Tirana-Spring Day Celebration

Today, March 14, is the celebration of "Spring Day" in Albania. It was ratified by the Albanian Parliament as an official holiday in 2004. This is not to be confused with Nevruz which is derived from the Iranian "Nowruz" that originated during the Zoroastrian times that preceded modern Iran. Nowruz is the Spring Equinox and is celebrated next week and is also a national holiday in Albania. That said, the weather this weekend has been spectacular; yep, warm and sunny and today not a cloud in the sky. Perfect weather for a "block party" on the main boulevard and Skenderbeg Square. This means food, dancing, a fashion show, loud bands and ice cream.

Our first stop today is "Coin"(Co-een) the new Italian department store, which is located in an ultra-modern skyscraper with large windows that are filled with displays. I have visited a Coin in Milan off the square where the Dumo is located and was expecting something special. Well, when you enter the store, you quickly realize you are not in "Albania" anymore; this is a little bit(I think my wife is really gonna like this place) of Italy right at our doorstep. Hector scores the first American purchase from Coin; a USB port device shaped like a penguin, which he explains to me will enhance his access to the computer. I am quite intrigued by the prospect of a penguin improving my performance on a computer!

The boulevard is packed with thousands of people strolling down the middle of the street; vendors selling food, drinks, flowers and toys on both sides; a fashion show with runway; and a large video screen playing rock n' roll! The mood is festive; laughter from the people passing us and children running, many with kites on a short string. The young ladies at this flower stand all spoke English and when I told them I would be putting their photo on the Internet, they wanted my Facebook address; busted their bubble by explaining it was only a blog(did give them the address).

We wander in the direction of food, seems quite natural to me as we pass small hibachi grills with sausages and buns and spy the "spring cookie" that is sold on this holiday. Hector gets us all one(just a plain cookie, not really a sugar cookie, but sweet) from a husband and wife team who agree to a picture with Hector and Meghann(Hector's daughter who is visiting and maybe staying for a while!)holding our cookies.

Back on the road we continue in the direction of the University and circle around the fountain dedicated to Mother Theresa. The odd thing about this very large fountain is there is never any water splashing over the tiles. We meet two Albanian State Police officers standing in front of their new patrol car. It is a Chevrolet Aveo,5 speed, 1.9 liter, 4-door sedan. I am having difficulty placing these two officers inside this "circus" sized police car which is painted the blue of the Democratic Party. The Socialist Party demanded an investigation into the paint and also demanded the police cars be repainted at considerable cost to the Albanian taxpayers; the Democratic Party(read party in power) said no!

We have made the circle and head for Skenderbeg Square where all of the action should be since this the "family" room of Tirana. I was at the square yesterday to pick up maps for Montenegro and Dubrovnik,Croatia for a trip when Madlyn visits. I took a picture yesterday of a relief on the wall of the Parliament Building and was promptly corralled by security who wanted to make sure I was not taking pictures of the security cameras.
I told security I was used to them taking pictures of me taking pictures of them; actually it was confusing for both of us. They let me go after looking at my camera images of the building; no security cameras in my pictures!! I sometimes forget where I am when taking photographs; a good reminder for me.

As we walk past the Ministry of Interior Building, we see a group of children in traditional Albanian dress practicing a dance in the shape of a circle. Passersby stop to watch the children dance with their instructor(?) in the background encouraging them on. The kids were laughing pretty hard and appeared to be having fun entertaining all of the adults who stopped to watch.

We are at Skenderbeg Square and something is wrong; I mean they are taking down a small stage and nothing is happening here in the Square, where did the party go? There is a big Pepsi display and that is all that is left over at this end of the boulevard; next year we get here earlier. We huddle and decide the only way to resolve this mystery is over gelatto at the park; you can solve many problems over the right gelatto. The park is packed and the fountains are shooting up in the sun as we enter the patio of the restaurant.


The mystery deepens when the waiter returns to sadly inform us, no chocolate gelatto; we settle into a funk and have strawberry. Someone is trying to rain on my parade today!

We cut through the blocks to get back to the Swedish Consulate apartments. On the way we catch a band playing "hard" rock n' roll from a stage in the middle of the street. The band is good in my opinion and finishes their song with a crash of the drums and in heavily accented English, "thank you, pleasure to be here". This scene could be from anywhere in the world where you celebrate your city/town during a special holiday.

We navigate through Tirana as much with "landmarks" as we do a map. There are relatively few street signs in Tirana, so one must learn to use all of offered ways to move about the city. We know we are close to home when we see the yellow walls of the US Embassy in the distance. One stop at the local market and we have made it safely home again!

Yes, Darrel I do work. However, next weekend I will be in Istanbul,Turkey and will take the liberty of writing about what I believe will be a most amazing adventure.