Sadly, this will be a very short post in the diary as I only have a few days to tie up alongside the commercial vessels in Durres harbour, and use the short time available to visit the capital city, Tirana. Durres is a commercial centre with historic buildings from the Roman, Venician and Ottoman eras, and has become a fashionable beach resort.
Plans were also changed because of the weather, and friend Jude came out to Albania rather than Brindisi. This turned out to be good fortune as we were able to catch a local bus from Durres to the capital city, Tirana which was new to both of us. Albania, to me, was always the most communist of communist countries and the opportunity to visit this new tourist destination was destined to be a highlight of 2017. Tirana has already turned relics of that post-war era into great places to see and has added cafe lined streets, international bookshops and museums to complete a fascinating end to my Adriatic Adventure.
The Pyramid of Tirana was built as a museum about the legacy of Enver Hoxha, the long time leader of Communist Albania, but is now the centre of a dispute about demolition plans. The nearby Bunk’Art museum seems to be a far better statement of the communist legacy!
Bunk’Art was originally a nuclear bunker built for the political elite by the neurotic Hoxha who was convinced of the inevitability of nuclear war.
It was a long and lively sail from Durres across the Adriatic Sea back to Italy.
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