Our First Night in Austria

Wednesday 27 Nov 2019

After multiple earthquakes in Albania Mark and I were really looking forward to getting away for a long weekend. Luckily for us we made it out about an hour before a 5.3 quake which most certainly grounded some planes. We layed over in Serbia in one of the strangest airports I've ever been to. Security didn't occur until the gate itself. This wasn't odd except for we weren't allowed to enter the security line until the time our flight was supposed to board. In addition to this, the metal detectors and security belts immediately followed the line so a bottleneck effect occurred very early on. Overall it was inefficient and caused our flight to be delayed. No matter however, because we still reached Vienna by 815, had a smooth trip through customs and were into the city center by 9 via the CAT. We then took the underground to our hostel where we were able to check in right away. We dropped our bags and headed to a very traditional Viennese bar/restaurant, called Gastwirtshaft Schilling. I ordered hearty, hot, traditional soup with noodles, vermicelli and veggies, while Mark ordered blood sausage, sauerkraut and potatoes. The waitress recommended a local Austrian beer that was light and delicious. What a great first night in shakeless Austria.  

Happy Halloween

Thurs 31 Oct thru Sun 3 Nov

On Thursday at school we organized a door decorating contest, Halloween game stations, a costume parade, treats and a movie for all of the primary students.

Thursday night I had the girls I teach with over for appetizers, drinks and games (we needed a little fun too!) However, when I got home, my apartment had no electricity, so the girls and I were eating apps by candlelight-- oh so appropo for the holiday. Friday evening a group of us went for drinks at a former co-workers' bar. Unfortunately, we had missed the memo and she wasn't working that evening... oops.

Saturday was our big Halloween party at Tony's. We decorated using the art work from our doors at school (reduce, reuse, recycle!) and charged a fee to cover the cost of food, drinks and music. The whole place was filled with expats which made it super fun! We even got to catch up with our friend Jen who's living in Sarande, but made it into Tirana for the weekend. After Tony's we headed to Charl's, a local spot with live music and dancing. We may have been the only people dressed up in all of Tirana, but we definitely didn't care.

 The weather on Sunday was lovely, so Mark and I had a day out.

 We walked from our apartment through the Great Park, where there is a new memorial honoring the Albanian people who aided jewish refugees during World War II.

As we walked down the boulevard, we noticed that overhead there were red and black banners honoring Albania's "heroes of the people". Albania gained their independence in November, and these banners are just one example of the many ways they are remembering and celebrating the heroes who made it happen.

 Our final destination was Toptani (or Tirana) Castle,  which is an incredibly old castle that is in ruins, except for some fragments of the outer wall that are still standing. The castle was taken over by the Toptani family, however this created a feud with another powerful family in Albania. The castle underwent a siege and ultimately the Toptani's were victorious, however, this did not last long. The castle came under attack from the Ottoman empire and was mostly destroyed, except for the fragmented wall that has been preserved today.

 Beyond the walls of the castle are small cafes, mom and pop shops and an art gallery. Mark and I wandered around enjoying the art and Albanian souvenirs until we became hungry enough to stop by Tartuf, an amazingly delicious cafe that is all about truffles (the mushroom, not the chocolate). I had a brand new menu item, the truffle eggs benedict and it was delectable. Mark had truffle risotto and to share we had truffle potatoes. We will definitely be heading back there. We very much enjoyed our day of exploration in Tirana.

Burritos, Baby Bears and Blood Marys

25-27 October 2019

We were supposed to travel last weekend, but Mark ended up with food poisoning, and we were supposed to travel the weekend prior to that but our oktoberfest flights were cancelled ,so we were really looking forward to a weekend away from Tirana. Our solution: pack up the car and head to Kosovo. Egzon, Mark and I left on Friday after school. We only got a little lost on the way, and ended up making it to Prishtina around 9:30pm. Callie, Andrew, Egzon, Vlera, Mark and I, all went out for Mexican food at a trendy new place. Then we tried to go out for beers, but since most places close around midnight, we just ended up heading back to Callie and Andrew's for some drinks. The four of us played dominoes and caught up on life. On Saturday we went to a bear sanctuary about a 20 minute drive outside of Prishtina. Until recently, it was legal in Kosovo to keep bears in cages outside of restaurants to attract more customers. Now that this practice has been outlawed, the bears need a place to go. This is why the bear sanctuary exists. There are currently 19 bears at the sanctuary, all with their own sad stories of captivity. The thing that struck me about the sanctuary was the size. It stretches across rolling hills and forest. It takes about 2 hours to walk from end to end. The bears are not kept in small areas like at some zoos, but instead are given vast expanses of land to wander and swim in. The difference is also in the caging. A wire fence, much like you'd see between the yards of two neighboring homes, is what separates onlookers from bears. It's electric, but...  with power outages as common as sliced bread in the balkans, the question has to be asked, do these fences have their own generators? I sure hope so! Not only were we able to get up close and personal with bears who were pacing, sitting up and swimming, we also got to watch a feeding. A truck drove by with huge pales of tomatoes and apples. The truck stopped outside of each complex and two men heaved up the big pales and threw the contents into the enclosures. Watching the bears eat was a brand new experience (and a loud one at that!) but was so wonderful because it showed the transformation these bears have had-- in the restaurants stale bread crusts and old beers were thrown at them in jest, but now, fresh fruits and veggies are thrown to them to promote their health and well being.

