I arrived in Tirana for the first time four months ago today. I spent the day with Kreshnik, getting my affairs at the school in order before heading off that evening on the ferry from Duress to Bari. Since that day I have probably been to Tirana 80 times. It has been my way to fall into routines all of my life. Perhaps that is how I missed one of the richest neighborhoods in the entire capital until Fatjon introduced it to me today.
There is a cluster of small universities near the soccer stadium which is south of Qender Skenderbeu in the middle of Tirana. I have been to this area a number of times before. I had known of the park behind the university for the arts for some time, but I hadn’t known how beautiful it was there. Nor had I realized how much I miss having areas like Green Lake and the Ballard Locks to visit from time to time. There are some smatterings of art here and there including a statue reminiscent of the wood carvings and subsequent aluminum castings of Seattle’s Richard Beyer.
Beyond the park is a good sized artificial lake with businesses and an elevated road composing its north and west shores respectively. Fatjon and I followed the Rruga Kristo Luarosi, past the artificial lake, under a highway overpass, to the Tirana City Zoo.
This place where animals are kept in cages is far from the pride of the city. I have been warned by quite a few Albanians that its collection of animals was meager. For many it is a point of embarrassment. Fatjon and I were two of the four patrons to Kopshti Zoologjik in the hour or so it took to take in the sights, smells and sounds. Albania has the ambition to be more European, but it seems to lack the resources and the will to hasten repairs to attractions such as this. There seemed to be no funding for supervision of guests either.
The largest dwelling of the place had been built to house two medium sized brown bears. Fatjon and I watched one climb down a staircase into a pool of water to escape the heat. Eventually this same bear came close to the bars of the cage. The animal seemed frustrated as it reached over the short wall to try and grab some grass which had grown tall just on the other side. Beyond the entrance the zoo lacked signage of any kind; including signs about feeding the animals. Fatjon took it upon himself to aid the bear in its struggles for sprigs of fat grass.
From there we went to a coffee shop where I was able to watch my first bit of this year’s Olympic games.
Women jumping on a trampoline is an Olympic sport now.
From there we went back to explore more of the park. We found the place where the three Frasheri brothers are buried: Sami, Naim, and Abdyl.
We also had the good fortune of spotting a summer bride with her photo entourage. The wedding season has picked up as of late; motorcades of honking cars bejeweled with bows, hearts, and lacy streamers can be seen in the city at nearly any time of day. Weddings are a thing of magic, even for me, even now. There is nothing quite so beautiful as a woman all in white.
albaniacalling 