Last Updated on March 20, 2023 by PowersToTravel
What a wonderful day we spent in Tirana, Albania. It was a great start to our 13 day trip traveling throughout Albania and Montenegro with Tours Albania, also known as TAB.
I can’t claim credit for the fact that we had great timing, arriving on the Saturday night of the last weekend of the summer, Aug 30. It was simply serendipitous. Since it was the last weekend of the summer, almost all the residents were at the beach for the final fling. Traffic was light and it was easy to walk around and see the sights on Sunday. The weather was warm and sunny.
Our first stop in Tirana was the Et’hem Bey mosque, located on a corner across from Skanderbeg Square, the main square. Et-hem Bey mosque was built in the late 1700s and survived the Communist era due to its importance as an historic building.
Next on the Square we paused before the National Museum of History for a picture, however it was closed for renovation.
We left the Square and walked a block to the Greek Orthodox Cathedral, newly built in 2012, then entered the Blloku neighborhood, the former home of the Communist elite. We stopped at the striking PostBloku memorial.
PostBiloku, which means “Checkpoint”, is a park which contains several important Communist-era structures – an Albanian bunker, a section of the Berlin Wall, and vivid remnants of a forced labor camp. The visit was a sobering introduction to our Albania heritage tour.
We tried to walk to the end of the road, however the access was blocked. We had good timing, seeing the city without the crowds, however our timing wasn’t perfect, as the Pope was schedule to arrive in a week’s time, and preparations were underway throughout the city, with police setting up barricades and blocking roads.
So we strolled back the way we came, passing, but not climbing, the Pyramid. Our last stop was the National Gallery of Art.
The National Gallery turned out to be a fantastic substitution for the Natural History Museum. If at all possible you should experience it with a guide. Kledi was able to introduce us to the history of Albania through its art. It most vividly depicted the goals of the Communist era, as well as the opening of Albania to the outside world. It was fascinating to see the impact of politics on art so clearly defined.
We benefited from our private driver/guide, so for lunch and the afternoon we took a ride on the Dajti cable car to the top of the mountain. It was only our first day with Kledi, and already we were doubled over in laughter due to his dry wit. Throughout Tirana, he emphasized that so much new in the city was not the work of Albanians, but other European nations/companies. Albania had so long been in the shadows of the modern world, and didn’t have the needed knowledge-base.
As we stepped into our little cable car to Dajti, he smiled and said, “And we will be safe – it was the Austrians who built this cable car.”
For dinner, we strolled to the Era Restaurant, on Rt Ismael Quemali in the Blioku neighborhood. We ordered the appetizer platter, the Meze e kombinuar to start and then Greg had the Fërgesë and I had the Tavë e furrës, veal. Greg’s was a sizzling plate of cheese and meat. Mine was a type of meat and gravy pie. The food was so good. There, as everywhere in Albania, we were served too much for the two of us.
As we drove out of town on Monday morning with Kledi, heading west towards the beaches, the beach-goers were either back in town, or on their way back.
Perfect timing.
A huge thank you to our fantastic guide, Kledi Milloshi, who works for Tours Albania. Thank you Jimmy Lama (the owner), for a well done tour. We spent two nights at the Vila Alba Hotel, which we recommend, and then we headed west to Durres to begin our tour of the rest of Albania.
Diabetic Travel Tips
Happily there are no special tips for diabetics as Tirana is just an easy city to visit, and there are restaurants and convenience stores all around. Obtaining fruit juices is not a problem, but sadly, it is surprisingly hard to find Diet Coke. I am not a coffee-drinker and it was difficult to find a diet source of caffeine. Even the hotel did not have caffeinated tea, just herbal teas. Restaurants had Coke Zero, but we just weren’t ready for a sit-down meal.
Related Links
Era Restaurant on Rr. Ismail Qemali
(I am not compensated in any way for my reference)
Check out this article of mine too:
Albania Travel Blog – Itinerary, Impressions and Diabetic Travel Tips
