The journey back over the long and winding road from Theth to the main SH1 highway on Saturday morning was to the drive over on Wednesday. Maybe it was the time of day, who knows.
However, the main highway was as if everyone and their dog had bought their car out for a drive. We had extended sections of driving at barely 40 or 50 km per hour for most of the journey back towards Tirana. You can almost understand the impatience of some drivers and why they overtake in stupid positions. Remember our reference in Albania blog 1 to the number of roadside flowers.
And, along one stretch of road there was a hold up. As we approached we passed a small car stopped in the middle of the road, facing the direction we were travelling. There were people about, particularly on the other side of the road from us. There were also some car parts on the verge - bumper (fender for our American readers) and the like.
And then we saw in the field, about 10 feet or so below road level, a lying on its side, facing the opposite
Given the traffic levels we ducked out of taking the hire car into town - we had booked and paid a small fee for this but the given address was indistinct on Google maps, nor were we sure we would make it before office closing time. So we went back to the airport, dropped it off there, and caught the bus to town.
First impressions of Tirana are of a bustling, typical capital city. Heavy traffic, bicycles, modern developments / cranes.
There is a very noticeable coffee (bar and cake) culture here too, and not a Starbucks in sight. We have nothing specific against Bucks - its reliable, you know what youre getting and theres always the free WiFi. But we much prefer to find local shops, and keep Bucks for if there is nothing else.
But the main streets here are lined with coffee bars, mostly open to the pavement /street. And a lot sell pastries and patisserie to die for. The only problem, for us, is the actual
coffee. Very biased towards those small, black, intense coffee and not all to our preference of latte or cappuccino. And, so far, all the lattes with a drinking straw - whats that all about??
At the centre of the city is a very large, open, marble paved public square, bounded by some of Tiranas important buildings - old mosque, opera/ballet House, National History Museum and others. The actual paving slabs were brought from every region of the country.
However, at the next level out from the square there are already built and still being built a number of out of keeping tower blocks.
In particular, towering over the square, they are building an Intercontinental Hotel. It must be 30 storeys or more. Due to open in 2025 it will have 300+ rooms, conference facilities for 1000+, restaurants, casino, spa, creche, parking...
Its all very well but it totally dominates the skyline. into Tirana from the West, along one of its main arteries, you can see that the high hills that surround Tirana were visible as a backdrop but are now totally blocked from view from that direction.
It turned out that the Tirana International Film Festival started on Saturday evening, and we happened to be passing by the Red Carpet as some people were arriving.
We guess they were stars given the way that official cameras and public camera phones were being pushed in their direction. Looked like they had been guided (?) in fancy dress. So a Marilyn Monroe in the famous white dress arrived in a Volkswagen beetle and thrust her assets through the crowd. There were a couple of Blues Brothers, and someone - blind, with a stick and a guide - who may or may not have been playing a part.
Just up from here was a gentrified castle ruin that had been made over with a double row of restaurants, retail, bars and the like.
