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Published: October 11th 2022
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Wednesday
After the delicious, leisurely and late breakfast mentioned in the previous blog we just killed a bit of time until the airport bus departure at 10.30.
We decided this was the best option as the bus from Kruje to Tirana terminates at least 30 mins walk from the city centre. Using the Explore bus we were taken to Tirana Airport from which it was a, cheap, hourly bus to Skanderbeg Square, barely 10 mins from our hotel for 2 nights.
It's always fun revisiting somewhere that you have previously strolled around thoroughly, even if that was just a few days earlier during a holiday, so that you are able to now get from A to B with minimal reference to maps.
There are a few things we didn't do in Tirana at the start of this break as we knew we had this time at the end.
Afternoon, we took a walk along the northern part of the "Boulevard" leading to Skanderbeg Square, but frankly "Boulevard" was a bit over-egging it.
On arrival in the square we at last visited the Old Mosque. Building this started in 1791 and took around 30 years. It is
not too large a building being just an inner, not too large prayer room and an outer glass enclosed portico.
The non-Muslim public are welcome to visit with the usual provisos of shoe removal, respectful dress etc. When we were there it wasn't "prayer time" but there were a couple of worshippers in the inner area.
Pretty much all of the walls and ceiling inside, and a deep frieze on the outside, are decorated with elaborate frescoes. Unusually for Muslim frescoes these depict trees, waterfalls, buildings and bridges. Muslim religious decoration is usually abstract patterns. Still life paintings are a rarity in Islamic art.
And the frescoes are beautiful, and in extremely good condition.
That evening, rather than scouting out for a fresh place to eat we headed to the restaurant that a large group of us had used on the first evening of the Explore trip. Handy, also, as our hotel for this end of the holiday was barely a five minute walk away.
Having said that about the handy location of our hotel it is not far from a noticeable road junction for several busy roads and so is quite noisy. Not the
traffic so much as the horns, hooters and sirens that punctuate the air with annoying regularity. And maybe we are near to or on the route to some hospital or A&E department because the number of sirens beggers belief. Mind you, they won't sell many ice-creams going at that speed (that's for all you "golden oldies" out there).
When we were checking the Booking.Com confirmation for this hotel, on the way in on the bus, we noticed that it listed amongst the room amenities "kettle" and "tumble dryer".
As is common with EVERY hotel we have used on this trip - 10 in total - there is no kettle in the room, much to Pip's disappointment as she loves a ready access to a cuppa.
And surprisingly no tumble dryer either! 😊 Maybe we should request a rebate.
Thursday morning started with a visit to Bunk'Art 2, sister site to the Bunk'Art 1 that we walked out to on our first day in Tirana.
This one is primarily dedicated to the security history of the Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha and is created inside the secret bunker in the centre of town which was built beneath
the Ministry of the Interior. Like B'A 1 it was never used, not even for practice drills.
More compact than B'A 1 it contains harrowing displays - names of those who were tortured & died, methods of spying & torture, true stories told by people still alive & who lived through those terrible times.
Between 1944 & 1991 over 6,000 people - from a population much smaller than the current ~3 million - were executed in Albania without a court order. Mostly by being shot or hanged. Their bodies were never returned to their families.
There was a section on the treatment of visitors/tourists at that time. Just getting in to the country was the first hurdle. Visitors were expected to conform to the "accepted norms" so men with long hair - in the '70s remember - or bushy sideburns would be put in a barber' s chair at immigration and expect to be "trimmed". Correct dress was also expected eg no jeans.
No wonder Hitchhiker's Guide to Europe said "Forget it!"
Into the Tirana Grand Park in the afternoon, with an artificially created lake. It seemed strange to be going uphill for the last
1/2 km or so to a city centre lake. That's the nature of its artificiallity we guess.
A spot of geocaching took us to to an area of war memorials. In close proximity there was
A Commonwealth War Graves cemetery containing around 50 headstones
A German War Graves cemetery
An Albanian war memorial, and
A Jewish /Holocaust memorial
In the area there was also a conifer planted as part of the late Queen Elizabeth's Jubilee Green Canopy.
Before going back to the hotel, before a final evening meal out, we stopped at The Tea Room which serves a variety of teas - proper, herbal and fruit - as loose tea in proper tea pots, complete with a sand-drop egg timer so that you get the brew time correct.
On Thursday we also had a further insight into the smoking culture here in Albania. We were in a supermarket to buy some water - it is recommended not to drink the water in Tirana, not because of "the water" but because of the state of the supply pipes.
Whilst queuing to pay we looked at the cigarette display behind the pay desk and were astonished to see
that a packet of 20 costs around £2.50 equivalent. No wonder it is so "popular".
Friday morning, hotel check out was not until noon so we could rise lazily, breakfast and visit our final "destination", the House of Leaves.
Just a few steps from a corner of Skanderbeg Square sits a red brick building originally built as an obstetrics clinic. In the early 1950s it was taken over by the Communist Government and repurposed as the HQ of its population surveillance operations.
Quite a bit of overlap with Bunk'Art 2 but with lots of examples of physical spy equipment. All so depressing again especially when some of it seems to be relatively recent ie 1980s.
Weather was really warm, so after collecting our luggage from the hotel we spent a bit of time with a drink sat overlooking Skanderbeg Square before our was time to depart to the airport.
Journey home fine, everything on time.
Seen lots of Part 4
Conkers - particularly in Tirana, but elsewhere too, many streets and parks are lined with horse chestnut trees and although these aren't the
"Under a spreading chestnut tree
The village smithy stands"
of
William Wordsworth's famous poem, even trees that look just a few years old are mature enough to produce nuts. The streets are littered with them.
Didn't see anyone hanging them on string and playing conkers with them though. Paul threatened that we should set some up on strings and play a few games of Conkers on Skanderbeg Square on Friday before we catch the bus to the airport.
Didn't see lots of, Part 1
This came out of a tour question on the last couple of days. During the entire trip we do not recall seeing in the "population" a single person of colour (just a couple, at one of the historical sites, part of an American tour group).
Overall, we really enjoyed Albania. A good mix of scenery, and history. OK food, though the standard hotel breakfasts are somewhat repetitive. Not over developed, but that is changing rapidly.
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