Tirana: Ate like Queens, almost as if it was our Last Supper.

Remember that one time we almost died in a head-on collision?

Oh yes. That was in Albania.

Great memories for us shame the driver can’t remember as he was asleep at the wheel.

Tirana, the city where €20 euro can go a long, long way and there’s voluntary participation in near death situations.

Well that has been what we’ve encountered in a short-lived afternoon and morning in this city.

Arriving via Budva, Montenegro my first impression was there aren’t as many horse drawn carts as everyone goes on about instead just battered Mercedes-Benz and locals certainly know how to party post-election.

Mauve coloured flags greeted us on each street corner. Torsos hanging out of car windows, drivers cheering and beating horns, everyone has been celebrating with the Alliance European Albania led by the Socialist Party winning the majority.

Our decision to descend upon Tirana was very lastminute.com

It certainly isn’t in my top 5 places purely because of our experience in getting out to the airport and thanking ourselves that we still have nine lives left.

But I would give Tirana credit for its food and how money can go a long way.

We were told that we could eat like (the) Queens (we are) for next to nothing. To prove it the owner of our hostel took us to an ex-pro Basketball players’ restaurant. It was a short stroll up the road. Dodging washing machines, children’s secondhand BMX bikes and furniture all jumbled together like a mini garage sale on the side of the street, we couldn’t stop laughing.

Here we were, 7 of us rather tall girls from the hostel led by its owner a short balding Albanian man. What a spectacle. I guess a modern day Hugh Hefner does exist in Tirana and most of the locals who stopped to stare may have thought the same.

Famous in the 60s the sportsman turned restaurateur still keeps memories of these glory days alive with a collage of photos decorating the menu making a nice change from a normal tourist picture menu of dishes available. 

Our hostel owner did keep his promise that evening. Feasting on veal escalope with cheese sauce, a local styled tzatziki, fresh vegetables, Greek salad with local feta from the market, fresh bread, we felt like our waists were expanding as our mouths received a wholesome workout.

Queens we were that evening and only a small handful of euro gold coins needed to pay for the pleasure of it.

Toodle pip x

Street selling made real.

Local markets.

Albanian version of a pyramid.

Very patriotic.

Street life near our Hostel.

TAXI?