There is not a lot of things to do, with the exception of the national pastime of drinking coffee. The strip is packed with cafes, one next to the other and all will have patrons sipping espressos at every hour of the day. There are more coffee shops here per capita than anywhere in the world. Sometimes we joke that no one eats here, save a sufllaqe or byrek. Sufllaqe is grilled meat inside of pita with lettuce, tomato, onion, then topped with french fries and covered in mayonnaise and ketchup. The dish is borrowed from the 17th century Greek’s souvlaki, minus the french fries and ketchup. The Albanians love ketchup, in the condiment aisle there are 20 different kinds, even ketchup potato chips. The other unusual thing here is the fries are not crispy, it seems to be a preference as fries come with most everything here, much like Portugal. Byreks are a triangular pastry typically filled with cheese, of spinach and feta, or sometimes even a meat filling. They are designed to be eaten on the go and are ridiculously cheap at 80 Leks ($.73). You can get one at any Furre Buke, or bakery in town. A fresh baked loaf of bread is the same price, offered in many different shapes and sizes.

There are also a ton of pizza places here too, although there are not anything compared to the pizza we ate in Milan. The dough is thin and floppy, almost like the undercooked fries, they don’t seem to like char on their pizza crust. We tried many pizzas from different places, but our favorite was Anchor, lucky for us it opened half way through our stay. Like most resort towns along the coast, things don’t get ramped up until summer months, typically June through August. It is nice being here off season to avoid the crowds and have things be cheaper. As the weather warms the prices of everything start to climb, although cost of living here is still so much better than what we were used to stateside.

The absolute best place in town was a little tavern called Sofra e Lakrorit that was owned by a a lovely couple who made their food with love and care. The family pie was one of the best things I have eaten, it was a dough stuffed with half spinach and feta, and the other with a roasted tomato sauce which is referred to here as SOS. The pie is then cooked over an open fire in the corner of the small kitchen. They poured us a raki after dinner and served us candied eggplant for desert, which was surprisingly delicious as bizarre as it sounds; even Mark was a fan. This meal including drinks was 2000 leks, or less than 20$ to put things in perspective. The Albanians are gracious and generous hosts, everywhere you go you will get a little extra, like nuts or chips to snack on with your drink, or a small raki and something sweet like fresh fruit or a tiny cake.

A lot of time was spent relaxing here, which was a much needed change after jumping from place to place for a few months. The sunsets at night a different show daily, and there are a hundred places along the main strip to enjoy them from. Coffee is of course a must, and there are all kinds of unusual tea preparations for those who don’t drink coffee.