We had a staycation this weekend and decided to enjoy the sights and sounds of the local city around us. The weather was gorgeous so we completed the 3 mile loop around the lake near our apartment. There are tons of things to see around the path, such as random albanian men urging passersby to weigh themselves on the bathroom scale that had been brought out onto the path, or the wall of barbed wire barring the property line to the president's mansion (he's far too rich for the "small" castle that's situated on this piece of property though, so it mostly stands empty). There are also tons of vendors set up so that you're never more than a few licks away from roasted corn, cotton candy, or a paper sleeve of nuts.
Next we visited a Christmas Fair at Rogner Hotel. Rogner is one of the nicest hotels in Tirana (it's also the hotel we were told we'd be staying at when we arrived in Tirana, but it's definitely not where we ended up). The Christmas Fair was being held to benefit children from the local orphanage. There was a performance from a youth choir, in addition to booths with handmade goods and sweets. I ran into a few of my students while there.
After, we wandered to the center of town, where we happened upon a street of holiday vendors with traditional albanian hats and homemade honey.
Not far from there is a bunker that has been repurposed into a museum called Bunk Art 2. The museum recounts the history of the political climate in Albania from 1912-1991 and brings to light the workings of the Sigurimi, the political police that Enver Hoxha directed while in power. This museum houses the first major video exhibition dedicated to the victims of communist terror. It's incredibly informative but the tone is somber at best. There are rooms in the bunker that have been repurposed to represent jail cells, torture chambers and memoriams for the thousands that were killed during the communist regime. There were countless stories of the Sigurimi infiltrating people's homes and workplaces as spies. 'Tell or be told on' seemed to be the motto in those days, so thousands of community members were falsely accused of opposing the current regime and therefore identified as a threat. Members who threatened the regime were tried and sent to "re-education camps" where they were forced to work in horrific conditions and on many occasions, tortured. One story tells of the Sigurimi going so far as to plant wires and bugs in easy to find places in the Italian Embassy so that those being spied on could find them and feel a false sense of security and relief that they had "caught" the intruder. The Sigurimi then sent in a maid with a wired broom so that each day she could record valuable intel and bring it out with the "trash" she'd swept up.
Not far from Bunk Art 2 is Skanderbeg Square, the main plaza in Tirana. Each year they hold a large Christmas market with amusement rides, craft vendors and tons of food and drink stalls. We sat and drank hot tea at one of the stalls while watching the hustle and bustle of the square. We waited for the sun to set so that we could experience the twinkling lights of the square at night and it did not disappoint!
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