Letter From Tirana
Hello from Albania after travelling to this unique land for a couple of football related features
Hello,
Happy Wednesday.
Or as they say here in Allbania, Përshëndetje, gëzuar të mërkurën.
I’m penning this quick piece sitting in a cafe in downtown Tirana that is currently playing an Albanian version of Carly Simon’s 1977 James Bond-themed power ballard, ‘Nobody Does it Better’, after a hectic but hugely enjoyable 24 hours here in the fascinating city and country.
So, I’m here to pen a feature piece for Mundial after a £14 flight at silly o’clock yesterday morning.
It’s interesting to see just how much you can pack into 24 hours. We’ve certainly tried at any rate, and right now I have a raging hangover and I’m absolutely knackered after drinking local beer and firewater until the wee hours.
I won’t say too much about my feature right now, but I absolutely guarantee it’ll be an interesting read if nothing else, so please do keep an eye out for that, with the brilliant team over at Mundial.
Albania vs Ukraine, Tirana, Tuesday, November 19, 2024. CREDIT:
The article is based around Albania vs Ukraine, played at the well-appointed national stadium on Tuesday night.
Obviously there are a couple of Arsenal-related themes, with Sylvinho being manager of Albania, and of course, Alex Zinchenko playing, and scoring a vitally important goal. But more of that in my feature.
Suffice to say I met up with an old Albanian mate of mine, and met a few of his mates here, including a passionate Italian from Naples who idolised Maradona, with the three of us watching the game together.
We sat/stood near to the Albanian Ultras, who we also saw during their pre-match Corteo - essentially a procession or crowd of and fans who gather together and walk/march together to the game with lead banners and pyro.
(You can watch their fun and frolics here)
Anyway, I’d love to write so much more, but you can find it all in my forthcoming travelogue feature piece for Mundial called Searching For Sylvinho….for now, I’d better go, as my lunch at a former nuclear bunker awaits, and they’re also now playing an Albanian version of Frank Sinatra’s Fly Me To The Moon…
Local police during Albania vs Ukraine. CREDIT:
If the (peaked) cap fits, wear it. CREDIT:
DAILY LIST
I’m meeting my Albanian mate for lunch, and he’s going to bunk off work this afternoon and take us to a restaurant that used to be one of Enver Hoxha’s nuclear bunkers. As you do.
Depending on your viewpoint, who you read, and who you talk to, Hoxha was Albania’s long-standing communist chief of state, a communist revolutionary, or paranoid dictator who left the country isolated and weak.
More on him tomorrow after our visit to the bunker…