weekend 3 of 3 for travels outside of tirana

Feb 21-23 2020

On the road again. Just can't wait to get on the road again. This time to Shkodër, Albania. After a hectic week at work it was great to leave school and take a relaxing dusk walk with my pack.

I reached Mark's office 20 minutes later. We grabbed a quick souvlaki before taxi-ing to the bus station. Unfortunately, when we reached the bus station, we were told that the Shkodër buses were finished for the evening. We'd fallen for this trick before, so we walked around the entire bus station searching for a bus to Shkodër. After being assured by four different groups of people that the Shkodër buses were in fact finished, we sucked it up and split a taxi with another traveler. Our driver had the windows down, a cigarette in one hand and B52 in the other, which I could handle, however, when he decided to prop his phone between the dash and the windshield so he could watch TV while driving, I had to interject. I was not about to die by the hands of a tv watching taxi driver. After being safely dropped off in Shkodër Mark and I checked in to Hotel Kaduku. Callie and Andrew, our friends from Prishtina, were only about an hour behind us. I caught up on my news stories for the week while Mark played a crash and burn car game on his phone. When Callie and Andrew arrived we headed to the pedestrian walking street where most of the bars were pretty empty (it's still considered "off season" after all, and there wasn't a football match scheduled at the stadium). We continued walking and finally found a bar that was packed (clearly everyone heads to the same place during off season) but managed to find a four person table nestled in the middle. The English music was great (albeit a bit loud), the beers were tasty and the pizza was delicious, however, the smoke inside was terrible. It's something I've really come to take for granted in the US (the law that bans smoking inside public places). After sitting inside a crowded bar all night, with smokers everywhere, my clothes, my hair, my coat, my everything, reeked. 

The four of us met for breakfast in our hotel the next morning and then set out for Rozafa Castle. There is a legend among the Albanians about the building of the castle, and it goes a little something like this:

The castle grounds were lush and green, and weren't very crowded. We explored in the sunshine for most of the morning. 

After enjoying the stone work, and beautiful views from the castle roofs, we had lunch at an outdoor pub along the water. We went back to our hotel for a late afternoon nap (it is vacation after all!) before heading out for the evening. Callie found a great bar/restaurant called cliche that was pretty full when we arrived. We found a table in the back and ordered a round of fancy, fruit cocktails to get our night started. We played cards and dominoes, and had one more round of cocktails, before ordering dinner. After, we went back to the pedestrian street and tried to find a place to grab a few more drinks. We went to a few different places, but they were either really smoky, really clubby or really dead. We finally circled back to retro pub, which had one room that was super crowded and one room that was a bit more empty. Little did we know, 30 minutes later, we would be wall to wall, shoulder to shoulder, table to table, with 100s of people crowding in to enjoy a dj. Tables were being hoisted overhead and inserted into places there simply wasn't room. Smokers were waving cigarettes and waiters were squeezing through with trays above their heads. One drink was more than sufficient in this type of atmosphere, so we left and headed to the corner store. Wine bottles, beer cans and snacks were coming back to Hotel Kaduku with us. We played jackbox in our jammies and enjoyed some bevs from the peace and quiet of our beds. #thisis30 #sorrynotsorry

Sunday morning the four of us enjoyed breakfast together at the hotel before heading out to do a little shopping on the pedestrian street. Mark and I then got the bus back to Tirana (yay for actually making the bus this time!) It dropped us at Casa Italia (a big outlet mall on the opposite side of Tirana) so we went inside for a quick lunch and to do a little exploring before heading back home. It was a fun weekend spent exploring with friends. 

Happy Heart Day from Elbasan

February 14-16 2020

Mark and I decided a not-too-far-from-home, relaxing getaway was the perfect thing for Valentine's Day, so we booked a room at a nice hotel right in the center of Elbasan, a 30 minute bus ride from Tirana. Mark met me at the university Friday night after walk and we walked the 15 minutes to the bus station (one I had never been to before!) We boarded an almost full charter bus, and 30 minutes, plus 150 lek later, we were being dropped off in the center of Elbasan. We were less than a 10 minute walk from our hotel, which was a good thing because the temperature dropped quite a bit Friday evening. After a quick check in we walked to a restaurant one of Mark's co-workers had recommended, Gjahtari 2, for dinner. I had carbonara with amazingly delicious meat pieces and Mark had a spicy penne.

