Posted on November 28, 2018
I have already written a bit about today's world holiday here. But let's take a deeper dive into Albania and its national holiday!
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Albania was invaded by Italy in 1939, became a Nazi German protectorate in 1943, and became a Communist state after World War II. It finally was restored to being an independent republic in 1991.
Here are a few things that make Albania special:
You know how the name for Germany in the German language (Deutschland) looks nothing like "Germany" and the name for Japan in the Japanese language (Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku) looks nothing like "Japan"?
Well, in Albanian, the name for the nation that English speakers call "Albania" is Shqipëria or Shqiptar. I have no idea how to pronounce those names!!!
Because of Albania's history - being conquered by outside forces, enduring a communist dictator and then having economic crises after the collapse of the communist regime - hundreds of thousands of Albanians emigrated to other lands, including nearby spots like Greece and Turkey as well as far-away nations such as the United States. The result is that there are more Albanians living outside of the nation than there are in the nation!
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Because of that isolationism, Hoxha thought of other nations as enemies. He ended up dumping a lot of Albanian resources into the building of bunkers. Lots and lots of bunkers. Like more than 750,000! Which is practically one bunker for every four Albanians!
Most of the bunkers were never used. A lot of them have been abandoned and are being grown over, but a lot are being used nowadays as homes, cafes, even museums.
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Most countries have the occasional hamburger stand and tattoo parlor, but Albania has the occasional hamburger bunker and tattoo bunker!!! |
Sazan Island, once a secret military base, is being transformed into a tourist destination, complete with its bunker designed to withstand a nuclear bomb...
...And Hoxha's own personal 5-level bunker - which includes more than 100 rooms! - is now being used as an art gallery and history museum.
Here is a bunker that was converted to a bed-and-bunker unit.
In addition to bunkers, Albania is known for mountains...
...flowers...
...the seaside...
...pretty towns...
...and even Roman ruins!
Plan ahead:
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Your blog is Owsome. This is very nice and informative blog. UAE National Day 2018. Keep it up. Thanks
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