Another Easter

Yesterday was the Greek Orthodox Church Easter Sunday, and the holiday weekend extends into today. In the morning I walked to the Opera house that is now featuring the musical "Moulin Rouge" to buy tickets since I wanted to treat some friends to the evening performance. I should have known better: the ticket office was not open at 9am, as advertised, and someone finally showed up at 10.



While waiting, I walked around along the long building (to the right of the Hotel Tirana pictured above), which includes, beside the theater, also the Palace of Culture, a bank, a cafe' and a large bookstore, well stocked also with publications in every language.








The day was gorgeous, and I enjoyed the beautiful sunshine and the fresh morning breeze, while taking some pictures (again!) of the large Skanderbeg square, always a maze of pedestrians and vehicular traffic.




the yellow/red building to the left currently houses the Ministry of Defense, but it's dear to my heart since, when I was a baby, it was my father's office, right on the 2nd floor where the flag is displayed, facing the main boulevard

At 1pm I had a lunch invitation, and was picked up for a ride to the city of Durres, a few km aways. There I experienced a new restaurant, where another great meal took place on a terrace, not too far from the main port. A variety of appetizers (of sea food and otherwise), salads, grilled fish and meat was followed by a delightful scoop of sorbet on top of freshly cut fruit. However, I was informed that we would consume a 'real' dessert in another place, where we leisurely walked to on the newly restructured road along the sea shore, lined with palm trees, and where there is also a small children's park.





The sun was brilliant, the air delightful, and the 'torte', actually a light, fluffy, creamy layer cake, a long term specialty of the place, was scrumptious!


this monument depicts a post war 'resistence fighter', which replaces a previous one that was erected under the fascist Italian regime during WWII

From there we drove further south to reach the actual beach areas of Durres, where I have a small, so far empty, lot, which we visited briefly. Nearby, some bunkers, built at a great cost by the ex dictatorship, fearful of foreign attacks, are impossible to miss! The large ones, such as the one pictured below, were for the military and used to include arms and ammunitions.



When we returned to Tirana in the late afternoon, every one seemed to have vanished from the city; Tirana was empty and unusually quiet. The pleasant day for me, however, was not over yet. At 8pm the musical at the Opera house was on my schedule.