BgInfo : Tirana was founded in the early 17th century, it's the capital and largest city of Albania. Population of he city is approx. 800 000 of inhabitants. Albania suffered under a particularly oppressive form of communism, when virtually all contact with the outside world was forbidden. The period following the fall of communism is often described in terms of urban development. Especially under the former Tirana mayor Edi Rama Tirana had gone through the biggest changes.
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Loud, hot, crazy, colourful... This was my first impression of Tirana when I arrived.
It’s a small city, you can easily cover Tirana’s central area in a day.
The must-sees can nearly be counted on one finger, you should definitely visit the Et’hem Bey Mosque and the National History Museum, walk between sights such as Skanderbeg Square's before having coffee in the blloku area.
By the way, "The Block", my favourite part of the city, is Tirana’s most stylish area, It’s now the most fashionable area where you can find plenty of shops, hundreds of cafes and restaurants and numerous clubs and pubs with a thriving nightlife during the weekends.
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Loud, hot, crazy, colourful... This was my first impression of Tirana when I arrived.
It’s a small city, you can easily cover Tirana’s central area in a day.
The must-sees can nearly be counted on one finger, you should definitely visit the Et’hem Bey Mosque and the National History Museum, walk between sights such as Skanderbeg Square's before having coffee in the blloku area.
By the way, "The Block", my favourite part of the city, is Tirana’s most stylish area, It’s now the most fashionable area where you can find plenty of shops, hundreds of cafes and restaurants and numerous clubs and pubs with a thriving nightlife during the weekends.
Cosmetic-attack?
The centre of Tirana is definitely eye-catching. When Edi Rama became the mayor, he gave Albania's capital city a vibrant makeover. Rama added color and design across the city, some of the buildings are striped in crazy colours such as red, blue and green.
The centre of Tirana is definitely eye-catching. When Edi Rama became the mayor, he gave Albania's capital city a vibrant makeover. Rama added color and design across the city, some of the buildings are striped in crazy colours such as red, blue and green.
Running up the slopes of the PYRAMID to get a view from the top is a MUST. Background info on THE Pyramid : Well some people call it the ugly Pyramid. Used to be an old museum that was once known as the Enver Hoxha museum. The pyramid has surely seen better days, this interesting structure is nowadays covered with all kinds of graffiti, smashed glass windows and crumbling cement. However, THE pyramid might soon get a new facade, restorations are in place under direction of Tirana's mayor. Looking forward to a new (rainbow?) makeover! |
Mercedes Rules Roads.
yeah yeah. haven't seen in whole my life such a density of M-Benz cars as in Albania . You can to spot virtually every model of Mercedes produced since the 1970's :D
To touch upon the topic of the state of corruption in Albania - according to Transparency International, Albania ranked 110 in the Corruption Perception Index Report from 2014. Well, this is a sensitive topic for most of the Albanians because bribery is the prevailing organizational culture in Albania and unmerited employment, acceptance to universities and favors in tenders are unfortunately part of everyday life in Albania.
Actually the mere fact that every third person in the "third world country" has a M-Benz fascinates me so much will result in a special blogpost on this question. Looking forward to a deep research on this issue.. stay tuned!
yeah yeah. haven't seen in whole my life such a density of M-Benz cars as in Albania . You can to spot virtually every model of Mercedes produced since the 1970's :D
To touch upon the topic of the state of corruption in Albania - according to Transparency International, Albania ranked 110 in the Corruption Perception Index Report from 2014. Well, this is a sensitive topic for most of the Albanians because bribery is the prevailing organizational culture in Albania and unmerited employment, acceptance to universities and favors in tenders are unfortunately part of everyday life in Albania.
Actually the mere fact that every third person in the "third world country" has a M-Benz fascinates me so much will result in a special blogpost on this question. Looking forward to a deep research on this issue.. stay tuned!
Do you enjoy long hours drinking coffee and gossiping? In Albania, as I understood quite early, it's important to develop first the relationship through coffee drinking time, then afterwards along the lines you do the real business. It isn’t the best thing for productivity but it is good for relationships! Sooo, in order to get your business done in Alba-land, you better become a caffeeholic soon! |
Albanians are very hospitable towards foreigners and very kind-hearted people. They enjoy their coffee moments with friends and family and I found them very fashionable and keen on following the latest trends.
Tirana cannot currently compete in the variety of its attractions with other more popular European destinations, but I would say it's on a good way to become one..
In my opinion Tirana is definitely the super-new hit of the Balkans and a ripe for exploring in 2015/2016!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Soooooo, what are you waiting for?
In my opinion Tirana is definitely the super-new hit of the Balkans and a ripe for exploring in 2015/2016!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Soooooo, what are you waiting for?
Photo : ©Jana Fintova