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Tre ditë në Tiranë, Shqipëri (Three Days in Tirana, Albania.)
Tuesday, 20th August - Friday, 23rd August 2026.
Summary:
We effectively swapped a week in Albania for a week in Montenegro. This was because I lost my wallet (and hence, driving licence) in Lithuania and Leb's ongoing sacro-iliac-joint pain meant she was unable to drive. So we made the decision to opt for shorter bus ridesaround the coast of Montenegro rather than longer bus rides across Albania. Still, having said all that, Lesley and I were both keen to visit Tirana. I had been there just a few years ago and I was keen to revisit a few restaurants and bars and also see a few sights I didn't have time for in 2018.
We had a lovely stay at the same Art Hotel I stayed in last time, just a short walk from Skandebeg Square in the center of the city. We only had three nights which included two full-on days exploring, and eating. As often has been the case in our travels to Central/East Europe, we visited some sobering and grim places to remind ourselves how lucky we are to be living in this amazing bubble of freedom and democracy. Long may it last. Enva Hozha was one of the worst and most despotic communist leaders in the post-war era and it is a great tribute to Albanians that they had remembered his regime with such dignity.
It was wonderful to get another big sample of Albanian cuisine. Rich food with heavy slavic and Turk influences. Wonderful
Back to Tirana (Tuesday, 20th August)
Once we'd crossed the border from Montenegro into Albania we soon passed through the busy town of Shkoder.
... and then we passed through some spectacular countryside in the north of Albania until we reached the outskirts of Tirana.
I was tracing our progress on the bus with Google maps' GPS feature as we crawled through thick traffic towards the city center when the bus driver suddenly decided to stop and get all the passengers off.
So, passengers from our bus and at least three others just had to get off and catch regular city buses to the center.
Another 15 minute walk and we were at the Art Hotel, where I stayed two years ago during the 2020 Qatar World Cup.
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After getting changed we headed to the vast Skanderbeg Square in the center of Tirana. Just as we were arriving there, for a strange moment, a dark storm seemed to be about to hit us. It went dark and high winds whipped in, stinging the backs of our legs with dust. But no sooner had it started when it had stopped again. Bizarre.
We had a couple of beers at a Cafe next to the opera theatre and, after an envious look at another fresh food market - you know, one of the main things we don't have in Perth, we headed for a lovely Albanian restaurant I'd discovered last time I was here... Restorant Tymi.
Unfortunately it was choc-a-bloc inside with a queue outside and no chance of reserving a table. So we traipsed around looking for other options and ended up with a nice salad for Leb and a quite disappointing simple kebab thing for me.
We managed to find a working ATM, so we had plenty of Lek to spend before going back to our arty room for a nice relaxing evening.
Remembering Enva Hoxha in Our First Full Day in Tirana (Wednesday, 21st August)
Day 166 I wanted to rebook Art Hotel as I remebered its amazing breakfasts and wall to wall artwork. I had a hunch Leb might be impressed. She was not disappointed!
After filling up we set off back via Scandenbeg square and past the mosque towards the Bunk Art 2 exhibition.Our theme for many of our stops was history and remembering how lucky we are to live in the historically unprecidented bubble of freedom and democracy we do. So, first stop was the Bunk Art 2 exhibition - a memorial to the brutal dictatorship of Enva Hoxha. The whole point of such museums is to remind people about the gory details of such horrible practices so they never happen again and yet, of course, they have been happening in "Russia" for over twenty years. Hoxha's "Sigurimi" (security forces) were terrible but Putin's makes them look like softies today.
After the grim, somewhat clostrophobic atmosphere in the BunkerArt museum, we needed to be out in the open and so stopped for a quick beer on Scanderbeg square.
Then we decided to get a haircut. There was a place that goes by the name of "barber shop" right next door to the Restaurant Tymi we couldn't get into yesterday. Perfect. The plan was to ask if they'd cut Leb's hair too. We both wanted just a trim. We sat down to wait as three guys were being seen to with two more waiting before us. So... twenty minutes, right? Then next door for delicious food.
