My sister did warn us, if we should drive to Rome - Peggy might not come out alive. So, we didn't go to Rome, we went to Tirana instead!

Albania has been nothing but nice to us. The traffic coming into Tirana was an experience itself (come on, so lines on the streets surely are just optional! And what do you mean, I shouldn't turn left if I'm on the right one of four lanes?), and we weren't disappointed afterwards as well. Our hostel, run by a well travelled American, proved to by good starting point, with streets stands full of awesome tasty fruit&veg around, bakeries with the most awesome pastries just around the corner, but down a small street with no cars.

The city, and probably the whole country, is on the move. The amount of tourists, we learned, is growing exponentially from year to year, and rightly so. Trying to become a member of the EU is proving to be decent catalyst to improve the country. Three new holy buildings are put up, each one financed by the Vatican, Greece, and Turkey. But as our guide said: Everyone in Albania identifies with a religion, but nobody obeys it. The former "Blloku", the part of town formerly reserved for those political animals more equal than others, is now bustling with restaurants and cafés, and a huge park with artifical lake is just around the corner, even with ping pong tables. Glad we brought those rackets.

At the same time, the Albanians are trying to cope with their communist past. The "House of Leaves", the home of technical unit of the former Albanian secret service and now a museum, or the Bunk'Art, the old bunker of local dictator Enver Hoxha which has now been turned into a museum about Albanian history (along with a little art), are just two examples. Or you can just go to Komitetet and enjoy a coffee or an artisanal Raki while sitting in little museum of communist Albanian daily life.

Staying here reminds me, why the European Union is such an important thing. People like our guide in the free walking tour are returning to Albania, because they are seeing potential and perspective nowadays, and that mainly is just because they have the possibility to join the EU in maybe 5 to 10 years. Biggest problem seems to be corruption, although we didn't encounter any of it yet. But there will be a big demonstration on saturday, so the people seem to be taking care of it.