Our second day in Albania was devoted to both the historic capital of Kruje and the contrasting modern capital of Tirane. To access either of these we came in to dock at Albania’s largest commercial port of Durres. Sea Cloud waited outside the harbor until three ferries from the Italian port of Bari across the Adriatic all entered the breakwater, and finally it was our turn to negotiate the busy cranes, tugboats, and empty containers in this sprawling harbor.
Durres was an important Greco-Roman port that still boasts a large Roman amphitheater, but our interest lay inland as we drove through the recently developed agricultural plains. We were told that these areas were nothing but farmland during the 50 years of isolationist communism under the dictator Enver Hoxha, but now it seemed that the entire country was building houses, apartments, hotels, and Mercedes dealerships without much semblance of planning. We drove through the agricultural crossroads of Fushekruje, where American President George W. Bush enjoyed his most enthusiastic reception of his 2006 European tour. His waving statue and the café that bears his name were among the many photographic highlights of the day.
We then climbed higher and higher under the limestone escarpment of the Dinar Mountains, until we reached the strategically positioned Skanderbeg Castle, named for Albania’s national hero George Kastrioti Skanderbeg. After abandoning his position as an Ottoman Turk janissary, he waged 25 battles for the Albanians against the mighty Turkish Empire and gave birth to Albania as a nation. We visited the Skanderbeg Museum, and then a delightful restored 17th century farmhouse that has been turned into an ethnographic museum. The medieval market of Kruje offered anything you can imagine from the Albanian countryside, as well as plenty of kitschy memoirs of the larger-than-life Skanderbeg.
What a contrast we found in the modern capital of Tirane! This busy city is undergoing metamorphosis from its post-communist sprawl, which saw uncontrolled and illegal building without oversight or planning as the people were suddenly introduced to “free market capitalism.” Former mayor and current prime minister Edi Rama has cleared out the illegal buildings, opened up the waterways and major arteries to the city, and renovated the central Skanderbeg Square and the principal boulevards. We enjoyed a festive Albanian lunch in a beautiful 19th century Turkish villa, with an exciting dance troop known as the Shquiperia Eagles, before driving back to the port of Durres.
