Our Tirana Vacation Recap, Part 1
We spent a total of six (6) full days in Tirana. I am not surprised why Albania has been gaining a lot of popularity lately among Europeans and Americans. It is a bargain of a country to visit.
Given that there weren't many tourist attractions in the downtown area, we saw most of the sights during our first two days. Our hotel, was very centrally located and we just walked to the places we wanted to see in the city. I'd say Skanderbeg Square was the city's main tourist draw with the monument of Skanderbeg right in the middle. The museum there was under renovation thus we didn't get to see it. We did manage to see the mosaic mural the museum building is famous for. Everyday we were there, we left very early in the morning to be able to sightsee comfortably. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for it to get oppressively hot throughout the day. In fact, I remember us returning to the hotel by noon to 4 pm to take a nap at times in order to stay away from the heat of the sun. It was that bad. In fact, by the time we left the country, I had developed a very deep tan as if I went to the beach.
At Skanderbeg Square on our first day in Tirana
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We passed by this mural of a bookcase on the side of an apartment building many times each tday. It was really just two short blocks away from our hotel.
The Toptani Mall was one place we frequented in Tirana. We often bought food for breakfast in the supermarket in hte basement here and ate in the Albanian restaurants at the food court in the top floor. I have to say, we ate very well here. I really enjoed eating calamari with rice pilaf from one local restaurant.
This was part of the food court with a view of the Namazgah Mosque at the top floor of the Toptani Mall.
One of the two bunkers in the city.
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The Sound Tree in the courtyard of apartments in the city center
Inside the Namazgah Mosque
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This bus was the site of a souvenir store at the Toptani Castle. We went in to browse but we didn't buy any.
If I remember right, this was a hotel casino a few blocks away from our hotel.
This was the famous Soviet era mosaic mural of the major museum at Skanderbg Square.
The pyramid
A statue of the late Mother Teresa in front of the church named after her
The facade of the Mother Teresa Catholic Cathedral
There was a lot of construction going on in the city. Just a block away from where we were staying was an Intercontinental Hotel being built. This was another building under construction.
A stall at the new bazar in Tirana. The new bazar was big and there were lots of vendors selling all kinds of Albanian souvenirs from area rugs to ciagrette cases to honey.
The Toptani Castle which is now full of restaurants and souvenir stores
Inside the Mother Teresa Catholic Cathedral
Souvenirs galore at the New Bazar
We visited the New Bazar several times during our entire stay in Tirana. During our first visit, I looked around for for area rugs to add to my collection at home. The smallest rugs started at 10 euros if I remember right.