|
|
Post by lagatta on May 3, 2020 16:50:18 GMT
Has anyone here visited Albania, formerly one of the most closed-off countries in the world? I think of this simply because I'm on a cat care forum and we got a query from a young woman in Albania who had adopted a tiny black kitten (named Hades!)
Years ago, my colleagues and I had a visit from Claude Julien of Le Monde diplomatique and Mme Julien, and they had visited Albania. Obviously they didn't agree with post-Stalinist dictatorship, but did praise the small country for its self-determination.
Would you visit there now?
|
|
|
|
Post by bjd on May 3, 2020 18:20:38 GMT
My daughter went there for work about 10 years ago and spent several weeks. She had a good time, met lots of nice people. When I mentioned going there as a possibility for a vacation, she said the tourist infrastructure wasn't too great (few road signs, for example), but I'm sure things have improved in the past 10 years.
I would certainly not hesitate to go there.
|
|
|
|
Post by onlyMark on May 3, 2020 20:40:55 GMT
Mrs M went there on business for 5 days about six years ago. Enjoyed it, wished for more free time, would like to go back, says it is an interesting country.
|
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on May 3, 2020 21:13:33 GMT
While planning this past year's Italy trip I looked hard at Albania. That's because I was thinking about seeing the deep southeastern part of Italy, aka the heel of the boot. There are ferries between the two countries: www.directferries.com/ferries_from_albania_to_italy.htmThe country has a long, varied, & interesting history, plus lots of coastline. I would say it requires some extra planning in order to really enjoy the country as I think it still doesn't have tons of public transportation. In the end I decided a first-time trip to Italy should be exclusively an Italy trip, but that does not mean I've crossed Albania off my list. |
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on May 3, 2020 23:11:26 GMT
Yes, I've been to Puglia (love interest, long dead, but Lecce is lovely). Of course I have to know if there are trains after the ferry. Even if they are slow - I've taken some very slow trains in southern Italy. I'm sure I'd like the food though I doubt there is much fine dining. Mediterranean/Balkan peasant food with cheese I can safely eat and rustic wines are fine with me.
You were wise, far too many travellers spread themselves too thin.
|
|
|
|
Post by fumobici on May 4, 2020 15:12:15 GMT
Last year in Italy I was watching a RAI TV show about Albania and they said it was economically the fastest growing country in the EU. I guess it had more upside than already wealthy countries.
|
|
|
|
Post by bjd on May 4, 2020 16:27:08 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on May 5, 2020 7:04:17 GMT
Enver Hoxha never criticised France since he went to the University of Montpallier.
|
|
|
|
Post by bjd on May 5, 2020 8:29:34 GMT
French universities seem to have a lot to answer for. They also hosted Pol Pot and his buddies from Cambodia.
|
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on May 5, 2020 10:49:47 GMT
bjd, I was just thinking that before your comment. But there were also many French-educated figures in the Indochinese liberation struggles who never became monsters like Pol Pot.
I'll look at your documentary later on, as now I'm listening to the Radio-Canada morning show. Albania was the last Stalinist country, if one excepts North Korea, which is in some ways a new form of what, Dynastic Stalinism?
But unlike some former Eastern Bloc countries, Albania conserved some positives such as the national health system and the public education system, rather than passing from senile Stalinism to cowboy capitalism with few social protections. Albania was the only country that actually outlawed religion, and closed all churches and mosques.
|
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on May 6, 2020 12:22:45 GMT
The documentary is chilling, but it fails to explain why Albania's leadership took such an extremely authoritarian path, unlike its neighbour Yugoslavia. Tito stood up to Hitler, but later also to Stalin, and while there was repression and political prisoners, it was nothing like Albania.
Albania still has serious problems, but now mostly with so-called "non-state actors", the human rights organisations' name for criminal gangs, involved in such horrors as human trafficking. But it has made progress.
|
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on May 6, 2020 12:23:34 GMT
The documentary is chilling, but it fails to explain why Albania's leadership took such an extremely authoritarian path, unlike its neighbour Yugoslavia. Tito stood up to Hitler, but later also to Stalin, and while there was repression and political prisoners, it was nothing like Albania.
Albania still has serious problems, but now mostly with so-called "non-state actors", the human rights organisations' name for criminal gangs, involved in such horrors as human trafficking. But it has made progress.
|
|
|
|
Post by bjd on May 6, 2020 12:33:27 GMT
My father-in-law was a French professor for foreigners. In the mid-1960s, he was transferred from Sweden to Lebanon, with a year in France. He must have displeased somebod high-up at the Foreign Office because when the family had to move to France, he was sent to Albania for 2 months. His suitcase was lost when he arrived and there was nothing to buy while waiting for his things: no clothes, no razors, no toothpaste.
And I remember a book by Eric Newby (English travel writer) who walked along the Mediterranean coast in the 1960s. They were not allowed into Albania at all, and had to go around.
|
|
