Tiff's Travel Tales: Tirana 🇦🇱

Albania's capital is definitely a favourite for me. If you like cities then this is worth visiting. Beautiful tree lined streets with established footpaths, bridges and cycle ways. The city centre has brand name shops, cafes and restaurants, lots of small businesses and 2-3 days worth of attractions and sights to see.

My first stop was to the Museum of Secret Surveillance. Disappointed that it's closed on Mondays as, growing up reading Secret seven and Famous five, and then watching Get Smart, I felt I had what it took to be a spy 😂 and was ready to get all nerdy looking at their surveillance artifacts.

Across the road is the recently constructed Resurrection of Christ Orthodox church. Most places of worship across all faiths were demolished during communism and so most in the country are newer modern structures as a result. It has beautiful paintings and mosaics.

Then to Skanderberg square, scene of major political rallies and protests over the years and now used for festivals and events. It's all set up for the Christmas markets and fair.

I caught a local bus

to Bunk Art 1, the 5 levels underground nuclear bunker that was built by the Albanian dictator Enva Hoxer who feared attack by chemical warfare. He also commissioned over 200,000 bunkers across Albania and over 6 years these were built at a ratio of 1 bunker to 11 people.

The bunker museum opened 9 years ago details many of the facts of the occupation across the wars. The Italians and Germans both occupied Albania with little regard for the people.

It is a sobering reminder of the atrocities that this kind and friendly, hard working race of people have been subjected to until the 90’s. A survey at the end of the 2nd world war confirmed that 81% of the population were illiterate. Communist indoctrination was used as ‘education’ during the 50’s-70’s. .

I feel privileged to have been able to support this nation as a tourist as it continues to fight to rebuild. So many of their people fled overseas to earn money following communism and it left a huge labour gap. Many have returned and today construction is a significant industry as they play catch-up, re building roads and bridges, rebuilding demolished public buildings and homes. It still looks war torn in many areas.