While many of our friends are paying those heating bills and shoveling their way out of the driveways, on March 14th Albania celebrated the national holiday called "Summer Day". This pagan festival celebrates the end of winter, the rebirth of nature and a rejuvenation of spirit.
Below are a few photos from the walk Peter and I took at noon down the main boulevard in town..
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| Just a few folks showed up for the event!!!! |
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| This is called the pyramid building, built by the dictator's architect daughter and served as a center for all of his accomplishments. Now it is vacant, a place to spray graffiti Thand its best feature is walking up and sliding down the inclines. | | |
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| This is equally kid's day and parents come up with all sorts of outfits. With the 75 degree temperatures, those boots are more for design. |
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| Sharing some akullore (aka ice cream) |
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| Artists |
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| Entertainment | | |
The story goes that a fairy of hunting and nature came out of the woods and her sanctuary, on March 14th in the neighboring city of Elbasan. To celebrate her arrival, the townsfolk baked cookies.
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| Every 20 feet, these traditional, Ballakume cookies are sold on the streets. |
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| Some of those 700,000 bunkers built by the dictator to keep evil forces out of his country have now found a new use as playground equipment. |
Finally, the clean up crew. There is a lack of garbage cans in town. Albanians throw their waste on the ground around them with ease. During the dictator's time, they had to pick up the garbage on Sunday mornings as their "volunteer" duty. There was a penalty for littering. Now the attitude is let someone else do it.
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