I said goodbye to Mt Korab and Radomire and finally made my way to Tirana. Usually, I explore the capital of a country first and then make my way around the rest. This is the first time I did the opposite and it feels a bit wierd honestly. Tirana is a huge city, but all the interesting stuff is in the very compact and busy center. It was easy to get around in on foot and turned out to be a good place to decompress before flying home. The first places I explored were two giant bunkers built during the communist years, but ironically, never used because the dictator, Enver Hoxha, died in 1985 before their completion. Now they’ve been converted into museums about the country’s communist history called Bunkart1 & Bunkart2.

Bunkart1 happens to be at the base of Dajti mountain, which overlooks all of Tirana, so I went up to take a look. I cheated this time, though, by taking the cable car up. There’s a lot of hiking trails at the top. I still didn’t feel like doing too much after Mt Korab so I just went to a couple of the nearby viewpoints to have a look around.

I’m not sure what it’s being used for now, but Enver Hoxhas house is right in the center too. No one is allowed inside, but there it is. The only thing remarkable about it in my opinion its how ordinary it is.

Also nearby is a collection of more bunkers. They used to be a checkpoint guarding the sequestered neighborhood where all the leaders of the country lived. There’s also a piece of the Berlin Wall, a gift from Germany there which was unexpected, but very cool to see.

The highlights of Tirana for me were the National Gallery and The National History Museum. The National Gallery was just chock full of old brutalist communist art and sculpture celebrating and exalting the workers. There was so much there it was really overwhelming. Out back behind the building were some very lonely statues of Joseph Stalin, one of which used to be in the main square. It’s extremely rare to find intact statues of Stalin. I’ve never seen any in my travels at least.

The National History Museum, by contrast was more about the ancient history of the area. They had lots of artifacts taken from some of the sites I visited throughout my trip.

Tirana has a castle too, sort of. What little is left is now a small shopping mall and the remains if what was a tower.

There was also a museum about all the techniques the communists used to spy on their own citizens in the former headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior. And finally, the really vast Skanderbeg Square. There used to be statues of Stalin and Enver Hoxha here, but the only statue that has survived through the years is the one of Skanderbeg himself. It seems no matter what the political climate of the country was or who was in charge, Albanians have always agreed that Skanderbeg is the man. Today the square is pretty empty, but makes a great place for concerts and other special events. The only way to really take it all in was from the top of the clock tower.

Tirana turned out to be much more relaxing and easy going than I had expected, but it was welcomed. This has probably been one of the best trips I’ve taken. Coming home is bitter sweet, but come home I did. And now, back to work for a while to fund the next adventure.