Tidbits of Time in Tirana

Dec 8-9, 2018

We had a staycation this weekend and decided to enjoy the sights and sounds of the local city around us. The weather was gorgeous so we completed the 3 mile loop around the lake near our apartment. There are tons of things to see around the path, such as random albanian men urging passersby to weigh themselves on the bathroom scale that had been brought out onto the path, or the wall of barbed wire barring the property line to the president's mansion (he's far too rich for the "small" castle that's situated on this piece of property though, so it mostly stands empty). There are also tons of vendors set up so that you're never more than a few licks away from roasted corn, cotton candy, or a paper sleeve of nuts.

Next we visited a Christmas Fair at Rogner Hotel. Rogner is one of the nicest hotels in Tirana (it's also the hotel we were told we'd be staying at when we arrived in Tirana, but it's definitely not where we ended up). The Christmas Fair was being held to benefit children from the local orphanage. There was a performance from a youth choir, in addition to booths with handmade goods and sweets. I ran into a few of my students while there.

After, we wandered to the center of town, where we happened upon a street of holiday vendors with traditional albanian hats and homemade honey.

Not far from there is a bunker that has been repurposed into a museum called Bunk Art 2. The museum recounts the history of the political climate in Albania from 1912-1991 and brings to light the workings of the Sigurimi, the political police that Enver Hoxha directed while in power. This museum houses the first major video exhibition dedicated to the victims of communist terror. It's incredibly informative but the tone is somber at best. There are rooms in the bunker that have been repurposed to represent jail cells, torture chambers and memoriams for the thousands that were killed during the communist regime. There were countless stories of the Sigurimi infiltrating people's homes and workplaces as spies. 'Tell or be told on' seemed to be the motto in those days, so thousands of community members were falsely accused of opposing the current regime and therefore identified as a threat. Members who threatened the regime were tried and sent to "re-education camps" where they were forced to work in horrific conditions and on many occasions, tortured. One story tells of the Sigurimi going so far as to plant wires and bugs in easy to find places in the Italian Embassy so that those being spied on could find them and feel a false sense of security and relief that they had "caught" the intruder. The Sigurimi then sent in a maid with a wired broom so that each day she could record valuable intel and bring it out with the "trash" she'd swept up.

Not far from Bunk Art 2 is Skanderbeg Square, the main plaza in Tirana. Each year they hold a large Christmas market with amusement rides, craft vendors and tons of food and drink stalls. We sat and drank hot tea at one of the stalls while watching the hustle and bustle of the square. We waited for the sun to set so that we could experience the twinkling lights of the square at night and it did not disappoint!

Date Night Tirana Style

14 Dec 2018

Disclaimer: I've starting posting things out of order. I haven't been as diligent about my blog as I'd like (I blame Mark for this 😉), but my goal is to catch up before we leave for our two week winter break trip. Starting with our date night in Tirana.

Have you ever had a chocolate massage? You read that correctly, a chocolate massage. Mark has been working a lot of overnights this week to try and get his guys here in sync with his guys in Chicago. I knew he needed a distraction, so when I started doing research and found a spa that offered chocolate massages I had to book them. To start the evening we met at Colonial Cafe Cocktail Academy Tirana, a bar with a speakeasy vibe that was beautifully decorated for Christmas. The temperature wasn't nearly as brisk as earlier in the week so we were able to sit in their outdoor space. You read that correctly. We sat outside to enjoy a drink on the 14th of December. And enjoyed ourselves while doing it! (All restaurants/bars have patios in Tirana because people LOVE to be outside. I know people love to be outside in Chicago too, but the second the weather turns patios close and people head inside. Not here. People bundle up so that they can still enjoy the patios. I thought they were absolutely crazy at first, but it's starting to grow on me. At least when the patio we're sitting on has heaters and is enclosed in a clear plastic casing 😊) Anyway, this place had a HUGE menu of cocktails, so I chose to try a rose infused vodka drink with flower petals and Mark tried a Pisco sour, both of which were delicious. Cheers to finding a yummy drink spot!

