Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52FOCUS - OCTOBER 2016 47 ...................... Please turn to page 48 The beautiful coast of Albania from my 30 Euro hotel room. One of the questions I am often asked is, “Where in the world is that place?”, usually in reference to a recent visit to an out-of-the-way locale. That certainly was the case with Albania, a small, Adriatic country located directly across from Italy. The lack of familiarity comes from its previous years of isolation. The country was sandwiched between Milosevic’s Yugoslavia and the financial turmoils of Greece. It was always a poor dictator- ship, claiming to be Communist. There was much genocide at the hands of its 40-year-long ruler, Enver Hoxha, who died in 1985. After the collapse of com- munism in the early nineties, Albania became democratic. It is rapidly becom- ing a seaside playground, with a fantas- tic climate year round. I flew into Dubrovnik and drove south to Albania, driving through the City of Berat to visit the famous White City. The structures there, although they appear to be new, actually date back to the 15th century. I continued my trek to the capital of Tirana. The city was surprisingly clean and quite picturesque. I really had no idea what to expect, and was pleasantly amazed. I quickly learned there was a major black market, and everything was paid in cash… at a substantial discount. This included entry fees into museums and parks as well as purchasing souve- nirs and meals. Tirana is where old and new Alba- nia meet. With a population of half a million, it is an extremely safe city. The small town atmosphere is intermixed with an exciting night life. Restau- rants are plentiful and cuisine is quite appetizing. There are numerous historic sights to visit. Among the top of the list are the Et’hem Bey Mosque and located in the centre of Tirana, the Clock Tower, a well- known meeting place. Both date back to the early 1800s and are worth the visit. The main museum in Tirana is in the centre of the city, easily recognizable be- cause of a huge mosaic standing on top of its front facade. It contains numerous relics ranging from ancient times through Hoxha’s regime. Repeated looting in the 1990s has robbed the museum of many artifacts, but it remains the best place in Albania to learn its history. If art is your passion, the National Gallery has pieces dating back to the 13th century as well as much modern art. No visit to Tirana is complete with- out a stop at Bush Street, named after GW’s visit in 2007. He actually gave an address in front of the Piramida, the cen- tre for culture, and the most expensive building erected under Communist rule. Where in the world is ?