After our walk through the sanctuary we sat on the terrace overlooking the mountains dotted with fall colored leaves and enjoyed a late lunch.

 Our next stop was a Serbian monastery built in 1321. The outdoor stone work was beautiful, but the real beauty was tucked away inside, covering the chapel walls. The dated paintings from floor to ceiling were beyond what photos could capture and words could describe. Even though it's a quick visit, it's definitely worth it. Saturday evening Egzon and Vlera suggested a farm to table traditional kosovar restaurant. It was tucked away on a long road leading out of the city. The grounds were beautiful and the restaurant interior was rustic. (If only it had been warm enough and we could've sat outside on the cozy patio overlooking the farm!) We had a six course traditional meal, complete with house wine. The food was SO delicious and it was really nice to have Egzon and Vlera, local kosovars, there to explain everything to us. We tried an assortment of meats and cheeses, vegetables, side dishes and were even given a traditional apple cider with our dessert. To say it was filling would be an understatement.

On Sunday we breakfasted at a local bakery and then headed to the scottish pub to enjoy bloody marys and rugby. It was the perfect end to our weekend away (finally!)

Oktoberfest Tirana Style

6 October 2019

When your flight to Oktoberfest gets cancelled because your airline goes bankrupt, you bring Oktoberfest to you. Well, sort of. Mark and I still wore our dirndl and lederhosen. We still ate pretzel necklaces. And we still drank liter beers at a "German" beer hall. Prost to our great friends who humored us and partook in the festivities so we didn't feel so alone 🍻

Pyrana

Oct 1, 2019

So this blog post is a shout out to my hubby. We came to Tirana a little over a year ago and in that time he's been able to rent an office space, hire on 10 employees and work on multiple tech projects. He's also dedicated some time on the side to starting a meet up group for techies. He hosted his first Pyrana (python + tirana) meeting tonight and 65 people showed up! Two technical talks were given, one in Albanian and one in English, and two prizes were auctioned off to attendees. I'm so proud of his success. He's already had multiple programmers contact him regarding hosting the November meetup which means I get a night to myself on the couch :) Love you Markie Mark. 💖

4 flights in 4 days

September 26-30, 2019

We got up in the middle of the night on Wednesday (or really early Thursday morning, depending how you look at it) to make it to the airport. We were scheduled to fly from Tirana to Vienna to Chicago. Fortunately, we had a four hour layover in the Vienna airport which has couches. I took a nice long nap before boarding our flight to Chicago. We were well rested and ready to board when Mark got pulled through an extra security check. I waited at the gate for over half an hour. I wasn't panicking because there were two other people whose SOs had also been pulled for a random check. However, when both of them returned but Mark didn't I started to worry. Would they really hold the flight? Luckily for us, Mark arrived soon after and we were able to board the flight (at the time we were supposed to be taking off!) We got seats in the emergency exit row- WIN! and stretched out for the next 9 plus hours.

 We arrived in Chicago about 2:30 Thursday afternoon (ahh the beauty of time zones). We had amazon primed costumes for Oktoberfest and clothes for Africa to the house so our arrival felt like Christmas morning.

 We ran some errands, spent some time with family, enjoyed Mexican for dinner and Oberweis for dessert. Friday morning we got up early and made the three plus hour drive to Michigan for Mark and Nicole's wedding. Although it rained almost the entire way there we did stop for 5 Guys which was a definite win. Mark and Nicole were getting married in Marshall, MI on a farm. They had arranged for all of the wedding party to stay in the farmhouse on the grounds which was so convenient. We arrived just in time for the outdoor wedding rehearsal (it was cold and wet but that didn't stop us) and then we enjoyed a dinner of burgers and hot dogs at the farmhouse (I went 2 for 2 on hot dogs for the day and Mark went 2 for 2 on burgers 😂) After dinner we played a fun team game that put all the couples' knowledge of one another to the test. On Saturday we were up early. Since all the girls were getting their hair and makeup done I went out and picked up dress tape and Starbucks for everyone. When I got back I got to work at hanging the flower arrangements on the shepherd hooks that would be lining the aisle. It was chilly and damp but I managed to get them all done without getting too wet.

 I
headed inside for a quick lunch (leftover burgers and dogs-- 3 for 3-- score!) and then got ready. Even though the clouds looked ominous the rain stayed away throughout the ceremony and the reception. The bride was absolutely gorgeous and the groom was beaming from ear to ear when she started down the aisle.

 During the reception they had a dollar dance which I'd never heard of. Apparently it's a big thing in Michigan, because the entire bridal party couldn't believe I didn't know what it was. The maid of honor is in charge of collecting money on behalf of the bridge and the best man is in charge of collecting for the groom. Guests pledge "dollars" to dance with the bride or groom but only get to dance until the next person in line makes their pledge. At the end they announce who received more dollars, the bride or groom. Maybe we'll bring this Michigan tradition to Chicago for a try.

We danced away the rest of the night.

Sunday morning we helped clean up the barn and then got back on the road to Chicago (in the pouring rain) We had McDonalds (burgers again!) before heading to the airport. Although we didn't get an emergency exit row on this flight we did get an empty seat between the two of us which I was able to sleep in pretty much the whole way. Unfortunately the time zones are not in our favor on the way back to Tirana, so even though we left Sunday, we didn't arrive until late Monday afternoon. Overall, it was totally worth it and we were so happy to have been able to celebrate Mark and Nicole's special day with them. 💕