With my new blog series which I call "Albanian Blase" I would like to capture the usual and yet stunning places and moments that I will encounter in this amazing country.
One could argue, hey every country is amazing. And yes, you're sure right. But some are more amazing than others and everyone has different point if view and background. So, I am just gonna say Albania is amazing for me.
It strongly reminds me Georgia, which is also on my awesome list. The architecture and the way of handling things is for sure not the same, but one gets the sense of likeliness.
The weather in January was playing a roulette with us and some days were just pouring rain. So the window of opportunity to go out and shoot was rather limited, but nonetheless worth it.
Let's get right into some pictures as that is what travel blogging is all about.
Tirana is known for it's ever present cafés, pubs and bars. Picture below being one of the most central and popular street at around lunch time. All the light bulbs giving it somewhat inspirational feeling.
Even this street has it's smaller brothers and sisters going parallel or just dead end.
I was lucky with picking up the hostel to stay in as it's location was bordering the very center and somewhat residential/suburban area where I all the necessities were within reach and yet not too expensive.
Passing by some of these forefront cafés makes one's wallet scared. Yep, even in Albania some service has it's price and for cafe it counts twice.
So I have passed this promenade and happened to be next to the central square and all the government buildings. Such as parliament and alike.
Here comes the statue that appears on Skyscanner, probably the most known picture of Albania.
The whole square could do for a single blog, but I like to take unusual pictures of rather hiden things and gems...
Here one can see the most central bunker in the whole country with a museum inside.
Not being inside gives me yet another reason to come back some time soon. It seems like there are lot of pictures and artefacts to be discovered.
Albania has for sure amazing history. Not always an happy ending, but nonetheless super interesting and fascinating stuff. In case some of you don't know, in 60's and 70' under the communist dictatorship, hundreds upon thousands of bunkers have been built and are standing strong to this day. Concrete doesn't decay that easy. In my opinion awesome tourist attraction :)
This wouldn't be a good post about Tirana without mentioning the local traffic.
Almost nonexisting public transport makes private car ownership almost a must and you can really feel it. Not only with the amount of exhaust but mostly when crossing the everbusy streets on of of crossroads it is constant hustle.
Love it or hate it - it is part of this awesome city and it gives it certain charm. Just make sure to look around.
Being in mild continental climate, palm trees and other cute plants are making the city more livable and balance the terrible traffic situation.
Once you have enough of all of that which I have just described you can hide yourself in some of the bars and forget about time and space whatsoever.
This is one of the very popular places in-between expats and alike so you don't need to be worried about not meeting a fellow countrymen or somebody to talk to in fluent English.
Radio bar - Tirana, Albania
Until next time,
Tom Hustler.