Mount Dajti is to the east of the city, and Saimir had told us which bus we could catch, which all went very smoothly. We started with Bunk’Art1, a museum dedicated to the history of the Albanian communist army and to the daily lives of Albanians during the regime situated in the atomic bunker of the dictator Enver Hoxha.
It was quite eerie to enter, down a tunnel …
… into corridors with concrete doors a foot thick …
… past safety valves to protect the ventilation system against an external explosion …
… into the decontamination room with a sound recording of dripping water to add to the unease.
It took 6 years to build and was finished in 1978 with 5 floors, 106 offices with corridor that went on and on …
… an assembly hall to be used by the government in time of war …
… and Hoxha’s hideaway!
It was only ever used for a couple of drills. Today the rooms cover history from the invasion of Albania by Mussolini in 1939 to the end of the Communist regime in 1991.
At the end were a couple of installations to warrant the word Art – one showing how mirrors disintegrate the bunker without weapons …
… and the other about those who live away from their homeland.
There was a definite musty smell throughout, despite detectable air freshener and we were pleased to finish and return to the warm sunshine. We made our way to the cable car …
… which took 20mins to whisk us 4.5km along and 1000m up …
… for a view over the city …
… where the lake in Grand Park was easy to spot.
Later we visited the lake, a good walk from the centre of Tirana, but on a grey day it probably didn’t look its best.
We thought we could have a lakeside lunch, but all we found was a cafe serving uninspiring sandwiches.
On our return we walked through Blloku, not realising that it had been a closed-off precinct for the party elite in the Communist era, which probably explains why Enver Hoxha’s villa is here …
… and this memorial.
After 1991, what had been prohibited became attractive and today it’s a leafy residential area and popular with the young Albanian elite.
Talking Hoxha, The Pyramid of Tirana was built in 1988 as a museum dedicated to Enver Hoxha. After 1991 it had varied uses but then became derelict until a recent project has transformed it into a youth cultural and IT hub.
It is surrounded by colourful boxes to provide multi-use work spaces …
… and steps to allow the people of Albania to walk all over the former dictator’s memorial!
Finally Bunk’Art2 was included on our ticket focusing on the Sigurimi or political police. It is in a smaller nuclear bunker in central Tirana and gives a glimpse to those who couldn’t visit the larger museum as we did. It was very crowded and our visit was swift.
Walking round the city there are many buildings brightened up with a lick of paint or a mural, part of an incentive begun by the mayor. Some are named and mapped like the Rainbow Building …
… and Titanic Building …
… but others just surprise you when you turn a corner!
Continuing the post-Communist theme, we had read about Café-Museum Komiteti so we stopped by for a coffee.
The name refers to the Central Committee of the Communist period, an especially significant word throughout Albania’s story, originating in the Latin word meaning to gather together for a special purpose. It was conceived by Arbër Çepani as a place to store and display his collection of communist era memorabilia, with antiques, furniture, costumes, valuable collectibles and just cute stuff!
The coffee was great and having seen the choice of cocktails and raki, we knew we’d be back!
Our last evening began with raki cocktails at Kometiti, mine called a First Night and Chris’s with chilli raki!
Next, just two doors down was Artigiano, recommended by our very helpful receptionist Irini.
Despite all the Albanian specialities we’ve eaten, Chris chose the traditional spinach & feta pie but I had chateaubriand, the best steak I’ve had in ages!
Back to Kometiti for raki shots… our last night, it had to be done! Chris picked plum, one of the strongest while I had the waiter’s recommendation of of psimeni or ‘baked’ raki, actually a liqueur with a flavoring of honey, cinnamon and cloves which was delicious!
Incidently, Raki & Dashi means Raki & Love!
Flying home on the morning of the Tirana marathon wasn’t ideal as the taxi picked us up 45 minutes late, but despite the heavy traffic, we were at the gate an hour before take off.
So what did we think of the organised tour? Everything ran pretty smoothly, the hotels and bus were comfortable, we had a great bunch of people to share it with and the information and insight from our guide really made a difference to our appreciation of Albania. The downside was the very full schedule and not always having enough time to see everything. Views from the bus meant we saw much more than we photographed. Exoticca have come up trumps with a good value tour and we would certainly consider travelling with them again.
Albania is full of friendly welcoming people. The country is making huge strides to embrace tourism and move towards being accepted into the EU, and while investment is needed to develop their historical attractions, hopefully it won’t spoil the natural beauty.
Albanians are gregarious and love to be outside, sitting in coffee shops with family and friends. The food was great with huge portions of mezzes, salads, grilled meat & fish and plenty of pasta and pizza, all very reasonably priced.
We found the roads generally good, but Albanians like to break the rules so no need to indicate, park where you like and ignore the speed limit! Having said that, drivers were very accommodating and there were few scrapes on cars, with the only accident being on the M23 on our way home! Nonetheless it was good not to have to drive and at least we didn’t add to the Tirana traffic and air pollution.
So that’s it … the suitcase is unpacked while the memories are neatly packaged into a journal … until next time!
Off Travelling Together 