A good night's sleep but a pretty average breakfast, but nevermind that, as we were outside the National Museum at 10am to join the free Tirana walking tour. Our guide was a middle aged local guy who had spent six years in the US, so his English was excellent. He walked us around for two hours explaining life under communism, how isolated Albania was from the world (he likened it to North Korea), his experience growing up, and Albania's turbulent history. He also took us to many of the main monuments in Tirana, but his stories of communism were what really interested Jackie and I.
After two hours the tour ended and we went off to find some lunch, which is actually surprisingly hard in Tirana. There are soooo many bars and coffee shops, but much fewer restaurants, which Jackie thinks is due to the fact Albanian were deprived of good food during communism, so they don't have the food appreciation side of society yet. I think it's more because they drink and smoke so much.
We were searching for so long that I was getting hangry, so we grabbed a delicious ice cream, before eventually finding a Mediterranean place. I had pasta while Jackie had baked potatoes. We then had a great cup of coffee at a nearby coffee place.
After lunch we walked to the botanic gardens but couldn't find a way in! We gave up trying to get in as it was so hot.
We ended up catching a cab to Bunkart, which is an art/history exhibit inside the old nuclear military bunker the Eva Hoxha built in the 70s. It's huge and quite crazy, illustrating just how paranoid they were that Albania was going to be attacked.
After Bunkart we caught a bus back to our hotel and chilled for a little bit, nursing our sore feet. For dinner we went to a delicious Italian restaurant where we had gorgonzola with pear for entree, fresh pasta for mains and pannacotta for desert. Yum
After two hours the tour ended and we went off to find some lunch, which is actually surprisingly hard in Tirana. There are soooo many bars and coffee shops, but much fewer restaurants, which Jackie thinks is due to the fact Albanian were deprived of good food during communism, so they don't have the food appreciation side of society yet. I think it's more because they drink and smoke so much.
We were searching for so long that I was getting hangry, so we grabbed a delicious ice cream, before eventually finding a Mediterranean place. I had pasta while Jackie had baked potatoes. We then had a great cup of coffee at a nearby coffee place.
After lunch we walked to the botanic gardens but couldn't find a way in! We gave up trying to get in as it was so hot.
We ended up catching a cab to Bunkart, which is an art/history exhibit inside the old nuclear military bunker the Eva Hoxha built in the 70s. It's huge and quite crazy, illustrating just how paranoid they were that Albania was going to be attacked.
After Bunkart we caught a bus back to our hotel and chilled for a little bit, nursing our sore feet. For dinner we went to a delicious Italian restaurant where we had gorgonzola with pear for entree, fresh pasta for mains and pannacotta for desert. Yum
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