Tirana is very walkable and bike-able, and feels safe. I could live happily here. There are a lot of cafes and it seems like there are a lot of things to do here.

I went on the free walking tour with a local guide, Eri. He told us about the history and points of interest, and he also provided insight into the communist past of Albania. Albania used to be a closed country. There was a lot of propaganda and control. People could not travel out of Albania and even needed special permission to travel to a different city within the country. Albania at one point had very close friendships with the Soviet Union and also with China because of communism ties, but Albania was even more communist.

Those in Albania did not have much of anything and had limited food and freedoms. They were told that people elsewhere had it even worse. In the south, the people in Sarandë could see Corfu, Greece. They saw that the lights were on at night, and it looked quite nice. They were told that it is worse over in Greece and that the the lights are on because the Greeks even had to work at night. Of course, that wasn’t true.

Until the last 30 years, people in Albania did not have Coca Cola, or bananas, and most did not own cars. Eri told a story that his grandpa would ask his dad to go get “bananas” and that his grandpa was upset when he then received the banana that he had asked for. His grandpa actually meant to ask for Coca Cola, but seemed to refer to all the new lovely things as “bananas”!

If I could, I would have extended my stay as I have only been here 2 nights and one full day. I would have liked to visit Bunk’Art, a museum about communism located inside inside a large 5 floor bunker. It’s too late to cancel my next accommodation without receiving a charge, so I will head on to Korça. Every place I visit is more incredible than the next, so I am eager for my upcoming experiences in Korça. I left many stones unturned in Tirana, but perhaps I will be back one day.