By the time Tony co-founded Lonely Planet Publications in 1973, he already had the travel bug. And ever since, travel and discovery have been at the heart of his life and career.
▲ I visited Albania in 2006 and wrote about it in my now-well-out-of-date book Bad Lands. I trekked back to Albania in September 2024, accompanied this time by an international group of friends. Wow, things have changed. In Skanderberg Square in the centre of the capital Tirana mighty national hero Skanderberg still charges across the square on his mighty steed. Accompanied by a ferris wheel today and with the InterContinental Hotel in the background.
◄ Downtown One Tirana Tower with Albania map
On my previous visit Edi Rama was the Mayor of Tirana and having effectively a zero budget to make Tirana a brighter place he simply suggested that Tirana resident paint their dull Soviet-era (OK Enver Hoxha, Albanian president-for-life’s) buildings bright colours. It worked, he turned Tirana around and today the city is turning out exciting new architectural projects. Like Downtown One, Albania’s tallest building for the moment with ‘cantilevered houses and offices which form a pixelated map of Albania.’ Meanwhile Rama has moved on from being the Mayor of Tirana to being the Prime Minster of Albania.
◄ Or there’s nicely green Ever Green Tower making a fine backdrop to the Orthodox Church in the centre of the city.
▼ And then there’s ‘The Pyramid.’ It was built in 1988 as a memorial for beloved dictator Enver Hoxha by his architectural daughter. Hoxha quickly became much less beloved although he had the foresight to die before becoming seriously discredited. His seated statue, in Lincoln Memorial pose, was quickly torn down along with every other Hoxha statue in the country. On my 2006 visit the Pyramid was derelict, kids clambered up it to use it as an exhilarating slide. Now it’s been comprehensively rehabilitated and you can climb the steps for great views over the city.
▲ We travelled north to Shkodra, close to the border with Montenegro, to check out the Rozafa Castle. Albania has an impressive collection of ruined castles.
▲ Amazingly Shkodra also has an important local industry turning out Venetian masks in very correct papier mache style, nothing like the plastic Chinese ones? They actually have eight of their own shops in Venice to sell them, And one in Las Vegas. This reminds me of Balinese workshops turning out authentic Aboriginal boomerangs and little wooden Caribbean buses. I’ll study Venetian masks with new attention on my next visit
▲ There’s no shortage of tacky local souvenirs in Albania, like fridge magnets of course. And of course Mother Teresa, yes she’s from Albania, plays her part in promoting Albanian tourism. The international airport in Tirana is named after her.
◄ We were pleasantly surprised by how good the food was everywhere we went in Albania, although perhaps less happy about the large quantities we managed to ingest. In Tirana we dined at the very fancy Marchesi Restaurant whose celebrity chef Gëzim Musliaka is also renowned for his artistic abilities. Like this Bacchanalian self-portrait.
▲ Enver Hoxha’s self-congratulatory statues may have disappeared, but other heroic Communist era statuary is still revered. Like this imposing memorial in Vlores to Albania’s 1912 push for independence.
◄ I was particularly taken by Gjirokaster on my 2006 visit and speculated that the mountain town might eventually get the international respect and interest it deserved. It certainly has, solidly impressive Skenduli House is one of the wonderful old houses which has been meticulously restored.
▲ As on my earlier visit I was impressed by the wonderful Roman ruins at Butrint and Apollonia, but this time I was also amused by these two male tortoises determinedly – if slowly – pursuing a female tourist through the café outside the fine museum in Apollonia.
◄ Tourism down Albania’s coast – no longer the last untouched Mediterranean coast in Europe – has certainly boomed. It’s going to grow even faster now the tunnel linking Tirana via Durres to the coast has opened. Then throw in a new airport on the coast – currently Tirana has the only international airport and many tourists arrive in Albania via Corfu in Greece, taking a ferry across to Albania. The Vikengen tourist boat circling the bay at Saranda tells the story. How long before Albania becomes another destination complaining about ‘overtourism’?
▲ The brightly lit D’Angelo Gelato outlet in central Tirana certainly symbolised the new Albania, Hoxha would be spinning in his grave.
▲ Still, I was amused to note the uncompleted Amadeus Hotel & Casino beside the freeway on my way out to the airport on departure. ‘Opening soon’ has been the message for some years. Yes that is a particularly mighty statue of mighty Skanderberg topping the building. I even managed to squeeze in an interview with local media star Blendi Fevziu, he’s certainly well known in Tirana, he had lots of fans turning up for an autograph.
▲ I visited Albania in 2006 and wrote about it in my now-well-out-of-date book Bad Lands. I trekked back to Albania in September 2024, accompanied this time by an international group of friends. Wow, things have changed. In Skanderberg Square in the centre of the cap...
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© Tony Wheeler’s Travels 2013