Capricious weather

An interesting aspect to deal with while living in Tirana is its ever changing weather. It happens very quickly and practically by the hour, and, I guess, it’s probably due to its topography. 

Case in point today: it was pouring rain when I woke up and the city was covered by very low, thick clouds and fog, obscuring even the mountain chain that hug this capital from the East.  

Less than an hour later, after the clouds lifted, the Dajti range showed a dusting of snow on its top, and the sun now has begun to peek through the clouded vapors that are traveling westward toward the sea.  

By midday, as usual, the sun will be quite strong, and it’s a relief to walk the boulevards under the shade provided by the trees that now display a gorgeous new greenery all over town and the surrounding hills. 

The ‘garden patrol’ as I call the group of women in green uniforms that cleanup the undergrowth along the Lana canal, are back at work. During the rain outbursts they take shelter in a wooden shack located in a corner of another small garden across this water channel, where also, during good weather, a bunch of senior male citizens spend hours playing checker or domino.