Day 202: Golem to Tiranë

Nice country road

Heading inshore to the capital, we were able to find a nice rural road. The road surface was appalling, but there weren’t many cars and the views of the fields and hills around us were great.

A coffee stop on the way at a very English country garden kind of place

Arriving in the capital, it’s a pretty small place. we road down the riverside, which is more of a little stream, with everything feeling a bit more “country town” than “capital city”. However, this is not that surprising given the country only has 2.5 million inhabitants, and a lot of them seem to be on the coast running the expanding tourist resorts.

We had time to have a quick wander around Tiranë, and it’s a weird mixture. Lots of the old Communist era building are repurposed, but some still lie derelict. Most obvious is the grand pyramid in the centre of town. Originally the Enver Hoxha Museum, a museum to the legacy of the former dictator. However, that purpose is no longer appropriate and it lies empty and decaying. There are plans to fix it up, just as there are plans to do something with Hoxha’s former residence, but nothing happening yet.

The Communist legacy is not exactly hidden, although the art and colour livens things up a bit

The pyramid is looking a little sad really

Enver Hoxha’s former residence