Durres, Tirana & Kruje
Albania is in one way exactly the way you thought it to be and in another it is not at all what you expected!
Let me explain. As a politics student at University, we studied post-communist societies, their development and their challenges, and many of our ambitious guests have studied Albania for months before arriving here. However, although academic studies as well as preparations naturally have their merits, nothing is ever exactly what you think it will be.
We docked in the morning in the busy port town of Durres and our buses took us to the capital of Tirana. The town is in many ways what you expect: big, busy and buzzing, but it also offers some surprises. For example, the fairly recent city mayor Edie Rama, as a protest against the grey buildings of the communist times, decided to paint the houses in bright rainbow colors which make for a very interesting sight when you enter the town.
We started the morning in the national history museum which offers an impressive collection of artifacts, paintings, photos and other documentation of Albanian history from Illyrian times until the present. After this we went to a local restaurant for lunch and while we indulged in Albanian food and drinks (such as the local beer Stela) we were entertained by an amazing local dance group.
In the afternoon we set off to visit the old capital of Kruje. On our way up to the town we stumbled upon another surprise – the George W. Bush Café. This small fairly indistinguishable café was the place where George W. Bush came when he visited Albania a few years ago. Now it is renamed in his honor and no one is any longer allowed to use the chair or table where he sat.
Kruje was a great delight. Prettily perched on a hilltop, it offers spectacular views of the valleys below. There we got to visit both the Ethnographic museum as well as Albania’s national hero Skanderbeg’s own museum. We also got to stroll around in the local market that offered anything from beautiful intricate local handicraft to Enver Hoxha shot-glasses.
In the evening, we returned to Panorama to have dinner, tired and full of new impressions.
Our second day in Albania had given us just what we expected it to. And so much more!
