language which is seen by many as an “isolated language”). Anyway, we walked (despite drizzling rain) along the Boulevard which is split into two parts –on either side of the Lana River, one going east and one going west. The city feels like it wants to be something special–lots of energy, people walking everywhere, shops open until 10 p.m., restaurants and cafes on every corner. Within Tirana city limits there are only 420,000 people (about the size of Oakland), and the greater metropolitan region has about 800,000 residents. The entire country only has about 3 million people.

It’s hard to imagine that within my lifetime, this little country has gone from being a communist state ruled by a dictator (Hoxha) for a 40-year period, in which he initially was loyal to the Soviet Union but then thought Krushchev was too much of a reformer and turned to Maoism (all of this was preceded by occupation by Italy under Mussolini) and then followed by 5 years of confusion and by the disintegration of the Hoxhaist state during the wider collapse of the Eastern Bloc in the late 1980s. By the early 1990s (and Hoxha’s death in 1985), a large diaspora fled to Italy, Greece, Switzerland, and North America. Somehow in 2009, Albania became a full member of NATO and is now trying to become part of EU. The history is complicated with murders of opposition leaders and the total quashing of the opposition under Hoxha.

We saw this history vividly when we visited Bunk’Art2… a fascinating exhibit situated inside an abandoned bunker in the center of Tirana, utilizing all 24 rooms of the bunker. By the way, these abandoned bunkers (thousands of them) are scattered all over the country. Some have been turned into works of art – another interesting phenomenon in that Tirana is a very arts-oriented community creating a level of funk that is appealing and also creative.

After the death of Hoxha, his daughter commissioned a building in his honor – a pyramid shape — that is now abandoned and in disrepair. But young people climb the sides of it to the top and then slide down sitting on plastic bags… The government is trying to have it demolished. But I must say it’s a bit of irony to see its use today, with lots of young people climbing and sliding – regardless of weather.

Anyway, to continue about Saturday… After walking past the pyramid, we ventured into the Bllilo neighborhood which is quite yuppified. Apparently under communism this was the area where party members lived and it is said that non-party members could not even walk here. We tried to walk between the raindrops venturing out to see the “painted buildings” that Tirana is known for… Story being that when the now-Prime Minister was the Mayor of Tirana, (and previous to that the Cultural Director) he realized that without any budget (the country is still one of the poorest in Europe) he couldn’t do much to address residents’ needs. But he was a trained artist (painter) and figured that he could change the dull grey Stalinist era housing complexes into joyous statements on the outside. I gather that residents were reluctant but agreed and after the work was completed were quite pleased. They say that crime decreased and neighborhood pride shot up. Today many of these buildings have weathered and the bright colors have faded. Everyone is clear, including the then-mayor and now prime minister, that nothing was done on the inside. We are having dinner with a very close confidant of the current prime minister tomorrow evening. Should prove very interesting.

After Bllilo, we went to Bunk’Art, and by then it was pouring rain, so we hopped a taxi to the hotel so that I could get closer to my goal of grading papers, and also to finish each of our talks for Monday (we are woefully behind)…

After about two hours of that, we headed over to a bar we heard about called Radio – it’s set back behind some apartment buildings. It’s a total trip – completely adorned with 1950s era posters, memorabilia from communism, and about 100 or more radios from the 1950s. I had their special house cocktail (whose name I forgot) but which is made with fresh persimmons, fresh passion fruit, and vodka… Quite the refresher (although it’s pretty cold and don’t need much refreshing).

Then we headed to another of the recommended restaurants from these people we are meeting – called Tiko and Muto (described to us as upscale and very expensive for Albanians. It’s all fish… We started with a sea bass carpaccio, followed by a pasta (they eat pasta at every meal) with mussels, crab, and assorted other fish and cherry tomatoes (scrumptious) and then a scampi dish, and finally grilled octopus. We didn’t order any desert but the chef delivered two wonderful panna cottas with fresh oranges and raspberries to the table..  (I think the dinner bill including the wine was about $60.)

Because it was raining pretty hard by then, we taxied back to the hotel and crashed.

A few basic facts — 65% of the country is Muslim and you do hear the unmistakable call to prayer periodically, but it is rare to see any kind of hijab or even basic head scarf. Our hotel is directly across from the city’s largest mosque which is being rehabbed so we have not been able to go inside to see what we hear is an amazing dome. There is virtually no Jewish population here, but we stumbled on a jewelry store that was closed on Saturday and which proudly displayed the Hanukah menorah with electric candles lot for the correct number of days.

It is now compulsory to learn English beginning at age 8. This is new, so we are most often confronted with situations where people do not speak English (and our Albanian just isn’t what it used to be!!).

It feels quite homogeneous, with everyone being white and perhaps the darkest complexions are those of Greek origin.

Tomorrow I’ll tell you more about today (Sunday) – a long stroll to a new bazaar, through old neighborhoods, sun and also rain, a visit to the art museum, lunch, and another great dinner. I’m telling you that this is a great place to retire and where Social Security can go a long way..

Best for this fifth (?) day of Hanukah –

Fern