The day of travel from Milan was exhausting. We caught the train to Malpensa airport after a 15 minute uber, the train takes 35 minutes from the main station. It is the best deal to get to the airport, tickets are only 14€, where a cab would set you back 80€. The train was stuffy and the concierge repeatedly had to tell people they had not bought their ticket for this train, it is a separate fee to get to the airport itself. I felt for this person, they very politely explained over and over for 20 minutes to this man that he still owed for the ticket . He finally relented and paid his ticket after de boarding. Relieved to be away from the argument, we made our way to the international terminal in Malpensa. We couldn’t check our bags for awhile so we caught up with a friend via video chat for his birthday. When we were able to check in, we reluctantly said goodbye to our bags for the first time since we left and hoped that they would make it to our final destination in Tirana from Munich where our layover was.

The flight from Milan to Munich was only an hour and we had a few hours to kill until our flight to Tirana. We decided it was best to get to our gate and go through immigration, which was briefly anxiety inducing. When we arrived in Lisbon, the immigration agent stamped our passports on pages in the middle of our books, which was to the surprise of the Munich agent. The Lisbon agent had barely stamped our book so it was difficult for the Munich agent to read where we had come from. Fortunately, mine was dark enough for her to accept and she properly stamped our departure stamp from the Schengen area. A deep sigh of relief and we were off to wait another 3 hours until our night flight departed. We decided to grab some pizza (the safest looking option) and a beer while we waited. There were a few sandwich shops but not a lot of food selection in the Munich airport, a lot of places were closed. I saw some brave people eating smoked salmon and wondered how long those sandwiches had been sitting there.

Our flight was delayed because of the weather about a half hour, after we boarded we had to sit another thirty minutes to wait in line for our plane to be de iced, it was -3c and the wings of our plane had visible icicles. I have never seen that done before so it was interesting, although we were ready to get off the ground I was glad for safety first. The flight was an hour and a half, we arrived in Tirana at 1am. We needed to get some Leks for the taxi, as taxis only take cash. Cash is something you should always have handy in Albania we have learned so far, a lot of places do not take credit.

After picking up our bags and navigating through the quiet airport we made our way to the taxi line. The driver didn’t speak english but had someone on the phone to translate price and final destination. After a 20 minute ride we were at our chic little flat at 2 am. We were smart enough to grab water and a beer at the airport to take with us, it is not advisable to drink tap water in Tirana. Most Europeans drink bottled water. The Portuguese and Italians are both strict about recycling, but it does not exist here.

Our first day was a really late start, which was fine because we were still exhausted from our travel day. We were starving and found a highly rated burger joint, Delibros around the corner from us. I feel like I am becoming a global veggie burger aficionado, and this one was great. Mark ate a triple cheese with fries and we had Fanta to drink which is hugely popular here and much better than anything you can get in the US. They are 10% juice which completely changes the flavor and tastes much less like sugar water.

We were immediately in love with Tirana, it felt relaxed and low key, a welcome change from the bustle of Milan. There are hundreds of cafes, bars and restaurants and despite the chilly weather everyone is outside enjoying themselves. We enjoyed trying a local beer, Puka at bar Ironbrush and a Raki at Pragu later that evening. Raki is a drink made from twice distilled grapes and is super popular in the Balkans. Fortunately for Mark, Albanian Raki doesn’t have the anise flavor as the Turkish Raki we have tried in the past. It is mellow and warming, a perfect cocktail for a winter evening.

Day two, another late start trying to catch up on some much needed rest. The breakfast places we had scoped out were no longer serving breakfast, but there was a New York bagel shop not far from where we were staying. When we arrived a few minutes after two they were closing up shop, not uncommon in Europe. Most shops and restaurants set their own hours, most businesses are closed for a few hours in the middle of the day. Having been used to this we found a great Chinese restaurant, Oriental City around the corner. We have not had Chinese food for awhile, so it was a welcome change. The food and service was amazing, we will definitely return when we are back in Tirana.

The rest of the day we spent walking around the Grand Park of Tirana, which is built on an artificial lake. It boasts 120 different types of trees, bushes and flowers. We are looking forward to coming back in summer when everything is in bloom. The views are still stunningly beautiful, with the Dajti mountain framing the lake. It is awesome to be able to see the Skanderbeg mountain range most anywhere in town. There are a lot of parks and green spaces, reminiscent of Portugal. Taiwan park was right across the street, filled with fountains, lights and a casino. It is also nice to see all the old men gathering to play games and drink coffee like Lisbon, something that was nonexistent in Milan. We have a dozen things planned when we return in summer and can’t wait to spend some more time in this unique city.