Watching the traffic cop in Skanderbeg Square, hub of both Albania and its capital, Tirana, is an experience not to be matched anywhere else in Europe—and perhaps in the world. Because there are fewer than a dozen privately owned autos in the whole country, about half of them in Tirana, the policeman on duty has one of the most solitary jobs imaginable.
Garbed in black pants and white jacket, with a white cap and spotless white gloves, he does his job to perfection. When he spots a vehicle coming about four or five blocks away, he makes sure he has everything under control. Fortissimo, he blows his whistle; prestissimo, he raises his authoritative gloved hand; and pianissimo, he makes the car come to a stop. In a final graceful flourish, the cop then sends the obedient vehicle off.
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