New Day: Recharged in Albania!
Last night, my computer was plugged in and I was typing away when a warning light came on. As I mentioned, the converter wasn’t getting power. That meant, no charging for the computer or phones, drones or cameras. Hmmm… Now that we are all charged up, I can share a couple last shots from the Grand Park of Tirana before moving on. This whimsical statue caught my eye! What better place to play leap frog than on the grounds of this family friendly park in the heart of a city.
Tempted… but we continued walking past this cute restaurant. Sitting at the top of the hill inside the park. It had a slight view of the city buildings. Comfortably nestled in the trees, surrounded by plants and flowers, it was a very peaceful setting. We had more we wanted to see so we journeyed on! (Besides, we had no idea what type of food was served…)
Back on the streets… we came upon another colorful building. Just can’t get enough of these… the color gives the city so much character and I find it impossible to imagine how it looked during the years of Communist rule. It’s hard to believe this was all drab gray!
Standing in front of the National Art Museum, is a sculpture named “Cloud”. Originally, commissioned in 2013 for an exhibit, this pavilion is now used for cultural events. We haven’t had the opportunity to see it at night but apparently, it lights up. Guess we’ll have to venture back after dark! The idea is it’s supposed to represent a soft cloud… I must not be very cultured because I just don’t see it. I get stuck on the organized metal rods!
Prior to our arrival, I kept seeing “Pyramid of Tirana” on the map. Intrigued, I couldn’t wait to seek it out. You can probably imagine my face (more so Barry’s face) as we approached this… structure. We sat on one of the benches staring… slightly confused. Almost immediately, a local woman began to explain. She must have sensed that I was less than impressed with this “tourist site”. In a very thick Albanian accent, she began to explain that this building was designed by the daughter of their former Communist Dictator, Enver Hoxha. Said to be the most expensive building in Albania, it served as a legacy to the former leader.
Once Albania was freed from Communism, the people no longer had to fund the museum. Over the years it has been repurposed as a convention center and even as a base by NATO during the Kosovo War. There have been plans to demolish the pyramid and build a new Parliament or a park in its place but the people of Albania have fought those plans. The ruins of the pyramid, on a busy corner, provide a constant reminder of where they were and how far they’ve come. It is a reminder to never allow their freedoms to be taken again.
By now… a serious hunger is setting in. We figured we’d visit one more landmark on my list… Tirana Castle. It’s funny, when researching an area to visit, I always look for the “pedestrian area”. We like to be in a place where we can easily find food and drink… and not have to drive or take taxis. On the maps, this seemed to be a rather substantial pedestrian area lined with restaurants and bars. As you can see from the photos, it is definitely free of cars but not like the pedestrian zones in other countries we have visited. Still, we enjoyed the charming tree-lined area. So now…. visit the castle and find food!
Well, well… another instance of “lost in translation”. This is the “castle”. As we approached the fortress wall, excited anticipation set in. Adding to my love of doorways, clouds, bridges and cathedrals… castles. A part of me wanted to wait until the man wasn’t in my photo, but it was clear he was pretty settled in. So now… around the corner to see the castle.
Here is the view inside the “castle”… don’t get me wrong, I love the area. It is clean, lined with nice restaurants and architecturally well done. It just wasn’t a place where Cinderella would live. Looking at the bright side, we were able to find a nice place for lunch!
Adult beverages first… Barry had an Albanian beer and I had a red wine. In the middle is the best quinoa salad ever! I was so hungry, I dove into the salad and then took a photo…forgot to take a pic of Barry’s pasta but did manage to control myself and take the shot of fish on the right. Much to Barry’s chagrin, my sea bass came out in whole… the fish was outstanding! What a great lunch!
This is our bill… it looks like a lot… 2300??? but the conversion rate is so good for the US dollar! This bill converted to $21.44. Drinks, salad and entre for two! The other night we ordered a bottle of wine with dinner… had more food served to us than we could ever finish and it was by far cheaper than going to the grocery store and buying/cooking for ourselves!
