Impressions of our visitors!

“We are the memory we have and the responsibility we assume.  Without memory we do not exist, and without responsibility perhaps we do not deserve to exist” (José Saramago)
The bunkerization of Albania.  Can you imagine this concept?  Growing up in Canada it’s unfathomable.  This is the time in Albanian history where between 1975-1983 the plan was to build 221,143 bunkers and in the end 173,371 were completed.  21,000 bunkers per year, approximately 1 for every 11 citizens!! During this time hundreds of people lost their lives due to accidents during construction. We visited two bunkers, both turned into museums that walk you through a dark period of oppression and state paranoia. Through this period and for for the decades preceding Albania was essentially sealed off to the rest of the world, you could not enter and you certainly could not leave.  Since the fall of Communism in the early 90s the people here still face many challenges, however, perhaps it’s just our optimistic nature mixed with some naïveté but we hope things will continue to change for the benefit of the warm and gracious people of Albania.