We had another visitor with us at the weekend, so it was off to Kruja once more. I came across this poppy growing in the garden of the Ethnographic Museum.
While we were walking down the cobbled lane towards the Bektashi teqe this lizard ran across the path in front of us then headed vertically up the wall, stopping long enough for a photograph before scuttling off again.
There were plenty of other visitors there, including a few parties of school kids on end of year trips. Unfortunately, nobody seems to have taught them to clean up after themselves and their teachers didn't care so both students and teachers dropped their litter everywhere. As a result, this is how the area round the castle walls and the tower looks:
I felt sorry for the guy at the Skanderbeg museum who always tries to keep the area around the museum clean, picking up litter and emptying the bins. It must be frustrating to see such a lack of respect from so many people.
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 over-dressed (or under-dressed) young women wearing blue sashes. These were the contestants for the Miss Globe 2007 beauty pageant being held in Tirana tonight at the Palace of Congresses. High heel boots and mini-skirts - or in a couple of cases micro-skirts, or possibly just belts - have never struck me as obvious breakfast attire, but the girls seemed happy enough tottering and wobbling around with their tea and toast. I'm not sure why they were wearing their sashes - perhaps in case they forgot which country they came from. As we were leaving they were boarding a large coach which I had seen a number of times around the city in the last few days for their next trip. I'm not sure how some of them made it up the steps, or how they managed to sit down, but perhaps these are the ki...
Comments
I had never stopped to think about how beautiful and harmless these creatures are...
I agree with you that it was sad... I guess we did it because nobody told us that it was wrong. It took another 20 years to figure it out on my own... Animal cruelty was not (still isn't) a big deal in Albania, where crimes against humanity reigned for 50 years.
When I have my own kids I will make sure to teach them that it's our duty to protect lesser beings...