See Tirana now, the capital of many colors - Daily Express

It is no wonder that now Albania is becoming a known destination in Europe, as prestigious medias recently have published a lot of articles promoting Albania. This time ‘Daily Express’ dedicates a long article to Albania and its colorful capital Tirana.

The capital Tirana is lively and safe, but with an understated, surreal side that often leaves visitors wondering what to make of it.

Photo: Getty Images

Part Mediterranean town, part Soviet relic its rainbow-colored apartment blocks, painted on the orders of a former mayor to bring some cheer, are more faded pastel these days.

For good reason perhaps Tirana’s citizens seem to have a Pythonesque talent for looking on the bright side of life. Ask them about Albania’s reputation as a gangster factory and they promise – only half joking - “there’s no trouble here, we’ve exported all the criminals”.

Italian modernist designs were the 1920s blueprint for today’s Tirana where tree-lined avenues connect the white, Futurist style main squares of St Teresa and Skanderbeg, the latter named after the nation’s medieval defender, sword-swinging, wild-eyed sort invariably depicted perched astride a rearing horse.
How the country is confronting its past can also be seen with the newly opened Bunk’Art 2 and The House of Leaves.

House of Leaves museum
Photo: AFP/getty images

The former, a nuclear shelter in the centre built for government officials, has been turned into a 40-room underground museum that makes for a heart-rending but compelling visit.

The equivalent of East Germany’s Stasi secret police headquarters, The House of Leaves museum was once home to the Gestapo and then Albania’s National Intelligence service, the notorious House of Spies. The Leaves reference has a sinister double meaning – both things hidden in woods and the books and files kept on people.

Nothing makes contemporary Tirana’s emergence from that darkness more apparent though than seeing its chic café culture blossom at aperitif time. After dark the Bloc or Blloku is still the place to be, a leafy rectangle of villas and streets perfumed with jasmine and lime tree blossoms, where the Communist elite used live a charmed life in affluent seclusion.

Tirana's colorful face
Photo: Visit Tirana 

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