Balkans                                          2016

Balkans 2016 Albania Kosovo Macedonia

Balkans - Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia - 2016

 
The weather forecasters have been predicting storms on many of the days we have been travelling, but fortunately for us, the storms have failed to materialise. That changed today. We woke this morning to the sound of thunder with flashes of lightning, and with steady rain falling outside, we abandoned our tentative plans for a pre-breakfast walk. With grey skies and rain falling, there seemed little reason to make an early start, so we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast in the small 4th floor restaurant of our hotel, which must have one of the best views from any hotel of Berat’s old town and river. All six of the hotel’s guests were in the restaurant having breakfast, which almost filled the capacity of the room. We started our drive to Tirana at a little after 9:30am, and soon found ourselves in a major thunderstorm, with pelting rain and chain lightning. Even the local drivers slowed down because of the wet conditions, which says a lot about the severity of the storm. The worst of the storm only lasted about a quarter of an hour or so, but the rain continued falling steadily for almost an hour. It cleared, and indeed the sun began to shine, as we approached the town of Elbasan, the approximate mid-point of our drive to Tirana. Although Elbasan has a long history dating back to Roman times, there is little visible evidence of that period (or if there is, it wasn’t located where the guidebook suggested it might be). More interesting for me, and deadly boring for Di, was the huge metallurgical complex known as the Steel of the Party, built in 1974 under the communist regime with technical and financial support from China. Although it employed 8,000 people when at full capacity, today it is just a shadow of its former self, with many empty, decaying buildings and cement paving broken by invading plants, even though parts of the factory are still producing steel and other metal products. Apparently, the factory is so obsolete that it cannot be brought up to modern international environmental standards, and the result is high unemployment and emigration. It is possible to drive into and through the complex, and its appearance is somewhat post-apocalyptic; photogenic in a strange way, but of very sad for the impact it has had on local people’s livelihoods. We continued our drive to Tirana, Albania’s capital city, along a road that was marked as a motorway, and in places was a motorway, but which reverted to a narrow, twisting roadway in several sections. We arrived at our hotel, the Hotel LAS, at about 2:00pm, and we were greeted warmly by the very friendly and hospitable owner, Mr Subashi. By this time, the weather was sunny, so we decided to make the most of the conditions by walking into the city centre, a distance of 1.8 kilometres. Many of the main sights in Tirana are museums that didn’t really interest Di or me, but the grand layout of the city centre was something that we wanted to see. The heart of Tirana is a large, open, grassed area called Skanderbeg Square, named after Albania’s national hero, Gjergj (George) Kastrioti, who was given the name Skënder (Alexander) with the honorific ending ‘beg’. He led a revolt against the invading Turks in 1444, holding them at bay for some 14 years. His equestrian statue is placed in the middle of the square that bears his name, at the head of Tirana’s main thoroughfare, Dëshmorët e Kombit. Several of Tirana’s impressive public buildings surrounded Skanderbeg Square, including City Hall, the National Library, the old Clock Tower, the Xhamia e E Mosque also known as the Et’hem Bey Mosque), the Opera and Ballet Theatre, the Interior Ministry, the Transport Ministry and the Energy Ministry. Off to the north-western corner of Skanderbeg Square, a very impressive socialist realist mosaic adorned the front of the National Historical Museum building. The museum opened in 1981, and the mural is a wonderful example of the triumphalist art of that era. The mosaic depicts victorious Albanians from various eras of history, from the Illyrians to fighters and intellectuals who won independence from the Ottoman Empire, right through to Communist partisans in World War II. We proceeded south along Ibrahim Rugova Street to the Albanian Orthodox Cathedral, officially named the Resurrection of Christ Orthodox Cathedral. This huge building was designed in a tasteful modernist style and was opened in 2012. We ventured inside, and were impressed by the light, airy feeling and reverent atmosphere. We noticed that the dark storm clouds were gathering overhead again, so after a quick stop for a coffee and ice cream, we started walking back to our hotel. We weren’t quick enough for the storm, however, and our walk was punctuated by several periods of standing under shop awnings to wait for the heavy showers of rain to pass. Nonetheless, we had a good introductory taster of Tirana. Weather permitting, we hope to see quite a bit more tomorrow.Balkans_Travel_Diary_2016_15_files/IMG_8542.jpgBalkans_Travel_Diary_2016_15_files/IMG_7848.jpg

Day 15 - Berat to Tirana, Albania

Monday 13 June 2016