Albania

Main Square, Tirana
Street seller in Shkoder

We spent five days in Albania. Staying initially in Shkoder in the north before moving south the capital, Tirana.

I have long held a fascination with Albania probably because it has been isolated and cut off from the outside world for most of my life. Since the fall of communism in 1991, the country has opened its doors to the rest of the world. It is now attempting to catch up, economically and technically with other parts of Europe and the world.

Because of its isolation, Albanians appear to have a curious fascination with all things western. Cola Cola was the first western company to get access to Albania. Mercedes Benz cars are held in high regard.

There are many more Mercedes cars than any other make in the country. One of reasons suggested to me was that Albania had only 3,000 cars in the whole country when communism collapsed. When they started to import cars, it was found that Mercedes were so well made they coped better with the appallingly maintained roads than other makes of car. I was informed that to this day, many Albanians aspire to own a Mercedes. Interestingly, like Cuba, you see a large number of cars that are 30 or 40 years old being driven on the streets. Not so much in Tirana.

It is apparent, just looking around that Albanians are economically disadvantaged. Its the general look of people but also their activities. You see people selling fruit and veg by the roadside in the towns and cities, again, not in Tirana.

The average age in Albania is 35 years old, young by European standards but increasing quickley because many young people are emigrate to find better prospects in other countries.

Virtually everyone I came into contact with was friendly and polite. Many of them went out of their way to be of assistance.

I liked Tirana, its easier to get around as a pedestrian than many other cities in the Balkans. The pavements and roads are better maintained. I like the way a former Mayor who is the current Prime Minister had many of the buildings in the city painted bright colours in an attempt to lift the dull communist architecture.

The taxis in Tirana are all new vehicles with yellow liveries, logos and advertisements displayed on them. They have clearly embraced capitalism.

We did the usual walking tours in both Shkoder and Tirana. Our Guide in Shkoder was a young American woman who’d lived in Albania for 4 years after marrying an Albanian. As a native English speaker and a foreigner, it was interesting to get her perspective.

In the other Balkan countries, you’ll find some people who preferred the communist era. These are mainly people who live in the former Yugoslav republics. The reason given is that Tito was a strong leader who was able to control and manage the various regions, ethnic groups and the religous factions. The passing of Tito saw the collapse of Yugoslavia.

Its different in Albania, I was told that few if any have anything good to say about the ruthless dictator that was Hoxha. The country was so isolated from the rest of the world that the population didn’t realise how far behind and how much poorer they were than people in other countries. Our Guide in Tirana told us that his 63 year old father had never eaten a banana until the collapse of communism.

During our Tour in Tirana, we were shown around the back of a building to find hidden, a row of statutes of former communist leaders including Stalin, two of Lenin and Enver Hoxha. As in many of the former communist countries, statutes have been removed from their original locations. I realise that these people brought hardship to their people but removing them is like expunging history. I would leave the statutes in place. Not to glorify them but to remind people of what can go wrong.

Our journey from Shkoder to Tirana was an experience. We took a minibus as there are no regular buses. Sheila flatly refused to take the train when she read about how badly maintained they are. A shame, as I would have loved to ride an Albanian train, if only to brag about it. In a temperature of 35° and with no air con, the mini bus driver left the side door of the mini bus wide open until we left the city and got on the open road. It was a 2.5 hour journey to Tirana. We were exhausted when we arrived. Sheila and I then proceeded to fall-out as tensions rose in the sweltering heat.

The temperature while we have been in the Balkans has been 34/35° and higher every day. I think we have had just one day when the temperature was under 30° in the past two months. Frankly, for people like Sheila and I who are not sun worshippers and like temperatures of 22°, it has been very difficult. Roll on autumn.