Back before the country collapsed into chaos one of the travel magazines, I think it was Conde Nast Traveler, touted Albania as “The Next Place.”  Those of us living here got a good chuckle, the next place with sporadic electricity, no potable water in the taps, when it came, and highways that were a nightmare.  Then, of course, the pyramid schemes collapsed, the arsenals opened and almost everyone, it seemed, had his own Kolesnikov and Albania dropped off the tourist map.

Travel mags and websites are saying it again.  One travel site calls Albania “The Next Croatia” with the added exoticism of an Ottoman past.  I may believe it this time.  I mean, Tirana has a hop on hop off bus!

We decided to take it.  They still have some work to do.  We were riding on the upper deck and the bus passed two of the stops that we wanted to get off at.  When I went down to the main level the conductor told me he had asked people on the lower level if they wanted to get off and no one did. 

“But most of us are on the upper level”

“Sorry, we were behind schedule.”  Given Tirana traffic they are always behind schedule. But their app does a pretty good job of telling you how long a wait you have before the bus picks you up.

We got off at the stop for the Mt. Dajti cable car, an uphill walk from the bus stop, it was worth it.     

Here is a photo gallery of Tirana pictures that I took during the week.  It includes the new Tirana stoplights that show the Albanian flag, the old Tirana Castle, repurposed into a market and café center, some of the street art, some of the artwork along a River Lana bridge, other street art, and some street scenes in Tirana.