Tirana

I was back in Tirana again this week , a couple of times getting the car fixed - £1000 of repairs :-(

Anyway, as there was no point in sitting around the garage, I walked around Tirana. It is far less stressful walking than driving!!
Still, Tirana is far too busy and noisy for me....so I decided to walk through the lanes and backstreets rather than the main roads.

What a change!

There were a number of times I couldn't hear ANY traffic, and I was alone in a quiet, peaceful street with few high rise apartments to be seen. the birds were singing and I felt like it was the old Tirana that I saw on my very first visit almost 15 years ago.

That inspired me to go back to the apartment I visited on my first full day in Tirana.
As it was on a main road, I had to walk on the busy street...but I was looking for any kind of shop or sign that reminded me of my first visit....but so much has changed.
Then I saw this....


What a breath of fresh air!
That must have been there for many years, and I must have passed it on a number of occasions, and have never ever noticed it.

And so i went in...


I could only think that this library has not changed since the time of communism. Although I hope that this man has not been sitting there for the last 20 years! ;-)

I took a look around the books, but I would have loved to get inside their archives which were kept in another room.


Right on the main street, a glimpse of old Albania.
That made me so happy!
It was a place of peace and tranquility in the midst of chaos...and although I have passed it many times, I had never ever noticed it!

I wonder how many other "treasures" I am missing as I rush through the streets trying to get my work done and not stopping to enjoy the beautiful moments and places that life brings us!