I know… sorry… just a couple more colorful buildings. It’s just that every time I wander past one, I can’t help but photograph it! If you only knew how many shots I’ve taken, from every angle, from all times of day. It might not seem like it but I am sparing you… I could do pages and pages but instead, I am really trying to mix it up with buildings, sites and food!
When creating my list of things I like to photograph… did I forget wine? ha! Well, these two bottles have a little story. After dinner the other night, we were walking “home” and noticed a very small wine shop. Without having a clue about the vintners, we selected two bottles to take to drink on our balcony. While the non-English speaking cashier went to get change, a gentleman came down and started to talk. He offered his help in securing different labels because he had connections AND the merlot was actually his pet project with a couple of friends. As it turns out, they have vineyards in the center of Albania by the Vjosa River. He invited us (and our friends) to a dinner with wine tasting in the upstairs of the shop. We laughingly told him we have no friends, but the offer remained. He would be honored to have us join him… which we will…
Time to walk off our meal… just a fun pic of our shadows. The sun was such that we appear as tall as my boys! hahaha
Is it getting mundane? Back to the Square for more coffee… Jetlag is for amateurs but this trip, we are definitely amateurs! A summer of working doubles, a long trip back to Texas and on the plane across the world. We are having trouble getting our “clocks” adjusted! This time coffee was at the Opera Cafe overlooking the Square. Great place to people watch!
As promised, we returned to get a picture of our darling market lady! So sweet… such a hard worker. We will be buying more foods from her. And of course, leave her a “tip”.
Life on the streets is incredible… a truck drives up, opens the back end and sets up a mobile flower shop. Out of nowhere, people approach and buy up all the products! It was beautiful when it first set up, before being picked up. In the middle photo, more laundry flows in the wind on a building full of color. As the sun begins to set, the colors changes dramatically… With so much to see, I almost missed the sight right below my nose! A cute cart used to deliver goods in the neighborhood.
This is one location we are considering for a retirement home. Life here is simple… affordable… friendly. We are impressed with what we are seeing!
Usually bustling… this area is uncharacteristically empty. We found many shops/restaurants were closed. In this area, Sunday is still sacred. Sunday is still for families. I love that! Even if we don’t have family around, we did buy cheese from the cheese store, wine from the wine store, sausage from the meat market… and will enjoy a “family night” in our flat, just the two of us.
Gosh… the same corner… different angles… different perspectives. It’s my favorite corner. A fruit stand/market. Located on the edge of the town roundabout, it is always active in the area. We find ourselves drawn to this location. Less than a block from our home, we have enjoyed people watching and photographing.
Never fear… we are nearing the end of today’s blog. It ends with a meal… (yes, more food)… this meal, is the perfect example of why I am LOVING this country! It starts with a Peroni for my husband and a red blend for me…
This meal… included “meatballs” which ARE meatballs in a different shape. We expected meat in a ball shape like we’re used to. These looked like a breakfast sausage but were hamburger meat with fantastic flavoring. Next the “meatballs” is the sausage… oh how delicious! The photo in the middle is the Greek Salad. This seems to be a staple everywhere. We will order what we want and always the waiter will say, “would you like to add a salad to that? Like a Greek salad?”. We always say yes… Photo on the right, pork shish kabob. So drinks, sausage, meatballs, a large Greek salad and two large pork shish kabobs. We were stuffed! Stuffed!
Here’s the bill… 1190 ALL (Lek). We ate so much food. We enjoyed our cocktails. And the bill… the total… a whopping $11.30. We thought this through… the first thing we did when we arrived in town? We went to the grocery store and purchased food to cook breakfast, lunch and a couple dinners plus some snacks. The cost was surprisingly high. Mind you, we purchased the items at the grocery store told to us by our host… in a giant mall, right around the corner. The prices were exceptionally high and now that I think of it, no one was buying much… so it must be a glorified 7-11. Now we have learned, there is no way we can buy food in the store for less than the cost of going out…. I’ve never been in this situation! We could literally eat to our heart’s content for less than $50 for two people. This is fast moving to the top of our list for retirement locations… with this being only a couple years away, there’s a good chance we’ve found “home”. More tomorrow…