 Then we headed to Golden Spa Relax for our chocolate massages. We had a lovely room with warm heated tables and holes for our heads (if you followed my post regarding our first round of massages in Tirana, you'll know that these things were lacking) And then, sure enough, they massaged us for an hour using warm melted chocolate. Apparently, chocolate firms the skin, moisturizes and improves your health, but all I really cared about was that it made me smell DELICIOUS. After our massages we were brought into the relaxation room for tea. Overall it was a super fun experience and I would highly recommend this spa to anyone who wants a chocolate massage (or a regular one!)

After massages we went to Yamato, a local Japanese restaurant. We had spring rolls, sushi and ramen, although not the ramen we ordered (our waiter came to our table and said "this isn't the ramen you ordered but it's ok, yes?" and put it down in front of us. "yep, yep I guess it's ok bro.")

Because we're old our goal for the night was to make it to the bus stop before the buses stopped running for the night at 10pm. We were so proud of ourselves for making it by 9:55pm #lifegoalsat30 but after waiting for the bus for 20 minutes we had to accept defeat and hail a taxi. The little bit of Albanian we've learned got us a taxi for a fair price (we used to pay $5-7 to get home, but tonight we paid $3) however, it also led to the taxi driver assuming we spoke Albanian fluently and attempting to speak to us the whole way home. One would assume he'd realize after multiple questions and flubbed attempts at answering that we were not, in any way, equipped to speak his language, but damn was he persistent. I closed my eyes and left Mark to struggle silently in the front seat. When we arrived, I wow-ed our taxi driver with one of my favorite Friday phrases-fundjavë të këndshme- (have a good weekend) and he gave me a wink as if to say, "I knew you were the albanian speaking one all along." 😀

Pristina, Kosovo

Oct 26-28, 2018
Once I got home from school Mark and I ate a quick sandwich and then hopped in a taxi with Zude (Mark's fave taxi driver) to go to the bus station. We just missed the 5pm bus so we grabbed a "yay for the weekend" beer while we waited for the 530.

The bus was mostly empty which was nice. It took us 5 hours to get to Pristina (was supposed to be 3.5-4) but the bus had to cross the border which meant the agents boarded our bus twice to check each of our passports individually. On the flip side, we FINALLY have a European passport stamp. YaY!

We grabbed a taxi and were dropped off at what we thought was our accommodation around 10:45pm. Little did we know, we weren't at the right location. It was about 11 when the apartment owner came to collect us and drive us the rest of the way to his place. We pulled up and oh man... the apartment is 50 years old and it definitely looks its age. The building has a slew of exposed wires (oh hey Cuba) and an abandoned stairwell at the bottom. To reach the 6th floor we needed to push open the elevator doors manually and then step down into the stall ("don't worry that the floor drops when stepped on. it's perfectly safe" said no one ever).

Our unit has not one but two huge doors. They are super hard to open and Mark spent a good 7 minutes jiggling, wiggling and fadiddling to get us in.

Here's a fun fact as we continue on our Kosovo accommodation tour: the building is heated by steam radiators controlled by the city. Even though it is 45 degrees tonight, the city has opted not to turn the steam on (WTF?!) so our options are to: 1) burn matches all night long in hopes that they will provide enough warmth, 2) run as fast as we can back to the bus station and pray that there's another 5 hour bus heading back to Tirana tonight, OR 3) use a space heater that's competing against the building for the esteemed 'eldest' title. I was very aware of the potential hazards of choice 3- old wiring coupled with an even older space heater, so when Mark dozed off to sleep I was wide awake keeping an eye on the glowing orange monster next to our bed (I blame you for this, dad!). Rewinding to a bit earlier in the evening: we were given some good dinner recommendations but by the time we were able to get out and about it was already 1130 so we went to the route 66 diner right next door. It was packed. All the locals must know about the whole "no steam in the radiators" thing and are choosing to ride out their night at the diner and we figured, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. The burgers weren't great but the fries were pretty good and the heat was spot on.

