I report a good news from the neighboring country of Montenegro.
A joint initiative of the Government, the UN system and the Austrian Cooperation are making possible the construction of an ecological building that will host all the UN staff under one roof.
I think is a very positive project, followed by the decision to renovate in a more environmental friendly way the UN Head Quarter in New York.
Here in Tirana the One UN initiative is bringing together, maybe next year, in the same premises some UN agencies, but I doubt they will achieve to have a similar building!
This is a link to the news:
http://content.undp.org/go/newsroom/march-2007/environment-un-building-montenegro-20070329.en
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Home made soy milk
Last sunday, instead of going to the beach, I decided to make soy milk and I thought it can be interesting to show you how to do it!
First of all you need soy beans. Be sure they are not GMO (genetically modified) and preferably they can be from organic cultivation and/or from fair trade.
Put them in a big bowl with water for 18 hours and you can notice how much they grew up!
Now if you have a mixer you can proceed very fast. In my case, I had to adapt with a low technology equipment and I smashed the beans with that wooden thing you can see in the picture. After many hours of arm gymnastic, I obtained this mass; if you use a mixer, it will be more finely ground and that's better.
At this point you put to boil in a big pot an amount of water equal to 7 times the volume of the soy beans, add few salt and the soy mass. Let boil moderately for one hour and half.
Finally you need to filter the liquid from the mass. You can use a clean cloth or whatever can have this function. So now the water turned into delicious milk that you can use as you like. The remaining mass can be used in soup together with vegetables and cereals, or to make vegetarian burgers. With the soy milk you can even make tofu, that is soy cheese. This time I didn't make it, but all you need is lemon juice to coagulate the milk and obtain the cheese. Simple, isn't it?
First of all you need soy beans. Be sure they are not GMO (genetically modified) and preferably they can be from organic cultivation and/or from fair trade.
Put them in a big bowl with water for 18 hours and you can notice how much they grew up!
Now if you have a mixer you can proceed very fast. In my case, I had to adapt with a low technology equipment and I smashed the beans with that wooden thing you can see in the picture. After many hours of arm gymnastic, I obtained this mass; if you use a mixer, it will be more finely ground and that's better.
At this point you put to boil in a big pot an amount of water equal to 7 times the volume of the soy beans, add few salt and the soy mass. Let boil moderately for one hour and half.
Finally you need to filter the liquid from the mass. You can use a clean cloth or whatever can have this function. So now the water turned into delicious milk that you can use as you like. The remaining mass can be used in soup together with vegetables and cereals, or to make vegetarian burgers. With the soy milk you can even make tofu, that is soy cheese. This time I didn't make it, but all you need is lemon juice to coagulate the milk and obtain the cheese. Simple, isn't it?
Monday, May 7, 2007
Mount Dajti (2)
Two weeks ago I went for the second time to the Mount Dajti, the mountain next to Tirana, but this time I went by myself. I used the local public transportation: bus and cable car. It was more adventurous, but not difficult.
Bus tickets are very cheap: one ride is only 20 lek, around 0.17 euro! While the cable railway is pretty new and with European standards.
It was funny to see girls wearing high heels to go there!
I also saw for the first time a muslim woman with a burqa, i.e. completely covered, only a small opening for the eyes. It is also not so common to see women with the chador, head covered but face not.
I enjoyed a lot the sunny weather and I found a quiet trail in a forest of beeches (faggi) where to hike. I know there is a project for mapping and putting signages of trails but I couldn't find any. It is also annoying that often you find military zones and the path is interrupted.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Tourism Economic Analysis
I take advantage of this blog to spread some information about my work here. I hope it is interesting for you!
In 2006, UNDP Albania has begun a three year program to assist the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports (MoTCYS) in raising Albania’s potential as an internationally recognized destination for cultural and eco-tourism. The program focuses on providing direct technical assistance to the Ministry, and will coordinate large-scale tourism projects in Gjirokaster and Berat, chosen for their current and anticipated UNESCO status.
Eco- and cultural tourism provides unique ways to protect environmental and cultural assets, promote and preserve the heritage and traditions of a country, while at the same time providing economic and job growth opportunities.
In this framework, for the year 2007 a Tourism Economic Analysis will be undertaken in order to better understand the current dimension of tourism in Albania. A lack of and a poor quality of the existing data, convinced UNDP Albania to implement the following activities.
· One-year survey at the international airport in Tirana addressed to the exit passengers. It has started in April and foresees a mid-term report with preliminary results in October. It is part of the “Image of Albania” project.
