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Blocks of flats and a mosque in central Tirana, Albania

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Comments

roksoslav says:

Don't you think they have gone to far in Tirana?!
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

inglian says:

Those flats are a hangover cure. :s
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

He he... these were some of the quieter examples!

You may have also noticed that there is a 'blank canvas' in the middle, behind the minaret... you can paint your own! :-)
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

Peli Cans says:

oh, dear!
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

OLD SKOOL Katemina [deleted] says:

wow! so many colors!!
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

Vít Hassan says:

I think,just minaret of mosque is white,very nice colorful image!
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

-kÇ- says:

the idea there, at this point in time, is something in between "the more the merrier" and " we ain't got nothing to lose"
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

alblood says:

I think it looks better than before !
Stop complaining please...
At least something is being done

What else would mask the gray colors of the ex-communist period ?
Can you destroy all the old, dirty and square architecture of the communist period? No

So the only way to change it is to repaint it and no matter how you paint it, it still looks better than before.

Thank you Edi Rama, I hope one day you will be prime minister to change the face of all of Albania
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

dledhead says:

Yes, I remember all those images coming from the former Iron Curtain countries. So drab, so dingy, so cold. What a wonderful release of creative energy since the fall of that wall.

"Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" (Ronald Reagan)
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

(Rimbaudian) says:

lisergica!
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

Muhammad says:

beautifull
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

Muhammad says:

very lively
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

ectomorfo says:

Peli Cans, Katemina, Vit, -kC-, edfilesus, diedhead, ~(Rimbaudian), *Muhammad*... thanks for your comments.

@edfilesus: I agree with you completely. The painted blocks really brighten up the centre of the city and I can well imagine how they looked before from my travels around Eastern Europe.
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

Nav A. says:

amazing shot... and a fantastic place.
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

ectomorfo says:

Thanks, Nav. It's an interesting country to visit, with few tourists around other than Albanians returning home from abroad. It's the only country where I've been asked - several times - whether I needed a bodyguard.
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

shqiponja_ne_bote says:

This is not about exaggeration - who asks if dull, half-broken houses or slums are exaggerated? This is about human dignity. This is about creating and sharing joy where you expected it least. I knew Tirana as it was before. I called it "the ugliest and most interesting capital in the world". The people were its richness, yet life was hard in part also because it was ugly. Then I did not see Tirana for some years because I used to go to Kosova to prepare my emigration (now I live in Saranda). When I returned - it was my most beautiful Christmas -, Tirana was not to be recognized. I struggled very hard with my tears.
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

shqiponja_ne_bote says:

I do a similar thing, on a quite modest scale, of course, in the neighbourhood where I live. My hand are still spotted with white paint, I have painted one wall of an ugly garage. I started last year with two little walls in front of my house, which I painted white and then on one I painted a ainbow and on the othe rone I wrote "Hope" (in Albanian). My neighbours love it.
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

ectomorfo says:

Thank you, Silke, for your meaningful comments - they come from your heart and they touched mine.

Albania is a country about which we still read and hear relatively little in Britain, one of the main reasons that I was keen to visit it.

I enjoyed my trip and, almost without exception, was treated with great kindness by the people I came across. My trip started out well... I met a guy on the ferry from Brindisi who gave me a lift to Tirana and then took me out to introduce me to his friends. I was quickly to discover that that was quite typical.

I can easily imagine what Tirana must have been like before Mayor Rama took control, as I respect the way in which you have so clearly shown your feelings.

Thanks also for your kind mail - I'd be happy for you to use my pictures.

:-)
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

Secret Tenerife says:

Blogged at New Europe
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

olahus says:

but I see only blocks on main streets/ boulevards get repainted or am I wrong
In bucharest there is a Boulevard where each block got repainted in a different colour - not so creative as in tirana- but the blocks on perpendicular streets retain their grey colour
Posted 39 months ago. ( permalink )

ectomorfo says:

@ Secret Tenerife: I've taken a look - some interesting stuff on there!

@ olahus: I saw quite a few blocks which had been painted in bright colours, not all of them on major streets in the centre.
Posted 39 months ago. ( permalink )

Siddiqi says:

amazing style
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

worldwidewandering says:

You are invited to post this and any other photos you have of Albania to worldwidewandering - a travel atlas. Post comments
and thumbnail photos to the Albania discussion thread.
Posted 36 months ago. ( permalink )

orb_nsc says:

Wow, Tirana is doing a great job of shaking off the dreary, Communist past.
Posted 31 months ago. ( permalink )

krokogris [deleted] says:

I loved the houses in Tirana, they truly made me happy. But I can understand that it's difficult for some Albanians, some told me that they feel like they live in a circus town. As a tourist, I absolutely adored them.
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

ectomorfo says:

Thanks for your comments.

@ worldwidewandering: I have done, thanks... looks like an interesting place for any travaholic.

@ krokogris: Thanks for taking the time to leave your impressions... I felt very much the same way.
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

olahus says:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

hello.

Could you please allow me to publish this photo in an article on Albania in this magazine: www.metropotam.ro/
I'll mention your copyright, your name and put a link to your gallery
Thank you in advance

olahus

PS: the photo will not be used to commercial porpouses
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

ectomorfo says:

@ olahus: That'll be fine as long as the article shows Albania in a positive light - I'll mail you offline to find out a little more.
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

CELL0 says:

nice buildings!
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

Miguel C says:

When I was a kid, my father would say, "they must have stolen those paints or gotten them for free because no one in their right mind would pay for colors like that".
Posted 26 months ago. ( permalink )

S K A M P A says:

i think they went way too far! it looks like a character from will and grace chose the colors! (i think they could of done better if u ask me)

Pallati ka lezet ME NJE NGJYRE NORMALE!
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

Miguel C says:

Will and Grace? Is that a "homo" reference? Even the TV homos on 'Will and Grace' have much better color schemes.
This is pure Eurotrash style: Pippi Longstocking, Benetton, Nina Hagen, the Berlin Wall, and Jean Paul Gaultier all poured into some cans of paint. Fun!
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

S K A M P A says:

no lol i meant the one that designed Caron, the drunk on the show, cuz the gay guys on that show would never do this to anything =D
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

freelancer74 says:

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called funny albania, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

TearsFromTheMooN says:

I'm proud of Our Culture.

Beautiful Shot.
Posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )

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Taken in Tirana, Tiranë (map)
Taken on March 5, 2006
Viewed 2,391 times

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choose your colour scheme

Comments

roksoslav says:

inglian says:

ectomorfo says:

Peli Cans says:

OLD SKOOL Katemina [deleted] says:

Vít Hassan says:

-kÇ- says:

alblood says:

dledhead says:

(Rimbaudian) says:

*Muhammad* says:

*Muhammad* says:

ectomorfo says:

Nav A. says:

ectomorfo says:

shqiponja_ne_bote says:

shqiponja_ne_bote says:

ectomorfo says:

Secret Tenerife says:

olahus says:

ectomorfo says:

*Siddiqi* says:

worldwidewandering says:

orb_nsc says:

krokogris [deleted] says:

ectomorfo says:

olahus says:

ectomorfo says:

CELL0 says:

Miguel C says:

S K A M P A says:

Miguel C says:

S K A M P A says:

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TearsFromTheMooN says:

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