Tirana by night

 

Not much going on tonight. What you see on these photos is the fountain of Taiwan, a recreational center in the heart of Tirana, within Youth Park or Parku Rinia. The park itself, once home to hundreds of trees, became home of more than a couple dozen of tin shanties during the mid ’90s. Thanks to then mayor’s persistence (now PM), the park was freed from all the craziness of this lawlessness and the remaining trees started breathing air again. Unfortunately the park is nowhere near its former glory but let’s say it is on the right track.

Now, a funny story about the middle building on the background. First, it is against the law. It sits next to the Swiss Embassy and the Albanian law prohibits buildings of more than 4 floors when they share the same fence with a foreign embassy. Second, it is against the building guidelines since it does not posses an underground parking. It doesn’t have parking at all. Third, its owners were in such a hurry finishing its construction that they forgot about the elevator shaft. Can you fucking believe that? I used to work at the low building next to it and we had to listen to their jackhammers all day for a whole week while they were opening a new elevator shaft from the top floor to the ground floor. To be fair though, the owners weren’t the brightest tools in the shed, if you catch my drift. Violent and scary people, like straight out of a cave. I almost forgot, it’s also too close to the building on its right and that is against the law. So, in all its greatness, this is how we used to fuck the law from all holes here in Albania until recently. If it happened 70 meters far from PM’s office, imagine what has happened in other cities. Now it’s getting better but the pace is toooooooo slooooooow but let’s discuss it in another thread.

I’m sorry my post got dark pretty soon but as you see on the photos, the sun is setting. If you ever visit Tirana, stop by Taiwan for a coffee and if it’s summer evening, the water flow on the fountain follows the rhythm of operas playing on the background. A truly relaxing experience.