In one of the many souvenir shops of the town of Krujë, I spent 5,000 leks (at the time 50 euros/21USD/46GBP) for a now treasured memento: a small white porcelain bust of the once all-powerful "Dear Leader." It´s funny - the thing is riddled with cracks, because this is one of those things that "patriotic" Albanians back then felt obliged to ostentate at home, but once the SOB was gone most smashed these suckers to smithereens. This owner, however, belatedly must´ve realized he or she could make a buck (or a lek) from selling it to tourists, and so went through the incredibly painstaking work of pieceing this sucker back together. For that I figured said owner deserved the five grand lol.

Read more in my post Our Eye-opening Exploration of Albania.

David Paul Appell