Tirana, Albania
Posted on August 14, 2023 • 9 minutes • 1875 words
Another long goodbye as the kids had taken quite a liking to the bed and breakfast owners and visa versa.
We got help carrying out suitcases us the stairs to the car and we were off. Easy 3hr drive to Tirana, I dropped everyone off at the Airbnb and drove to the hotel to drop off the car. Due to a suggestion from the guy at the rental place, I took the bus back to the city center and then walked to our place. Took a bit longer than expected as my phone decided to do about 216 updated for about 20 minutes while I waited for the map to come back. Finally, was on my way and walked past a woman selling grilled corn on the street. I had been warned by a girl from Minnesota that it’s not the sweet corn we are used to in the States, I couldn’t resist because Sam LOVES corn. I bought 2 and they were terrible.
Even though it was an easy travel day, we were still tired. Dan and Sam went to the market and came back with food for dinner. We ate on the earlier side and Dan told the kids we could watch a big chunk of Harry Potter.
It felt really good to get to Tirana. I had low expectations, but thought of it as a few days to regroup, do a lot of laundry and catch up on some work. We ended up really enjoying it! The Aribnb couldn’t have been better, down an alley so it was so quiet, but still had everything you needed close by. It was spacious with 3 rooms and had every amenity we could need…including extra toothbrushes if you needed one! Plenty of Nespresso pods, laundry detergent, comfy beds, great sheets and a still warm pie in the oven the host’s mom made. It gave us the most ‘home away from home’ feeling and I think we needed it. We LOVED the other 2 places we stayed in Albania, I mean our kids were on hugging terms with the owners within minutes, but sometimes it’s nice to just be able to push the reset button with doing a repack and washing 90% of our clothes. Yes, it was getting a bit desperate with the kids shirts and shorts. 7 nights, and it was the longest we went without laundry. Dan hand washed a few things and one day I washed couple pairs of the kids’ underwear in the sink to be safe, but we were cutting it close. Max just likes to change his underwear numerous times a day.
The next day Dan took the kids out so I could work. The Airbnb was great for working…actually it was just great all around! I had a desk to set up at and was quite productive for a while until Dan called asking what ‘the plan’ was. I wrapped up some stuff and headed to the park to meet them with a picnic dinner. Sensing a serious theme in our consuming of foods?
They were at a massive park about a 10 minute (adult) walk away, Grand Park of Tirana. It had a huge lake (3.6miles around and I know this because I ran around it 2 days later), so much play equipment for the kids, wooded areas with paths, workout equipment for adults and cafes. They were playing on the playground when I got there and we easily found a table to eat at.
We ate sandwiches with peppers, cucumbers, cheese and salami while the kids told me all about their day. The highlights seemed to be the playgrounds and a candy shop they found that reminded them of Honeydukes (from the Harry Potter books). For a week we had been seeing this odd design on a gas station that I thought looked like a goat riding a Roomba, but we all had our opinions. Ben then saw it on a bill and we figured it had to be some national symbol. They did get excited to tell me about statue they saw that was wearing the goat/Roomba on his head. So, I guess I was wrong and it’s a helmet with a goat’s head on it. Seems suspect.
Dan is really good at getting one kid to read with him on a park bench while the other 2 kids play and rotate through. I can’t express how amazing this park was. The play equipment seemed to stretch on forever and legit hand made wood structures…and being near the lake kept is a little cooler.
He said they did well with their reading that day, so we decided to get some gelato on the way home…and well I really wanted some too. And did I mention bike lanes everywhere! Kinda amazing.
A bit of a struggle to get back home with tired kids, but not the worst walk by any means.
The next day I took the kids to the park to do their schooling while Dan got work done at home. We went back to the table we had dinner at the night before and did lots of mini recesses between reading and math. Dan came for lunch, with food. Doing what we do best, picnicking and letting the kids run wild, we took our time sitting there. I had some errands to run and some more work to finish up, do we swapped and Dan stayed with the kids and I headed back.