· Seasonal survey in selected natural and cultural sites. It will cover non-residents in Albania visitors in sites such as Butrint, Berat, Gjirokaster and Theth National Park, from May to September.
· Seasonal survey for sun, sand & sea tourism. It will cover Durres beach from June to September, interviewing Albanian ethnic tourists.
· Situation Paper on Eco- and Cultural Tourism Market. This study wants to describe the positioning of culture and nature based tourism in Albania in the international tourism market. It also gives a diagnosis, i.e. suggestions to policy makers to better address investments or to take decisions to better profit from this sector, avoiding predictable mistakes.
· Strategy for Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSA). The TSA methodology was developed by the United Nations to measure the economic size of the tourism sector within a country, according to international standards. The aim is to design a simplified model to assess the impact of tourism in the economy, avoiding to use input/output accounts, currently not available.
The seasonal surveys will provide precious data on tourist demographic profile, accommodations and activities attended, degree of satisfaction, expenditure pattern, and sensitivity to changes in prices. Altogether, these activities can help Albania in cost effectively targeting its tourism marketing campaign and guide its investment in cultural and nature-based tourism.
To help support and assist the Tourism Program team in their efforts to implement these activities, UNDP Albania is seeking for partnerships and contributions for the collection and exchanging of information. Any institutions involved in this sector and willing to collaborate, can contact us.
For all inquiries and questions about the Tourism Economic Analysis, please contact Marco Bordoni (e-mail: marco.bordoni at undp.org)
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Montenegro
At the end of March I had the opportunity to go for a weekend in Montenegro. It was the first time for me to go there and I really liked a lot. We spent the nights in Budva, on the coast, and during the day we visited other places too.
Budva is a summer tourist attraction, with a very nice historic centre. To be there during off season, with bad wheater (we weren't lucky), it was strange but with a charm.
Kotor is a wonderful place: the town is located at the end of a fjord, a narrow and long gulf surrounded by mountains! The old town is well kept and has this triangular shape.
I climbed along the ruins of the walls that defended the city in the past and the view was fantastic! there were some goats to accompany me, no other tourists...
Perast is a village along the fjord and seemed to be under big renovation works. The tourist season is coming soon and they must be ready.
Just in front of Perast, there are two small islands in which were built two monasteries, one catholic and one orthodox...a good example of par condicio!
Cetinje was the old capital of Montenegro and is located in the mountains. We visited the monastery, where one priest showed us the museum. I discovered that the Italian Queen Elena, wife of King Vittorio Emanuele III, was the daughter of the king of Montenegro, Nicola. We also saw a special relic kept in the church, the hand of S. Marco the evangelist! It was also strange that was without two fingers, because they are in other places...to believe or not?
Budva is a summer tourist attraction, with a very nice historic centre. To be there during off season, with bad wheater (we weren't lucky), it was strange but with a charm.
Kotor is a wonderful place: the town is located at the end of a fjord, a narrow and long gulf surrounded by mountains! The old town is well kept and has this triangular shape.
I climbed along the ruins of the walls that defended the city in the past and the view was fantastic! there were some goats to accompany me, no other tourists...
Perast is a village along the fjord and seemed to be under big renovation works. The tourist season is coming soon and they must be ready.
Just in front of Perast, there are two small islands in which were built two monasteries, one catholic and one orthodox...a good example of par condicio!
Cetinje was the old capital of Montenegro and is located in the mountains. We visited the monastery, where one priest showed us the museum. I discovered that the Italian Queen Elena, wife of King Vittorio Emanuele III, was the daughter of the king of Montenegro, Nicola. We also saw a special relic kept in the church, the hand of S. Marco the evangelist! It was also strange that was without two fingers, because they are in other places...to believe or not?
Monday, April 16, 2007
Scutari/Shkodra
Time is passing fast and I am cumulating photos to show! Fortunately I had opportunity to travel during the weekends and now you can find pictures from Shkodra and surroundings (North of Albania, close to the border with Montenegro).
In these two pictures you can have a view from the castle of Shkodra over three rivers and over the city and part of the lake.
These kids are very lively inhabitants of the castle...they tried to ask for money to us, so I guess they are used to meet foreign tourists. Anyway, it was nice to see them playing and "fighting". When they saw my camera they went crazy! They all wanted to be in the first position, so I then decided to shoot short videos to best catch their vitality.
This is an old ottoman bridge quite well kept. But you can see in the background the garbage flowing down from the slope...
