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nIt’snstill winter in the Northern Hemisphere, as far as cold weather goesn(at least in most places) and according to the calendar (thenfirst day of spring is March 20). Albania is in the NorthernnHemisphere…so why is today called “Summer Day” (Ditane Verës)nin Albania?
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nAlbania’snbiggest pagan festival, Summer Day, symbolizes the rebirth of nature,nits awakening from the slumber of winter. According to the legend,nthe Mountain Muse comes out of her temple on this day, every year, tonmark the departure of winter. These days, there are massive concertsnand acrobats, magicians, and performers entertain the crowds on citynstreets. People wish each other good luck and prosperity, give smallnpresents of food to children, and feast together. Some of thentraditional foods include roast meat, lamb, turkey, chops, and steakn(that’s a lot of meat), sweets, and ballakums.nEvery description of Summer Day mentions ballakums.nI even read that Summer Day just wouldn’t be Summer Day withoutnballakums.nIt was hard to get anyone to say what they heck this indispensablenfood was, but I finally discovered that they are sweet cakes.
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Albanianis a European country near Greece. This short tourism video shows whynwe might all like a real summer day in Albania!n And this much longer slide show convinces me that Albania is asnbeautiful, ANY season of the year, as anywhere in the world.
Albanianis a European country near Greece. This short tourism video shows whynwe might all like a real summer day in Albania!n And this much longer slide show convinces me that Albania is asnbeautiful, ANY season of the year, as anywhere in the world. n
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nAlsonon this date:
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nPi Day
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nPhysicist Albert Einstein’s birthday
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nWhite Day in Japan
