After a breakfast of typical Albanian fare: salted cheese, bread, butter, cherry jam, and Turkish coffee, we caught the bus to the capital city Tirana.
The road was only two lanes and there are no passing bays or lanes for traffic to turn left so this causes the two lanes of traffic to stop whenever anyone turns left. The same thing happens whenever anyone crosses the intersection through the two lanes of vehicles. Consequently, it took us 4 hours to cover what should have taken 2 1/2 hours to Tirana. When the traffic stops there is inevitably a policeman with a whistle directing traffic at an intersection or roundabout and it tends to make things worse.
We have seen many car wash businesses. Usually a shelter covered with PVC cloth is erected over a pipe frame and a water blaster is hooked up and a car wash is set up. With all the dusty roads there is no shortage of custom.
We booked into one of only two hostels in Tirana. The directions to the place included walking down unsealed roads so we were surprised to find that it was right near the centre of the city.
We did a nice walking tour of the city and could cover all the main sights in no time at all. The National Museum has a great mural on the front of the building and the original red soviet star on the flag was replaced with the current Albanian flag featuring a black eagle.
The mosque off the main square.
We visited the Blloku district, which was where the communist party members lived and was closed to the general population. We also saw Hoxha's old house and now the whole area is a trendy place to live. The streets were lined with cafes and as soon as people finished work they arrived to have their coffee and set the world right.
We visited a restaurant that served typical Albanian food and wanted to try the stuffed peppers but they were all gone. However we were able to have stuffed eggplant and stuffed zucchini which was very tasty.
Tirana used to be a very grey place as the concrete soviet style residential buildings were unpainted. Now there are huge blocks painted in interesting patterns and bright colours.
There are also several new stylish glass buildings. there is quite a bit of construction going on too.
These men wait at this roundabout with their drills and hammers for someone to come and give them construction work.