Forty minutes later there had been no progress at all. The guy nearest to us was still having the back of his head shaved millimetre by millimetre and seemed to be having his beard died a slightly different shade. Two guys had black wax painted on their face for some reason. One guy, having seemed to be nearing completion, had his hair washed and then went back for more intricate shaving. The final straw was when a guy had this weird flame lit to a tube next to his face. WTF? Were these professional footballers or something? How long was this going to take? It reminded me of my haircut in London.
I had asked how much a simple, quick short back and sides would cost and was told 700 lek (about $12 Aud) so it wasn't going to be too pricy if I ever got seen to. And, of course, we had no idea if they would be so gracious as to trim a woman's hair.
Enough!
We cringely got out to silence and popped next door to Tymi"s to order.
It has a very odd quirky ambience but the food is traditional Albianian cuisine: rich comfort food. I struggled to remember the actual dish I had the last time I was there but when I remembered I wasn't disappointed. We had stuffed pepper, meat and cheese with lovely unleavened bread, beans and cabbage salad. It was every bit as good as last time I was there.
After another good feed, we had a bit of a walk, twice crossing over the rather underwhelming river Lana that flows through the Albianian capital. See, I had to try to visit the Partizani Tirana stadium (the Selman Stërmasi stadium).
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| Sneaked a Peek |
On the way back to our hotel, we passed the eerie old residence of Enva Hoxha, and then, the very impressive Orthodox Cathedral of Resurrection.
Finally, back at the hotel we watched inspiring speeches at the National Democratic Convention from Barak and Michelle Obama, Jamie Raskin and Stephanie Grisham. As Michelle said, hope is in the air.
Last Day in Tirana (Thursday, 22nd August)
Day 167 ~ Last day in Tirana. After another fabulous breakfast, and quick perusal of the various works of art on display, we started the day with a mini project. We decided we would get our hairs cut (as Leb's pooroldad, Jonas, used to say).
Leb found a women's hairdresser on Google and were heading for it when we spotted another on the way. So that was Leb in. I went off to try to find a less pretentious barber shop than yesterday and succeeded. Short back and sides for 700 lek (about $12 AUD).
After that we split off for some "me" time. Leb went to do shopping and bought some new clothes...
I headed for the Albanian national football stadium via a small park and the Tirana Pyramid. It really is a beautiful stadium...
After that, we met up back at Scanderbeg square via the so-called Tirana "castle" (trendy shopping area).
After a beer we went off to a traditional Albanian restaurant called Oda for soup, meatballs and stuffed aubergines.
Then it was back to our place for an early night as our taxi to the airport was
booked for 3 am the next morning!!
Tara Tirana, Ciao Italia. (Friday, 23rd August)
Day 168 ~ Tara Tirana. Ciao Italia!
To catch an early (6:20am) flight from Tirana to Perugia we had to wake up at 2:30 am to make sure we caught a taxi to the airport at 3am... just to be safe. After my customary, crazy, quick "goodbye video" there was time to take a photo of Leb with the new Kosovo Flag before goingout to wait for the cab. It was 1300 lek for a 25 min ride in the middle of the night - a definite Balkan taxi bargain.
The flight took off during a beautiful sunrise over the mountains and soon we were over the Adriatic heading towards Italia. Snooze time.
Finansijski sažetak (Financial Summary)
Although Montenegro was more touristy, and hence more expensive, than Bosnia, it was still pretty cheap in the broader scale of things. Apart from Kotor, our accodation was chite cheap and the bus trips were really good value. Our daily expenditure average of $320 (all included) was not too bad.
Sažetak Raspoloženja (Mood Summary)
My birthday in Podgorica had the sixth best mood score of the holiday so far, at 26-0, and generally we had a good time overall. The good mood days were slightly below average so far and the bad mood days, pretty much on par.
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| Best Days So Far |
In closing, it has to be said that, birthday apart, Podgorica was less fun than the other places we visited in MontenegroSažetak o alkoholu (Booze Summary)
Having registered almost 1.7 skin fulls on my birthday, this was always going to be one of the booziest parts of the journey and it ranks #5 in the counties visited so far. I must admit the beers and wines and spirits were flowing a bit too easily over this 12 day period and I'd now not had a day off for the over a month.
