e diel, maj 18, 2008

Albania 1987


Delighted to find this link on the internet.

A fascinating read, of an Englishman's visit to Albania.
Covering Shkoder, Lezhe, Kruje, Tirana and Berat.

here is a short extract...
"Albanian vehicles were produced but many old diesel vehicles from the People's republic of China were still in use. We looked in at a watch repairers shop, where behind the screen an old man was working on clocks and watches that would rarely be seen in junk shops in Britain. Perhaps one of the few digital clocks in the country is the big one over the State Bank of Albania in Tirana.

"Make do and mend" is common; one of our group related the tale of a shop where holes in plastic buckets are repaired by a man with a hot iron, melting and joining the plastic. Plastic goods are produced by the country's developing petrochemical industry, and can be seen in shops. But perhaps due to the low national wage (said to be kept within a 2:1 ratio of 500 to 1000 Lek a month) and the thrifty nature of Albanians, all kinds of goods are kept functioning as long as possible, if at all repairable. Another example was a motorbike windshield which was apparently broken at some time and had all the pieces glued back together like crazy paving. "


Some great photos as well.

Hope you enjoy it!

I certainly did!

4 komente:

MidisNesh tha...

...and I was 4 years old :D ,
I have some photos of this year...I was dressed sooooooo badddddd... don't wanna remember thisssssssssssss :s

te pershendes :)

e paditur tha...

Thanks for sharing this link, Collins.

As someone that has lived in Shkoder at the time the photos were taken, I am absolutely delighted to go back in time, and relive the Shkoder of old. Well, I actually see Shkoder in my dreams very often, but I am not sure if it is only my imagination or the real thing.

How many times I have stayed at exactly that corner where the photo you show is taken. Behind is Turizmi, on the right (not shown) is Posta, and the big poster stands where now is the Telekom building I suppose. On the sidewalk, behind the car used to be a advertising stand for the movies of the "Republika" theatre.

I envy you for living in Shkoder, although it was better for me having lived there at that long forgotten time. Take care!

eni tha...

cool link.thanks

Anonim tha...

Thank you for the link. The pics were a remembrence of my childhood. In some places the city looks better when the pictures were taken than now. I only saw one or two cars in the pics :)

 
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