من سيستفيد من زيارة ألبانيا؟
أولئك الذين يقدّرون الجدة والأحاسيس.
In 2017, Albania created a “wow” effect and became the discovery of the year in the tourism industry.
Until now, little is known about this country, and even Google gives the same selection of information.
This is not surprising – for more than 40 years the country was hidden from the eyes of tourists and was in isolation, under the strict rule of the dictator Enver Hoxha. Religion was banned, as were personal cars, which were considered a luxury in Albania. A trip to a neighboring city to visit relatives could end in execution, the authorities were suspicious of any gatherings and communication. The ruler Hoxha introduced communist ideals everywhere and was friends only with China and the USSR. But then Hoxha quarreled with Khrushchev and came up with a new game for himself and his people: all residents were ordered to build fortifications-pillboxes to repel an attack by enemies.
By the way, no one was going to attack Albania. But the ruler had to listen and now all over Albania you can see more than 700,000 concrete mushroom-shaped pillboxes, which are used for peaceful purposes, as wine cellars or warehouses for storage. After the death of the ruler, the “iron curtain” fell, the borders opened, and the Albanians rushed to conquer Europe in search of a happy and successful life.
There were scary legends and myths about Albania: the poorest outsider country with mafia clans and trash on the streets. Only the most desperate travelers got to this mysterious country.
Cunning Europeans have chosen Albania for their vacations about five years ago and have slowly begun to discover its secrets. The thrifty residents of Europe were impressed by the cheapest vacation at sea, a year-round paradise of fruits and vegetables, fish and seafood in abundance, organic food without GMOs and additives, pristine nature and two seas – the Ionian and the Adriatic.
Albania impresses from the first minute: it’s as if you’ve found yourself back in the USSR and at the same time in the future. At every step you’re amazed by the symbiosis of the “time tunnel”: architectural buildings from the socialist era and luxurious hotels in the Mediterranean style, cheap Mercedes in huge quantities and Bentleys with Swarovski crystals, shabby newspaper kiosks and modern boutiques with branded items.
بلد التناقضات، يقول السياح الذين زاروا ألبانيا.
