Belated Blog #2: Tirana

Tirana is an interesting place. Brightly colored communist-block buildings and a variety of greenspace, cafes, and interesting monuments, all surrounded on three sides by mountains give it a unique, yet casual presence in this region of the world. It's not a bad place to live; I have the modern conveniences of a movie theatre, bowling alley, dry cleaners and market all just down my street, and I live only 15 min away from either office. (I work primarily in the Ministry of Tourism, but also have to pop into the UNDP offices from time to time, sometimes daily.)

The city has certainly undergone a radical transformation. Most of the greenspace used to be covered in illegally constructed buildings until the city's artist-mayor tore them down. The walled-off, communist section of town to the south, known as the "blloc", has now been opened up to everyone with a wide array of cafes, bars and excellent restaurants. And beautification continues -- every night, street cleaners are out sweeping the sidewalks and streets by hand. Parks are getting facelifts. And it is now mandatory for all new construction to be painted in bright colors.

The Llana River. It's not much of a river, but as long as it's not overflowing with garbage dumped in from upstream, it really adds to the character of Tirana.

The Pyramid. Originally built as a tomb and tribute to Enver Hohxa, the late dictator who defined the meaning of "personality cult." It is now used as a cultural center, exhibition center, and slide for the numerous gypsy children who climb to the top and slide down its 5 stories.

The Et'hem Bay Mosque. An Aetheist country for forty years, the 18th-c mosque reopened in 1991. About 70% of Albania is muslim, though only 30-40% of the entire population are practicing believers of any religion.

Night view of Tirana from one of the rooftop restaurants, 17 stories up. The large building in the middle is the Tirana Casino, affectionately referred to by locals as "Taiwan". When asked why it was called Taiwan, a few Tiranians venture to guess that the casino is like an island in the middle of the park, and, due to Albania's close relations with China (up until China became too liberal for communist-purist Albania and relations were terminated), it was dubbed Taiwan. Go fig.