When they came back, they worked on a project that Dan asked them to do. Well, they really wanted candy from the shop they saw the day before and Dan told them to make a project worthy of candy and we would see. 100% succeeded. It’s a little light, but it’s a map of the world with a heart on Albania. To be totally honest, we all loved this country so much. It’s hard not to when you feel so welcome. :)
At this point the only parts of Tirana I had seen were from walking back from the bus, the airport and the park, so when they got back, we all went out and for them to show me some things they saw the day before. They showed me the park they played at, the old castle and the candy shop where they each picked out a candy. Again, amazing playground.
Sam a marshmallow banana, Ben and Max a giant gummy worm. Next, we walked to the giant square. I called it a ‘communist square’ as it felt similar to ones in Moscow and Beijing…tiles/stones, government feeling (not sure what that means, but a feeling), vast with a statue and buildings around it. I know these square exist everywhere, but I just got that feeling.
The kids were excited to show me the giant statue with the goat helmet. I still think it looks like a goat riding a Roomba.
I had heard about Bunk’Art (a former bunker turned into a museum and art gallery) and really wanted to check it out. Well, we went to Bunk’Art2, not the original. I was expecting art and was not prepared for the history of death we walked into. Had I been alone or just with Dan, I would have found it so interesting and read every placard, but I just couldn’t answer all the kids questions that day. The second room had a large photo of a man being hung and after my brief explanation of that to the kids and how people were hung for just disagreeing with the government, I couldn’t. I offered to take the kids outside while Dan ‘enjoyed’ it, but we agreed it was getting time to head home. The entry was well done.
We didn’t have much food in the house, so we decided to check out the gyro place right at the alley for our place. Amazing! Sam and Ben split one and needed more, Max and I ate a falafel and had to share with Sam and Ben.
30 second walk home, some Harry Potter reading and off to bed.
I booked a later bus ride to Ohrid as there was no rush and I didn’t want a rush in the morning. I went for a run around the lake in Grand Park, came back to breakfast with everyone and started to pack. I was a little worried about running in the park so early, but everyone was out at 6:30! Walkers, runners, strollers, bikers; a nice dirt path around the lake.
Ben and Dan went out to print our bus tickets and get a coffee. Ben with his nook to read Harry Potter and Dan with his phone to read the news.
At about 11:45am, we walked a block to a taxi stand and 10 minutes later we were at the bus stop with plenty of time for our 1pm bus. We found a café to have a place to sit in the shade and a bathroom to use right before boarding the bus. We walked over at 12:40pm and Max and I couldn’t resist the pick homemade cookies a lady was selling on the street. Grabbed those, fed the kids a banana while we waited to get on the bus and boarded.
I knew it was going to be windy, so we tried to board early to get seats in the front so my stomach only half hated me. Kids clearly aren’t affected by car sickness.
Easy ride and once again, beautiful scenery that Dan and I kept saying how we need to come back here on bikes.
No delays until we got to the boarder, but we were able to get off and just walk up a bit every time the bus moved up too. There was a bit of a wooded area, so my stress levels dropped as I knew I could have them all pee and then only 45 minutes after the boarder.
As we got close to the front, everyone got back on and a boarder control agent came on and asked for all passport. This time not to just look at them, but to take them. Maybe 10 minutes later our bus drive comes back with the giant stack and hands them to the person in the front row. So take yours and pass it along? We were the second row, so the stack was still massive. I did check about 3 times that we had the right ones.
Still amazing view and windy roads, but we were paralleling railroad tracks, so the kids brought back their Colorado game of chanting about the tracks to come back. Not sure how the ‘game’ actually works. The tracks did seem to take a more direct route as we kept winding and winding and winding, much to the dismay of my stomach.
Once we could see the lake the kids were getting excited. Pulled into the bus station, grabbed a taxi to the Upper Gate (as instructed by our Airbnb host), knocked on the ground floor apartment where his family lives and we were let in. Maybe easiest travel day so far? It at least felt that way with no traffic, no pee emergencies and I didn’t have to drive.