The Skenderbeu monument and Albanian flag

The Skenderbeu monument and Albanian flag, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Today was our first day in Albania. We had been to Kosovo and Macedonia last summer where there are large numbers of ethnic Albanians and we liked them, so we decided to visit the real Albania for this week of May holiday.

Tirana was described to us (by an authoritative and well travelled source) as a quirky city and that it certainly is and that is a great part of the enjoyment. You never know what is going to come next, a building fromk teh Italian fascist period, an Ottoman mosque,a modern cafe, an old qebabtore with metal chimney, a Catholic church or an Orthodox one, a brightly coloured block of flats, or an old painted one storey brick building. But everywhere, great energy and a nice feeling given off by the local people. We like Tirana.