South
It took us nearly two years, but we finally made it to Saranda and the south this weekend. More photos - mostly of Butrint - to follow once I have sorted them out.
View ArticleAutumn
After too many weeks of hot days and humid nights we had a terrific thunderstorm last night complete with driving rain. This morning the sky was grey but bright, the temperature seemed to have dropped...
View ArticleButrint
I'm still working on the photographs. In the meantime the BBC have been in Butrint and produced a radio programme as part of their Heritage: The Balkans series on the World Service. You can stream the...
View ArticleIn The News
The latest article from IPS looks at the weakness of civil society in Albania.On RFE/RL Ismael Kadare discusses Kosovo.TOL joins the ranks of those discussing Albania's power crisis.BIRN reports on EU...
View ArticleMother Tereza
Ten years after Mother Tereza's death, Albania is holding a ten day celebration of her life, with a series of public events across the city. Large posters have appeared across the city marking the...
View ArticleFish
Thanks to Venera for introducing us to yet another fine restaurant in Tirana. On Wednesday we were at Grepi i Arte, which is tucked away on a small, nameless street between Bulevardi Gjerg Fishta and...
View ArticleSaranda
Just a few pictures of Saranda, which was a disappointment having heard so much about it. We arrived on 1 September and everyone appeared to have gone home with very few people about and a lot of...
View ArticleCrash - Bang
It's been a bad month on the roads. BIRN reports that 46 drivers were killed in traffic accidents during August. (In 2005 there were 308 fatalities in total. The statistics for 2001 indicate that 22%...
View ArticleWhere Are the Orange Hordes?
I had expected that the Dutch fans would have started arriving yesterday for Holland's game against Albania tonight, so I went out to find them. All I found was a group of seven drinking Heineken (home...
View ArticleAlbania 0 - Holland 1
Bad result. Albania should have had at least a draw. If one of the two early efforts that were cleared off the line had gone in who knows what might have happened.I don't know what was wrong with the...
View ArticleHouse of Books
Albanian blogger Elvis Palku had an interesting announcement on his blog yesterday. He has set up an online bookshop making Albanian language books published here available for Albanians everywhere....
View ArticleBig in Albania
Ask me how much I knew about Albania before coming here and my list would be a short one: Enver Hoxha, bunkers and Sir Norman Wisdom. I have no idea when or how I acquired this extensive body of...
View ArticleCrash (Again)
Middle of the day. No other traffic. Dead straight road. Boy in Mercedes decides to play with his brakes. Tyres squeal. Boy loses control. Car slides. Car hits parked lorry. Result: Mercedes 0 - Lorry 1.
View ArticleWorld Tourism Day
Apparently it's World Tourism Day and European Heritage Day. I only know this because the Ministry of Tourism, Culture Youth and Sports is organising a series of events to mark these.In Tirana, most of...
View ArticleMiss Globe 2007
On Saturday, we were at the Rogner meeting with an expat friend who was leaving Tirana. It was breakfast time, and as our friend was finishing his tea the breakfast room started to fill up with...
View ArticleHotel California
When we first arrived it seemed that I heard it everywhere. Now, as we get ready to leave I'm hearing it everywhere again. In the last three days I've heard it three times - on Wednesday in Juvenilja,...
View ArticleWhimper
And now the end is nearand so i face nanananana...Never did like that crappy song.But it's true nevertheless.Tomorrow in the wee hours of the morning we will be heading for the airport for the last...
View ArticleMark Mardell in Albania
Mark Mardell, the BBC's European editor, has made his first visit to Albania and is blogging about the country on the BBC website.
View ArticleWelcome
Welcome to Our Man in Tirana. I moved to Tirana, capital of Albania, in October 2005 and left in October 2007. This blog is a mix of photographs, reports, links, impressions and, undoubtedly,...
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