Overview of Tirana (Day 1, Day 2, Day 5 and Day 6) – Part II – Tirana Park and around “The Block”

Our hotel was just outside of the area called Ish-Blloku, which means Ex-Block and is commonly referred to as The Block. In the communist era, it was a restricted neighbourhood for high-up party officials.

Nowadays, the area is home to a number of restaurants, bars and shops. There are a few sites in the area, including the former villa of Enver Hoxha, the ruler of Albania from 1944 until 1985.

We stopped for drinks a few times – either early afternoon after a few hours of site-seeing, or before or after dinner. Lots of options from inexpensive beer pubs to sports bars to fancy cocktail bars, and the area is quite small so easy to find something in a few streets radius of where you are.

I thought I took more pictures of the area, but turns out I didn’t. I guess mainly because it’s just streets lined with shops and restaurants, which doesn’t exactly make for exciting scenery. I seem to have mostly captured various bits of street art.






I saw a number of references to Woodrow Wilson while in Albania, including a statue of him at a roundabout in the Block. At the end of the first world war, Italy and Greece agreed to a pact that would see each of them take parts of Albania. Wilson disagreed with this plan, being able to block it. As such, he is considered one of the heroes related to Albanian independence.



Also came across the Liverpool FC supporters club and bar in the area. A mutual friend of Dennis and I is a big Liverpool fan, so I had to get a photo to show him the love of his club is alive and well in Tirana.



Just south of The Block area (and the football stadium in my last entry) is the Grand Park of Tirana (Parku i Madh i Tiranės). The park includes a large man-made lake located in the south-west corner, and forested areas to the east and north of the lake. The park holds the presidential palace, and a number of monuments, as well as athletic grounds, recreational areas, picnic spots and a number of cafes.










Tombs of Abdyl Frashėri, Naim Frashėri and Sami Frashėri, instrumental in re-awakening the Albanian identity after being part of the Ottoman empire.


Holocaust Memorial










The park is a great way to spend a few hours, and with the tree cover, a great escape of the head of the mid-day sun.