By the way, this morning at 9.35 an earthquake hit part of Albania. Not strong and serious, but I felt it! I was in the office and for few seconds the floor started shaking a bit. There was no panic in my office.
The earthquake caused no victims, but damaged many houses and schools in the region of Elbasan.
In these two pictures you can have a view from the castle of Shkodra over three rivers and over the city and part of the lake.
These kids are very lively inhabitants of the castle...they tried to ask for money to us, so I guess they are used to meet foreign tourists. Anyway, it was nice to see them playing and "fighting". When they saw my camera they went crazy! They all wanted to be in the first position, so I then decided to shoot short videos to best catch their vitality.
This is an old ottoman bridge quite well kept. But you can see in the background the garbage flowing down from the slope...
By the way, this morning at 9.35 an earthquake hit part of Albania. Not strong and serious, but I felt it! I was in the office and for few seconds the floor started shaking a bit. There was no panic in my office.
The earthquake caused no victims, but damaged many houses and schools in the region of Elbasan.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
European Rally passing in Albania
I am sorry that in the last period I wasn't able to post... and in the next days I won't be too...so I just paste this interesting news about one Rally passing through Albania in which UNDP is also involved.
From China Post (I don't know why is published in this newspage from Taiwan...):
The Gumball 3000 Rally -- the celebrity-packed, high-speed dash across Europe in a variety of souped-up vehicles -- will include Albania in its route this year, as organizers attempt to help the tiny Balkan country promote tourism.
Racers have seven days from April 29 to cover 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) through 17 countries.
The 120 cars to participate include several Bugatti Veyrons, Ferrari Enzos, Lamborghinis, customized Rolls Royces, The A-Team van and even a Turkish Taxi, organizer Jonny Dodge said by telephone from London, where Gumball is headquartered.
Albania was added to this year's ninth annual race by request from the United Nations.
"We always try to go to smaller countries, unheard off, bringing celebrities, socialites and business executives to attract the world attention," Dodge said.
With U.N. agencies working to support Albania's development and integration into the European Union, the international rally was seen as a way to bring attention to the country's potential as an eco- and cultural-tourism destination, U.N. Resident Coordinator Gulden Turkoz-Cosslett wrote in a letter to Gumball.
Prime Minister Sali Berisha said he was "delighted" to support "such an interesting event, which fits perfectly with our strategy to encourage international events and foreign visitors."
Berisha also planned to host a dinner for celebrities, likely to include American actress Pamela Anderson, British singer Robbie Williams and others, Dodge said.
The race route begins this year with a party and car show in London. Drivers head first for Amsterdam, then wind their way through a series of checkpoints in countries including Germany, Turkey, Greece, Albania, Croatia and Slovakia before returning to London.
To read all the article go to this link http://www.chinapost.com.tw/news/archives/art/200744/106304.htm
From China Post (I don't know why is published in this newspage from Taiwan...):
The Gumball 3000 Rally -- the celebrity-packed, high-speed dash across Europe in a variety of souped-up vehicles -- will include Albania in its route this year, as organizers attempt to help the tiny Balkan country promote tourism.
Racers have seven days from April 29 to cover 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) through 17 countries.
The 120 cars to participate include several Bugatti Veyrons, Ferrari Enzos, Lamborghinis, customized Rolls Royces, The A-Team van and even a Turkish Taxi, organizer Jonny Dodge said by telephone from London, where Gumball is headquartered.
Albania was added to this year's ninth annual race by request from the United Nations.
"We always try to go to smaller countries, unheard off, bringing celebrities, socialites and business executives to attract the world attention," Dodge said.
With U.N. agencies working to support Albania's development and integration into the European Union, the international rally was seen as a way to bring attention to the country's potential as an eco- and cultural-tourism destination, U.N. Resident Coordinator Gulden Turkoz-Cosslett wrote in a letter to Gumball.
Prime Minister Sali Berisha said he was "delighted" to support "such an interesting event, which fits perfectly with our strategy to encourage international events and foreign visitors."
Berisha also planned to host a dinner for celebrities, likely to include American actress Pamela Anderson, British singer Robbie Williams and others, Dodge said.
The race route begins this year with a party and car show in London. Drivers head first for Amsterdam, then wind their way through a series of checkpoints in countries including Germany, Turkey, Greece, Albania, Croatia and Slovakia before returning to London.
To read all the article go to this link http://www.chinapost.com.tw/news/archives/art/200744/106304.htm
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