Below are January scenes, here in Tirana. The photos are organized by people, buildings, and street/statues/market views. The final photo is a recent view from our living room window.
Enjoy!
People near our apt.
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| There are 10 men in a row selling 10 used cell phones, all day, every day |
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| Blind man providing soothing music |
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| Often you will see a man lining up his used books along the street |
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| High tech repair of the fiber optic system |
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| These next three photos are the Roma people (gypsies) making their living | collecting plastic and tin cans |
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| Anyone for a 2 hour thick Turkish coffee in doll's tea cup sizes? |
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Buildings- institutional and private
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| This is the home of the Dictator, Enver Hoxha just sitting 1/2 a block from our apartment |
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| This is Peter's office building to the right foreground. The soccer stadium is the structure to the left. |
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| Many, many casinos, mostly just machines but a 24/7 guard in front. |
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| This is the "Cultural Palace that the Dictator's daughter (architect) built to glorify him. |
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| Equal in number to the casinos are these places to place bets on "football" games and politics too! |
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| Here is the national street food of Albania. It is spinach, leek or tomatoes with cheese in flaky pastry. |
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| You occasionally see homes built before the Communist "Block" apartments. This is typical needing attention. |
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| On almost every block are bride shops. Most brides rent their 2 dresses, one for each night of celebration. FANCY! |
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| Many Albanians love America as more Albanians live abroad than here in Albania |
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| A few years ago, the then mayor wanted to spruce up the ugly communist buildings. As an artist he asked anyone |
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| who wanted to come paint the outside of the building and he would supply the paint. |
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| You see many buildings around town like these shown here. |
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| This same mayor tore down many dilapidated shacks along this river through town and made it scenic | |
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| This is the National History Museum with a classic mosaic from the ages. Communism takes central place. |
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Statues, Streets, Sidewalks and Markets
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| Notice the cars that just park on the sidewalk when there isn't a parking space nearby. |
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| These sidewalk hazards are like this for months. You need to be looking down when walking. | | |
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This is in front of the Sheraton. People take the covers to sell for scrap metal.
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This is the only bunker in town (Parliament Building in background). There were 750,000 of these built to "protect" Albania
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| Woodrow Wilson Circle to honor the fact in 1917 he protected Albania from being carved up by other countries. |
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| Guess who came to town in his last 4 months in office. He never even made it to Vermont! |
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| Bicycle street in Albania, parts, used bikes and new |
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| This is tobacco to buy and make your own cigarettes. |
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| How about a live chicken for dinner? You have to kill and clean it though. |
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| Fish for sale |
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| Knock offs |
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And finally, a recent view from our apartment...
Not a bad place to live for a few years!
