We always knew that England in November was potentially not going to be a great place to be in the camper but we had the added problem of not wanting to enter any EU countries as we wanted to use our full 90 days skiing in Austria. Tough life we know! 😉
So on a rainy and cold November day we decided on Albania and North Macedonia. To be fair Tim has been intrigued with the Balkans for a while so we were pretty excited to see what was on offer. We then utilised one of the best perks of being in Europe which is cheap flights and we were good to go.
We arrived in Tirana in the evening and after dropping off our bags at our hotel we headed out to find some food. We quickly realised that we had arrived on the day Albania were playing a Euro International football match and the stadium was right in the center of town near us so the streets were abuzz with black and red clothes and Albanian flags everywhere. I must admit if I was going to own a county I think I would use the Albanian flag as my own as it is one of the coolest with its black double headed eagle on a red background. We found a little restaurant around the corner filled with men drinking and smoking and watching the football so thought we would join. The lady couldn’t speak English and the menu was in Albanian so we pretty much got what she gave us and it was delicious. They even went out and purchased a beer for us because they ran out. We also discovered that night that the celebration after a game (Albania and Faro Islands drew 0-0) was to drive around town revving your engines and honking your horn until the very early hours of the morning. Not much sleep was had.
We had decided to go a little more upmarket in our accomodation as it was a belated 40th birthday present for me and we were not disappointed. It also helped that Albania in comparison to England and Australia is cheap so effectively we got a luxury hotel for what would be high season camping prices in England. It was a little boutique hotel which was originally owned by the old king’s sister and had recently been renovated into a very very stylish and cool hotel. It had the added bonus of it being a fine dining restaurant so our breakfasts were amazing and the staff exceptional. It also had a private spa area with sauna, steam room and jacuzzi. We were definitely living it up in Albania!
The next day we headed out to walk around town and first stop was the National History museum to learn all about Albania’s past as we both knew a little but not enough. The museum was full of information and we left with a much better understanding but also with more questions and unfortunately some of the most important sections were not translated into English but over the days we managed to fill in most of the dots. The key take away points are that over the years the lands have passed between many – The Greeks, The Romans which flowed into The Byzantines and then The Ottomans until 1912 when they gained their independence but that was relatively short lived as the Italians invaded under Mussolini in 1939. The Albanians resisted and kicked out the Italians in 1941 and then the Germans came in and they were eventually defeated by the Communists with their leader Enver Hoxha. He was the saviour who lead the resistance but unfortunately was also a mad man who then terrorised his people until his death in the 80’s and then his successor did until 1992. Once considered the 3rd poorest country in the world the Albanains are finally prospering.
Walking around the city you will see the red and black flag proudly flying everywhere and children are often wearing red shirts with the double headed eagle on them. It’s almost as if it’s their school uniform. But considering how long it has taken them to be free it isn’t surprising that they are proud to fly their flags. *** Since writing this I have found out that it is Albania’s Independence Day (commonly known as flag day) so this could be the reason. ***
On the next day we set off for another museum called Bunk’Art. During Hoxha’s rein, several underground bunker systems were secretly built which have now been turned into museums. The first one was a little out of the centre and was built to house the inner party if an attack ever happened. We have been in ones similar in Russia and Cuba but it’s still eerrie to be so far underground. With over a kilometre of tunnels and rooms spread over 5 levels it was in itself impressive but the extensive history from when the Italians came in under Mussolini to the ending of communism in the 1990s was also very interesting to read about.
After another day of sight seeing we were very ready for some delicious Albanian food. So far we have been impressed with the variety of food on offer. I suppose it is the plus side of being invaded by multiple countries with great food with very big Italian and Turkish influences in the food. So far our favourites have definitely been the stuffed eggplants which reminds me of my grandma’s cooking and the grilled meat mezze plates.
Even though we had walked the main sights ourselves we decided to do a walking tour as well to see if we could get a local’s view on things. We were a little disappointed to be assigned an American who used to work as a history teacher at the international school rather than a local but she was lovely and we did learn a few things from her. During the tour we would often get locals coming over and listening to what was being said and at one point when the guide was answering a question about how Hoxha came to be elected and she said it was an election and one of the locals told her that was not how it happened. In her defence she was technically correct as they did vote but there was only one party to vote for and she was trying to condense a very complex and traumatic topic into a more palatable response for us tourists but he was not happy.
The walking tour also helped with explaining some of the unusual buildings and architecture. The cityscape was a massive hodge podge of old style communist blocks, old buildings crumbling with age, modern glass sky scrapers and a multitude of currently being built architecturally spectacular. Our tour guide said that when she arrived 8 years ago most of the big buildings were not there and construction has just gone into overdrive. Where the money is coming from is a question I cannot answer but I believe Albania has a somewhat stable economy with agriculture and mining but I must admit I am not too sure of their countries current financial situation but judging by all the construction they are doing okay.
On our last day in Albania we still had two museums we wanted to see. First one was Bunk’Art 2 which was another secret bunker system, this one right in the middle of the city which was originally accessed via a key government building. The exhibition in this bunker was all about the secret police during the communist era and the atrocities that occurred. It was a very heavy read and experience and we both left feeling like we needed to take a bath or eat ice-cream or something after reading about it to rid us of the horrible tales.
What gets me is we have seen multiple museums like this all over the world where at the start it always says we are preserving this knowledge so the human race doesn’t forget what happened. But nothing ever changes. I don’t think it ever will. It seems once you are in a position of power you will do anything to hold onto it.
After a stop off for coffee to break up the awfulness we then headed to the Museum of Leaves which once was a maternity hospital and then was turned into an interrogation and surveillance house. Luckily this one was more focused on the intricacies of spying and how it was achieved rather than the interrogations as we had had our fill from the previous museum. I have recently just finished reading 1984 and it’s very clear that he got his inspiration from the Communist governments in power over that time.
After the day we had we decided to treat ourselves and book into the fine dining restaurant at our hotel and we were not disappointed. We selected the dégustation menu and had an amazing 7 course dinner which definitely topped off our stay in Albania.
Our stay in Tirana was definitely a great start to our Balkan adventures and one I would definitely come back to. The people are wonderfully friendly, sometimes not straight up but once you chip away at the very thin hard exterior they open up. English is spoken by most very well. Especially by the younger generation where most are trilingual with Albanian, Italian and English. Tim and I both commented that they reminded us a little of the Colombian people when we went to Colombia as they had also recently opened up to tourists and were very welcoming. We got many comments of welcome to Albania and thank you for visiting. We even had the guy sitting next to us in the plane give us his number in case we went north to his home town and he would show us around. Albania has definitely welcomed us with open arms. S