Durres, Tirana, and Kruje, Albania
Riding in our coaches from the ancient Illyrian port of Epidammus (Durres) was like being in a time machine, rocketing back and forth not between centuries, but millenniums: Roman walls flanked by gray Stalinist apartment blocks; a Mercedes Benz whizzing by a donkey cart of farm produce; an old veiled women walking alongside teenaged girls in tight jeans; modern car dealers surrounded by haystacks and old men cutting fields with scythes. Everything seemed to be in motion – if not under construction - from highway infrastructure projects, factories, hotels, and houses. As our convoy approached Tirana, we were afforded a police escort through the traffic jam and onto the new ring road that sped us into the city center and our first stop at the National History Museum. All of Albania’s rich cultural tapestry was on display from: Neolithic tools, Illyrian pottery, Roman statuary, Byzantine weaponry, and relics of their national hero, Skenderbeg. Reminiscent of another wall commemorating the names of the fallen from the Vietnam War in Washington are the walls containing the names of the victims of the communist era and the powerful images of these “lost years” on the top floor.
Once outside, we were once again propelled into the frenzied chaos of the 21st century. Our walking tour through the city center to the Juvenilja Restaurant afforded us the opportunity to experience Edi Rama’s cubist masterpiece! Once a successful Albania artist living in Paris, this two-term mayor of Tirana has rejuvenated his homeland’s capital from painting the buildings, planting trees, cleaning up the parks and river banks to fixing the roads and installing traffic lights! Lunch was an Ottoman feast replete with traditional dancing and music fit for a Pasha’s court.
Kruje, our next stop, is nestled in the foothills of the mountains that ring Tirana and our trip took us through the eastern end of the capital and up through the pine forests to the medieval fortress of the country’s national hero. We fanned out through an 18th century house containing an extraordinary collection of ethnographic materials, the Skenderbeg Museum, and Kruje’s old, cobbled-stoned market to browse the stalls of carpets and antiques. A memorable day in a country that appears to have indomitable spirit!
Riding in our coaches from the ancient Illyrian port of Epidammus (Durres) was like being in a time machine, rocketing back and forth not between centuries, but millenniums: Roman walls flanked by gray Stalinist apartment blocks; a Mercedes Benz whizzing by a donkey cart of farm produce; an old veiled women walking alongside teenaged girls in tight jeans; modern car dealers surrounded by haystacks and old men cutting fields with scythes. Everything seemed to be in motion – if not under construction - from highway infrastructure projects, factories, hotels, and houses. As our convoy approached Tirana, we were afforded a police escort through the traffic jam and onto the new ring road that sped us into the city center and our first stop at the National History Museum. All of Albania’s rich cultural tapestry was on display from: Neolithic tools, Illyrian pottery, Roman statuary, Byzantine weaponry, and relics of their national hero, Skenderbeg. Reminiscent of another wall commemorating the names of the fallen from the Vietnam War in Washington are the walls containing the names of the victims of the communist era and the powerful images of these “lost years” on the top floor.
Once outside, we were once again propelled into the frenzied chaos of the 21st century. Our walking tour through the city center to the Juvenilja Restaurant afforded us the opportunity to experience Edi Rama’s cubist masterpiece! Once a successful Albania artist living in Paris, this two-term mayor of Tirana has rejuvenated his homeland’s capital from painting the buildings, planting trees, cleaning up the parks and river banks to fixing the roads and installing traffic lights! Lunch was an Ottoman feast replete with traditional dancing and music fit for a Pasha’s court.
Kruje, our next stop, is nestled in the foothills of the mountains that ring Tirana and our trip took us through the eastern end of the capital and up through the pine forests to the medieval fortress of the country’s national hero. We fanned out through an 18th century house containing an extraordinary collection of ethnographic materials, the Skenderbeg Museum, and Kruje’s old, cobbled-stoned market to browse the stalls of carpets and antiques. A memorable day in a country that appears to have indomitable spirit!
