Trip to Tirana | 3 to 5 June 2022
From Politics to Gambling: Our Trip to Tirana
While all our trips aim at offering experiences beyond the ordinary, even for us being hosted by a head of state is a truly outstanding experience. In Tirana, however, this is exactly what happened. We did not only get the chance to meet Albania’s prime minister Edi Rama, who happens to be a trained artist, at his official government office, (which next to politics, he also uses as a drawing studio). Moreover, Edi Rama invited us to have lunch with him at the government’s guest villa, an astounding building hosting and exhibiting a vast number of objects from art to memorabilia placed in a tasteful interior design setting, thereby illustrating Albania’s complex and conflicted political past.
Further proof of the legendary Albanian sense of hospitality was delivered by one of Albania’s most prominent artists, Edi Hila, who invited us to his studio, while the team members of public art platform Harabel depicted the dynamics of an emerging local art scene already having an impact on the city’s sociocultural ecosystem. Through a presentation of his work, one of Harabel’s founders, artist Driant Zeneli, provided us with some insights into the Albanian history and mentality, which resonated while we were exploring Tirana: From strolling through the city (and seeing some contemporary architecture that we just wish Berlin would be daring enough to build), over eating our way through the extensive culinary landscape to ending up at the casino and playing Black Jack with strangers who were more interested in sharing drinks with us than winning at cards.
Our thanks go to all those who welcomed us in Tirana and who helped us organize this trip (you know who you are) as well as to all participants who were such good travel companions and made this trip a truly enjoyable experience for all of those involved.