Good news: our space heater didn't catch on fire. Bad news: someone across town wasn't so lucky. How do we know? Because this morning we were looking out our window at billowy smoke clouds rising up out of an old building. Seeing this made us want to get up and out quickly, but just the thought of showering turned my lips blue (escaping out of the bedroom and running to the toilet in the middle of the night only to be greeted by a seat that could've easily had icicles hanging from it was definitely not on my list of top 10 things to do at night) so I decided to be smelly sally for our Saturday excursions. In hindsight this was the right choice because Mark came out of the shower with too many stories to tell.

Today our plan is to explore the city-- Kosovo is celebrating 10 years of independence so there are some special exhibits to see. Right outside of our apartment is the famed "newborn" sign which is a staple in Pristina. The sign was erected when Kosovo first became independent. Because it is the 10 year anniversary, if you look closely, you'll see that the 'b' has actually been changed to a 10. We snapped a pic and then obviously, first things first, breakfast.

We headed to Tiffany, a traditional restaurant Mark's friend Lavdi recommended. We wandered around in the beautiful fall weather but couldn't find it and heaven forbid we ask for directions (such a guy thing!)

Anyone who knows me knows I can't go for very long without eating so between the casual wandering and Mark refusing to ask for directions before we knew it we were on a time crunch; if I didn't eat soon I was going to be the star of a snickers commercial  (you're not you when you're hungry!) Mark knows better than that (most of the time) so we ended up eating at Princesha Gresa because it was highly rated on trip advisor and damn was it good. We sat on the patio and were brought delicious warm bread with a white sauce for dipping. We didn't know we'd be getting this so we also ordered a traditional appetizer of peppers in cheese that ended up being too spicy for me. We tried Pristina beer (when in Pristina, right?!) and Mark had a Greek salad with amazing cheese and olives and I had a most wonderful pasta dish. Safe to say neither one of us would be starring in a snickers commercial anytime soon.

We walked down the street to a really full but beautiful outdoor coffee shop (it is the albanish way after all). I had a delicious mint tea and Mark had an espresso while we planned our day.

Our explorations started with the clock tower. It's one of the three oldest "buildings" in Pristina. Sadly, it's been given a graffiti makeover. Legend has it that many of the towns in the balkan region have clock towers because long ago the citizens were too poor to afford watches or clocks so they used the tower in the city centre to tell time. Many of the towers even had bells that chimed on the hour.

We continued along to the ethnographic museum which was by far my favorite part. We stumbled upon it accidentally (it feels like you're walking into someone's backyard) but lucked out because the curator was there so he offered to give us a tour. He was a wealth of knowledge. We learned about the prominent neighborhood family who lived in the house but eventually ended up moving to Turkey. During the time the house was occupied it was customary to have chairs that were incredibly low to the ground. There were only 9 chairs around the low table and the rest of the people were expected to sit on the floor. There were big chimneys because fires were the only source of heat. The most impressive part to me however was the large guest house. The sitting room in this house was massive because the family accommodated many travelers, making sure they always had a place to sit, eat and rest their head. The curator also shared stories about his time as a refugee in Albania while the war in Kosovo was taking place. These are the stories we don't read in books or learn about in school but we should. These are the stories of families being separated, being forced to flee their homes, being unsure of if or when they will be able to return to their country. These are the stories that are impactful, thought provoking and sobering, and these are the stories that should be told.

After leaving the museum we wandered through a local bazaar that had a bit of everything from fruits and veggies to home goods to beautiful traditional clothing. By far the best find were the wooden, handmade cradles that are traditional for Kosovar babies to sleep in.

