You don’t hear much about Albania, and to be honest we had no intentions of visiting when we started this trip. However, we had time to kill as we make our way down to Athens for our departure to Africa on January 15th, so we figured why not? It just so happened we were hitting Albania just in time for Caitlin’s birthday and Christmas. Being completely transparent, there’s not a whole lot of touristy things to do in Tirana. You know it’s a bad sign when the #1 thing to do in Tirana is “Enjoy Albanian Hospitality” according to this article.
But that doesn’t mean it was a bad stop because we actually loved Tirana but not for the typical touristy reasons. First, we stayed in probably the best spot in the whole city located on a major street. This meant countless restaurants and bars in which to choose. We also don’t know if it was because of the holidays or if Tirana is always like this, but it was the liveliest city we’ve been in for a couple of months. It feels different when the whole crowd surrounding you is made up of locals having a good time with each other.
On Caitlin’s birthday, she woke up and was surprised with a hair appointment that had been set up for her. For those of you that don’t know Caitlin very well, this was a monumental event because she only let’s one place cut her hair and that place is in Des Moines, IA. So trusting the fate of her lovely locks with some random place in Albania was a big leap. BUT it all worked out and she really enjoyed the lady who did the cutting. Her name was Mira, she owns the shop with her sister, and has a master’s degree in mathematics. She decided that in Albania she would make more money cutting hair than with a master’s in math. She’s moving to Milan to open a shop there, so if you’re ever in Milan and need a cut, look up Hair Studio Mira & Edi. In the afternoon we just wandered around the city, had a few drinks, a nice Italian dinner and then some more drinks :).
New Hair!
It’s obviously tough not being with family during the holiday time, but the best thing about Tirana was their overall holiday spirit. Every restaurant and shop had decorations, music playing and warm drinks, which helped us enjoy ourselves a little more than we would have without the touches. And what better way to spend Christmas than by going to the new Star Wars movie?! Luckily the movies in Albania are not dubbed. For dinner (don’t judge us) we read that a big tradition in Japan was to have KFC chicken on Christmas and we happened to stroll by one that night and picked up a bucket. Nothing says Christmas like fried chicken and Star Wars!
It was definitely a Christmas we will remember. I can’t speak for Tirana when it’s not during the holidays, but we really enjoyed our time here.