Piramida

Pyramid, Tirana

The pyramid of Tirana, Albania is a ruin at the city center: it was supposed to be teared down to make place for a new parliament building – now it is planned to be a youth centre, but yet no progress is visible. It was opened in 1988 is a museum about the former leader Enver Hoxha who died in 1985. On top of it there was a red star and red light illuminated its shape. It was the materialized personality cult arround Hoxha.

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ZETA

ZETA Contemporary art center, Tirana

Maybe it is the smallest art gallery on the planet: the ZETA Contemporary Art Center at Tirana, Albania. It shows the works of Albanian and international artists in just one room. When you’re at Blloku just drop in for some minutes – you don’t need too much time. The hardest task is to find it within the Hekla Center.

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Blloku

Heart tunnel, Tirana

The city quarter ‘Blloku‘ of Tirana, Albania is the place to be for young Albanians in the evening hours. Here you can find good bars and restaurants, next to the right places for nightlife. But that wasn’t always like this – the city quarter was during communist times reserved for the representatives and truest followers of the party (Partia e Punës e Shqipërisë, PPSH).

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Aeroporti Ndërkombëtar i Tiranës Nënë Tereza (TIA)

Mother Teresa airport, Tirana

The airport of the capital city of Albania is located seventeen kilometers outside of Tirana. It is the biggest airport of the region (which doesn’t mean that it is actually big), has one runway and transports nearly 3 million passengers a year. It was built from 1954 on and was always also used by the Albanian Airforce. In 2003 it was renamed in honor of Mother Teresa who’s parents came from Albania and who is a national hero.

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Along river Ahne

Ahne, Ahnegraben, Kassel

The Naturpark Habichtswald close to Kassel, Germany offers numerous nice hiking trails. One of the best leads along the river Ahne – beginning at its source near the Essigberg. Following this trail you will pass a three kilometers long chestnut alley (the ‘Kastanienallee‘), you can make a detour to the Silbersee lake and you will see the Ahnegraben; an area where the river floats through a deep valley and creates little waterfalls.

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Silbersee

Silbersee, Habichtswald, Kassel

From the year 1880 to the year 1936 basalt was gathered at a quarry named ‘Igelsburg‘ (after a former wooden castle close-by) in the Habichtswald near Kassel, Germany. It existed there because of volcanic activity millions of years ago. Basalt was in the past used for buildings like the Herkules monument or the Löwenburg castle – but it is an imperfect material that deteriorates fast. As there was no need for the quarry anymore the area filled with water and a new lake was created: the Silbersee (‘silver lake’).

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Weidelsburg

Weidelsburg, Wolfhagen

It is the largest castle ruin of northern Hesse and you can’t overlook it because it is located on the 492 meters high Weidelsberg mountain: the Weidelsburg at Wolfhagen, Germany. It has been built somewhen around the year 1111 CE and was important because of its strategic location between the landgraviate of Hesse, the electorate of Mainz and the principality of Waldeck. From the 16th century on it was not used anymore and became a ruin.

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