I noticed a shop on the outskirts of the market called Republic of Tea so I hurried Mark inside. I've been searching for quality tea since arriving in Albania but had yet to be successful (I missed the memo that Albania's a coffee country, not a tea one) To my surprise, Republic of Tea was really a gentleman's club with one standard black tea and communal sugar bowls. We looked around to see that all of the other men were taking the spoons out of their hot tea, dipping them into the sugar bowls and then putting them back into their teacups. We looked at one another and figured, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

After our sub par tea experience we needed a little excitement in our lives. What's more exciting than going to a mosque? How about going inside of a mosque you're not supposed to enter. Womp. Womp. Would've been exciting, had this been the case, but it wasn't. Prior to our trip Mark sent me a Kosovo blog to read. I read on the blog that the mosque was one of the most beautiful buildings to see in Pristina and that it was fine for people of other faiths to enter. Mark doesn't trust the internet so he insisted on texting his friend Egzon (a Pristina local) to settle the matter. Egzon verified my info so we entered the mosque and were struck by it's beauty. We don't have any photos to share out of respect for those who worship in the mosque, but I do urge you to enter a visitor friendly mosque if you ever have the chance because the experience is worth it.

Want to know the best part? Later that evening we met up with Mark's friends, Lavdi and Egzon for dinner. It came out during dinner that the Kosovo blog I happened to be reading was Lavdi's (a local Kosovar) AND that Egzon had no idea whether Mark and I could enter the mosque when he received our text, but figured we should try so texted us that it was ok. That'll teach my husband to trust the internet, but more importantly his wife. It also came out during dinner that the city has turned on the steam to heat the radiators (WTF?!) so the system in our building must be broken. hmm... makes sense why the diner was so warm and cozy. We had a lovely dinner catching up with Mark's friends (they studied in Chicago at IIT together).

After dinner we went to a lively bar that looked like it was built inside a renovated house. We tried more local beer and then moved on to one of Lavdi's favorite coffee shop by day/bar by night hangouts. There were tons of books in ENGLISH lining the walls. I was so excited that I made Mark promise we could come back the next day to buy a few.

We parted ways with Mark's friends but decided that the night was cold and young and so were we and that we wouldn't be getting any younger by going home and that we wouldn't be getting any warmer by going home either. We decided to check out a bar called 9 that was closer to our apartment. The bar was hosting a private party but because we were Americans the bartender let us right in. We chose a table in the back because we didn't want any basic bitches busting our butts for breaking into their birthday blowout. The bartender started chatting with us and told us about a club nearby that we should check out. Before leaving for Kosovo my coworkers told me I had to do two things: try the shopping and try the nightlife. We hit up a ton of the discount shops earlier in the day so now was our chance to experience the clubs. When in Pristina, right? The club was on top of a hotel and looked out over the city. The DJ was driving my nuts because he'd play 1/4 of a song and then instead of remixing it into the next song for a smooth transition he would stop the music for a few seconds, find his next song and then pump it through the speakers, only to repeat the process all over again. Mark and I danced for awhile but before long I couldn't handle being thrust into silence mid dance move every 64 counts. We stopped by Route 66 for a bedtime snack before heading back to our frigid apartment. Luckily for us however, we may not have gotten younger as the night went on, but we definitely got warmer :)
We were 2/2 in space heater safety and damn were we glad. We got up Sunday morning and took a few photos of our view (without smoke clouds this time)

Did I forget to mention that in order to get this view we had to exit our bedroom, complete with an AM/FM radio bed and wander through our 1950s kitchen and living room out into a tiny enclosed hallway?

After spending as much time as our cramped legs could handle admiring the city from the inside we headed outside to a cafe with amazing fresh squeezed juices (Mark ordered lemon juice thinking it would be lemonade... nope. it was literally fresh squeezed lemons in a cup!) We both had a hearty breakfast and then sat around for over an hour waiting for our breakfast dessert (the crepes looked decadent!) but because we had to catch a bus back to Tirana we ended up leaving without getting to taste one. Mark and I thoroughly enjoyed Pristina, not only for it's delicious dishes, quaint atmosphere and amazing shopping, but also for the people we met and the stories we heard. It's a small country with a lot of history that's definitely worth visiting.