Until 1991 ordinary Albanians could not enter Blloku — a square block of villas reserved for the communist elite, sealed by armed checkpoints. Enver Hoxha himself lived here, and the Pyramid was built only a couple of streets away.
Today it is the most fashionable district in Tirana: dense with cafés, restaurants, cocktail bars, boutiques, and after-dark clubs. Most evening eating, drinking, and going-out happens in or close to Blloku, and walking its streets in the evening gives a much better sense of contemporary urban Albania than any museum.