After dinner we went to a partially enclosed canopy bar with Christmas lights hanging from the ceilings. The lights were lovely. After scanning the menu I had my eye on a coffee with Bailey's and orange liqueur, however, the waitress told me that the barista had left for the day so no coffee cocktails. What? So sad. I settled for a glass of red wine instead. Mark, bless him, is determined to find a good margarita somewhere in Albania (it's yet to happen) so he ordered one here. In case you were wondering, the indoor/outdoor bar with the Christmas lights in Elbasan is not the place for a good margarita, but I'll keep you posted.

I could barely keep my eyes open, so after one drink we headed back to the hotel to netflix some of our new favorite show, The Good Place, before falling asleep without setting an alarm 💤😀

After waking up well rested and rejuvenated, we headed downstairs for breakfast. The cafe was filled with sunshine and coffee clubbers, chatting away. The hotel breakfast included a croissant filled with chocolate, ham and cheese toast, and white cheese-- a definite vacation brekky. After sneaking back to my comfy hotel bed to read my new book, I got ready and Mark and I headed into town. The sun was burning brightly and we just had to take advantage of the vitamin D. We walked around and found the ruins of a byzantine church. How do we know it's Byzantine you ask? Great question. Because google says so. I think the ruins could've been a bar, or a hair salon, or any number of things but Mark swears they were a Byzantine church. Yeah, ok.

Anyway, we continued on into the part of town that is surrounded by fortress walls, built during the 15th century. We wandered the cobblestone streets and came upon a lush sprawling garden with cafes and coffee tables scattered throughout. We sat in the sunshine and enjoyed a coffee (it's the Albanian way) For the record, I've decided I still don't prefer coffee anywhere near as much as I prefer tea. But shhhh, don't tell my local Albanian friends that one.

As the sun started to set we moved inside to a quaint stone hotel that doubled as a restaurant. We both enjoyed traditional Albanian dishes, tave kosi and roasted lamb, for dinner.

After, we went to a two tiered indoor/outdoor bar with live music. Mark and I enjoyed it, but since the singing was in Albanian, we weren't able to sing along as much as we (I) would've liked. We had our deck of cards though, so we got in a few good rounds of rummy before heading home. On our way, we passed a creperie, and since it was valentine's day, I figured I deserved at least a little something sweet. We shared a nutella crepe with bananas and nuts before heading back to our hotel for the night.

On Sunday Mark and I went walking. We found a most delicious breakfast place, nestled on the other side of the city, inside of an Italian wine bar. Not only were the breakfasts delicious, but sitting outside enjoying the sunshine was delectable.

After, Mark and I walked back to the castle, where I enjoyed a rooftop tea (and some amazing views!), before boarding the bus back to Tirana.

In 30 minutes we were back, but since the weather was so nice we decided to take one of the walking paths through the park to get home. We were so lucky to spend such a wonderful weekend relaxing together. Love you, Mark 💑

Dirty Thirty

8-10 February 2020

Oh my gawd I'm 30. WHAT? To celebrate, I organized a weekend away in Korca with my closest friends. There were 9 of us, and it was a 3 hour drive, so we rented two cars and were out of Tirana a little before 11. We met at 10am, but unfortunately the car rental agency had moved down the street without informing us (Oh Albania!) and double unfortunately there was no agent present when we arrived (Oh Albania!) so we had to call our contact and wait for him to turn up. Triple unfortunately the car was running on fumes. We drove a few minutes in the opposite direction to the closest gas station, unfortunately there was no diesel, petrol only. 😢I got on the highway and even though I was pressing as hard as I could on the gas, the speedometer only reached 40 km/hr. I was coasting in the right with my flashers on hoping and praying that I'd make it to the next gas station. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when we finally filled up. Now our road trip could really begin! We enjoyed the beauty of the mountains for the next three hours, and arrived in Korca ready for some fun.

Our apartment was super cute, with three rooms, five large beds and two pull out couches, which left more than enough sleeping space for nine. There was one heating/cooling unit in the main area, and a wood burning stove in one of the bedrooms. We popped one bottle for a champagne toast before heading out to see the city.

We walked to the brewery, Birra Korca, which was established in 1928 and is home to the first beer brewed in Albania. Unfortunately we missed the last brewery tour of the day, but were still able to snag a seat in a booth and sample some Albanian brews.

