Despite the end of Communism in the Balkan region of Europe, much like the rest of Eastern Europe, it remains marked by its past. Military bunkers are one of these lingering remnants. In Albania, bunkers are everywhere, serving as stoic symbols of history. Though many sit abandoned, others have been repurposed in creative ways that breathe new life into otherwise forgotten ruins.

Between the 1960s and 1980s, over 173,000 bunkers were built in Albania during the reign of Enver Hoxha, an authoritarian leader implementing a hard-core version of Stalisnim. Their construction was the result of a program called “bunkerization,”, wherein bunkers were built all across the country for the purpose of defending it against neighbors’ aggression. Hoxha was so paranoid about an impending attack that he ordered every bunker to be manned constantly, even in the absence of an active threat. The bunker program was a tremendous drain on Albania’s economy, resulting in poor infrastructure and housing conditions — an impact that can be felt in the country even today.

The bunkers were never used for war, as intended. After the authoritarian communist government was dissolved in 1992, the bunkers were abandoned and repurposed for residential accommodation, cafes, storehouses,

As of Wednesday, July 21, 2021, visitors wishing to go up the Eiffel Tower or visit the treasures housed in France’s many museums will be required to show a COVID-19 pass. This new rule is one of the steps that the French government is taking in its new campaign against the rise in Delta variant infections.

To obtain the COVID-19 pass or to enter, people must show proof that they’re fully vaccinated, the negative results of a test, or proof that they recently recovered from COVID-19.

France reopened to American tourists, vaccinated or not, on June 18.

France’s COVID-19 pass is also required for taking part in other activities such as going to the movies or to the swimming pool. Plans to expand the scope of the COVID-19 pass in August include restaurants, bars, long-distance train excursions, and plane rides, Reuters reported.

The Eiffel Tower reopened on July 16 after being closed for nine months. The famous Parisian landmark will now only allow 10,000 visitors instead of the usual 25,000.

When Aron Marquez was in Mexico City about 10 years ago, he kept hearing people talk about cristalino tequila. He had long enjoyed blanco, reposado, and anejo tequilas, but at the time, cristalino was something new to him that he hadn’t seen in the US: an aged tequila that drinks like an anejo, but is as crystal clear as a blanco.

The style takes a few extra steps to make than an unaged agave spirit. It starts with a blanco tequila made from Blue Weber agave. That distillate is then aged for at least a year and a half to make an anejo tequila. Lastly, the spirit is filtered to remove the color, but leave the flavors from barrel aging like chocolate and vanilla that make anejos so easy to sip.

Today, Marquez owns the tequila brand Flecha Azul with co-founder and PGA golfer Abraham Ancer. Along with the aged and unaged offerings more commonly seen in the US, Flecha Azul sells a premium cristalino like the ones he first encountered a decade ago. For Marquez, the option of a cristalino makes it easy to find a tequila for every mood or occasion.

“Being born in Mexico and raised in