Travel to Tirana, Albania with Bob & Wilma

I identify Germany with castles, France with prehistoric caves, Italy with churches, Greece with ruins and Albania with communism. 

My first passport in the 1960s was not valid for travel in the communist countries of North Korea, Cuba and Albania.

The communist dictator, Enver Hoxha, literally closed off Albania from the rest of the world and surrounded it's borders with bunkers.

It was an oppressive time period for the people of Albania. A horrible time that they never want to experience again thus they have preserved many of it's institutions in museums for the future generations to see and learn from.

 

The House of Leaves was particularly scary, revealing how personal privacy was invaded by the government. The police bunker (Bunk'Art 2) was a museum of the unbridled police force where prisoners were kept and interrogated and, often times, died. 

 

A third museum was not so terrifying. It was an underground bunker where the government could have fled in the event of an invasion. Having been raised during the "red scare", recent Albania history was of great interest to me but there are other things that are wonderful to see.

 

There is the Mosque of Et'hem Bey that is presently being renovated, a bit of city wall from the Ottoman period, a gorgeous 18th century home turned coffee shop, a beautiful new Orthodox Cathedral and much more.