After, we walked to Find Four, a local restaurant with delicious house wine, yummy apps and munch-tastic mains. Everyone sang to me over dessert.

After, we taxied back to the apartment for games, games, games. We all congregated in the living room, pushed the couches and chairs together in a fort like type of way, and played jackboxtv and fishbowl. Later in the evening, the power went out, so we reverted to conjuring the dead with bloody mary and tried our fingers at light as a feather, stiff as a board. It gave us all a good laugh. Even though the apartment was colder than cold (one heater does nothing when the power's out and a wood burning stove tucked in the corner of a bedroom only radiates so much warmth!), we still had tons of fun. I fell asleep staring at the most gorgeous view of snow covered mountains in the distance.
On Sunday morning, after receiving an unexpected birthday gift from my colleagues, the apartment owner brought us a delicious breakfast of boiled eggs, petulas (fried dough with sugar or honey), byrek, cheese and fruit. We ate our fill and then we were off to the main square, where we enjoyed a coffee while basking in the sunshine. The nine of us said our goodbyes and parted ways to explore the town.

Mark and I stopped in a stone carver's studio and then continued on into a bell maker's shop. Both men were still working at their craft the same way men would have years and years ago.

After exploring the square, we continued on to see a mosque, greek orthodox church, and the first independent school ever built in Albania.

All our walking made us hungry, so we stopped at a local spot with chickens on the spit. The five of us got a whole chicken, french fries, tzatziki, salad and bread, in addition to drinks, for three dollars per person. Talk about a scrumptious, filling feast.

We were ready to head back, but not without stopping along the side of the road for some fresh homemade mountain tea and honey. A lovely old woman and her grandson talked with us and explained the differences between the raw honey and the refined honey. The refined honey looks like the golden ooey, gooey goodness that we see in the supermarket (her jars even came with the honeycombs in them), while the raw honey looks like a jar of crisco. The raw honey has all of the vitamins and nutrients however, so it's actually the most healthy for you. I decided to try the raw and have not been disappointed. It's delicious in oatmeal and tea, and on breads. The old woman and her grandson took us to see the bee hives and the chickens, and saw us off with tons of apples for the road. It was a wonderful afternoon and a great end to my birthday or so I thought...

On Monday I woke up to an apartment filled with birthday signs and a husband making breakfast. It took everything I had not to call in sick so that I could enjoy my breakfast in bed. I'm glad I didn't though, because at school the primary students and staff sang happy birthday to me in the cafeteria and gifted me with some delicious sweet treats and even a few birthday cards.

After school, Mark, Erin, Lindsey, Christian and I went to Kino, a movie theatre themed bar, for a cocktail. Mark and I continued on to HaBurger, a super delicious hamburger joint on the far side of town. I was blown away by their burgers and couldn't believe we hadn't been there before. Note to self: we will be back. I couldn't have asked for a better way to transition into my next decade, and am so thankful for the friends and family, near and far, who wished me well or celebrated with me in person. I can't wait to see what 30 brings!

guess who's back? back again! my hubby's back, tell a friend!

Jan 31-Feb 2 2020

Mark was in Chicago for the week for work so when he returned on Friday I was really glad to see him (and not just because there was another earthquake while he was gone, either) We met at TEG to see The Gentlemen and indulge in some popcorn and fountain pop. It was a delicious and entertaining date night.

On Saturday Kristin, Erin, Mark and I attended a traditional albanian cooking class. We learned to make tave kosi, which is known as the albanian independence dish because it was a favorite of Ismail Qemali, the first prime minister of independent Albania. We also made lakror, a two layer pie filled with leeks and cheese, and for dessert we made sheqerpare, which in english translates to 'sugar coins'. In addition to learning to make delicious dishes, our hosts, brother and sister from a village in southern albania, treated us to homemade wine, raki and baked raki. While raki isn't my favorite, whether it's cold, dried or baked, the homemade red wine was quite delicious. After eating our fill (and having leftovers to take home) we headed back to our apartment where we played a bunch of jackbox tv games.

On Sunday I made Mark and I a delicious breakfast and then we went to get massages. After, we went to Colonial for our usual post massage drink. We had planned to try a new place for dinner, but found out that it was closed, so we went to SALT, a favorite of ours. For dessert we enjoyed Cocciolat Italiani, another one of our favorites.

It was a great weekend spent together in Tirana, finally 😊