thetrainfamilyTirana, the capital of Albania, is a city that fits travel agencies’ concepts such as “vibrant” and “bohemian.” So, if you are in search of a new city that lives up to the above, you have landed in the right place.
A Brief Historical Overview
The city, like the country, was in an iron grip for the 40 years when dictator Enver Hoxha ruled the land. Large sums of the country’s depleted treasury were used for bunker construction during this period. When the iron grip on the country was finally loosened in 1990, years of civil war followed. In other words, it is only in very recent times that Albania and Tirana have been moving toward a standard of living resembling the rest of Europe.
Architectural Transformation: Balancing the Old and the New
Particularly in the architecture, significant changes have taken place, both for better and for worse. It is evident in the cityscape that there is a stark contrast between housing construction from the communist era and the post-communist era. The older buildings were constructed with poor-quality bricks and have not been plastered or painted over. The newer residential buildings consist of concrete blocks, often with balconies. And then there are all the new steel and glass skyscrapers springing up all over the city, which, in our opinion, disrupt the city’s original look of low-rise houses.
Exploring the Welcoming Heart of Tirana: Our Experience in the Paris Commune District
We lived in the Paris Commune district, where the streets were filled with cozy cafes and patisseries offering cakes and delicious bread that made your mouth water. On street corners, people sold vegetables and fruits. We didn’t think we would “stand out” as Western tourists in the capital, but we were wrong. In a shop, for example, we were asked where we were from. When we replied “Denmark,” the lady immediately pulled out her phone and used Google Translate to tell us that her niece lives in Copenhagen. On buses, conductors asked us where we were from, all very friendly and welcoming. In fact, we have never met such friendly and welcoming people on our many travels as those we encountered in Albania.
An Uncommon Sight in Tirana: The Absence of Stray Dogs and the Challenges Faced by the Roma Community
Unlike in smaller towns, we didn’t have to worry about encountering stray dogs in Tirana. In fact, we didn’t see a single one. However, we did see several Roma people searching for garbage in trash bins or begging in front of supermarkets. One day, while crossing a green area, we came across a Roma camp with tents and litter. It was very sad to see people living in such miserable conditions in the midst of an otherwise very well-functioning city.
Exploring Tirana’s Public Transportation: Navigating the City Without a Schedule
Public transportation is worthy of an entire blog post – and one will surely come:). Here, it should be briefly mentioned that there are well-functioning buses in Tirana that cover large parts of the city. The only issue for tourists is that there is no schedule, you don’t know which buses run from which stops, and you can’t see the bus numbers on all of them. There is no metro, tram, or trolleybuses in the city. We managed 100% with the bus in the city. Three things made it possible: 1) Google Maps in offline mode (we had downloaded the map of Tirana from Google Maps, so we could navigate and see how far we had come by bus even with data roaming turned off), 2) the presence of many friendly Albanians who helped us and could speak English, 3) translation of the bus routes here.
Grocery Shopping Enigma in Albania: Navigating the Mystery of Where the Locals Shop
Grocery shopping in Albania is still a mystery to us. We’re used to supermarkets being the cheapest option for shopping. That’s not the case in Albania! We have shopped at BIG markets in Durres, Tirana, and Pogradec, and every time, we’ve realized that it’s a very expensive store. Prices are, of course, lower than in Denmark, but not by much! We can figure out that locals buy vegetables and meat at the market, but where do they buy pasta, oatmeal, toilet paper, and dishwashing detergent? Definitely not at BIG market. Most of the time, we’re the only ones in the store, and if there are others, they’re only buying 1-2 items, while we’re buying 20. If anyone has answered this question, please do write it in the comments.
Tirana’s Untold Stories: Exploring Hidden Gems and Unconventional History
It also requires a separate blog post to describe the attractions in Tirana. It will be coming soon as well. In short, it can be concluded that there isn’t much historical heritage aside from the Roman mosaics and mosques that are older than 50 years. In recent years, there has been a focus on making the communist era interesting for the public, and there are thus several exciting tourist attractions from that time. However, we got the clear impression that Tirana is certainly not overrun by tourists. For example, when we visited the bunker museum in early September, there was no queue at the entrance, and several times inside the bunker, we had it all to ourselves. So hurry, folks, and visit while it’s still like this. Tirana is definitely up-and-coming, and tourists are sure to discover this unpolished gem.
