Albania | Going Groundless

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Both my husband and I have been a bit hermit-like lately, preferring to spend our weekends playing video games in our pajamas over adventures in the city. This is probably a symptom of our travel-heavy summer and the usual adjustment that comes with a new school year. Still, we both caught a case of the travel bug this week after a particularly tiring series of after-school events and duties, so we scoured the internet for travel deals and settled on Albania.

We knew next to nothing about Albania before we landed in Tirana, which, in this case, only enhanced my experience. I was instantly surprised by the kindness of the locals, the beauty of the city, and the unique blend of Ottoman, Italian, and communist influence.

We got up first thing in the morning, ready to hit the ground running since we only had two days to experience the city. Our first stop was Skanderbeg Square, a large plaza in the middle of the city. The lack of crowds and grey skies made it seem all the more imposing.

It was a bit chillier in Tirana than we had expected, so we found ourselves making frequent stops for cappuccino, which much to our elation was some of the best we’d ever had. The cafe culture there alone is worth the visit.

In addition to great coffee and cool architecture, Tirana is also home to a thriving contemporary art scene. It seems like you can’t turn the corner without seeing some kind of sculpture, art gallery, or street art. This piece I am standing on – the cloud – was a personal favorite.

The vibrant and youthful atmosphere of the city is likely a reaction to Albania’s dark past. In the 20th century alone, the country went from being a police state at the turn of the century, to a fascist state under the Nazis, to a communist state after WWII. During the 40-year reign of communist dictator Enver Hoxha, the country suffered from widespread oppression and isolationism. The monument above, known as the Pyramid of Tirana, was commissioned by the daughter of Enver Hoxha as a monument to his legacy. Ironically, it still serves that purpose, though his legacy is not one that is remembered fondly.

View of Tirana from a bunker

Another of the city’s bizarre communist remnants are the preserved bunkers, built by Hoxha to protect the country from potential invasions – which never came to pass. One of the bunkers has been converted into an art and history museum known as Bunk’Art, which takes visitors through the murky tunnels (both literally and figuratively) of Albania’s communist history. Among some of the exhibits are the names of people killed in concentration camps, methods of torture used against citizens who opposed the government, and examples of how families were bugged by the police state. The thing that blows my mind the most is that Albania was only freed from this oppression in 1990, the year before I was born.

It is perhaps because of its dark past and decades of isolation that Albania is so seldom visited, though tourism is gradually increasing. At the moment, it is a bit of a hidden gem, but I suspect in the next ten years, it will become a hot spot in Europe, much like Croatia. I’m grateful to have seen it when I did.

I was totally blown away by Tirana and Albania in general. The breathtaking view of the mountains below while I was flying away made leaving even more difficult than it already was. It is another of many places that I know I must revisit. I only had time for Tirana on this trip, but next time, I’d love to visit places like Berat or the Albanian Riviera to take in more of the country’s natural beauty.

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**As a side note, the title of this post comes from a song that has been stuck in my head all week. Coincidentally, the song was recommended to me by a student after assigning the class to read the folk tale to which the song alludes…so there is a bit of a double allusion going on here. Anyway, I feel like the song perfectly matches the atmosphere of Tirana…haunting and beautiful.**