Final Weekend Getaway to Tirana

As our countdown to departure continues, I decided it would be prudent to try and get out of Kosovo one last time in August. And my friends Tim and Kat (and little Sam) Schad from DC, along with Belle-air gave me the perfect excuse. This airline just started delivering the 35 minute flight between our two cities for a mere 117 euro return. Considering I could land on Friday night and return Sunday evening it was the perfect weekend getaway. This all is of course if you actually put the correct dates on your ticket and don't have to purchase a new full-fair 1 way ticket to return home when you thought you were...

Pranvera opted to stay home to continue catching up with friends and family before we leave Kosovo. So 'flying solo' I was lucky enough to run into one of her co-workers from Tirana on the plane whose son picked her up and drove me as well to meet Kat waiting at the US Embassy. As we quickly learned, this was not specific enough of a landmark to rendezvous since this happens to one of the largest complexes I have seen with the blast fence covering well over a normal city block. As I waited at one gate and Kat at another (with my cell phone not working) we eventually thought the same thing and started walking toward each other at the same time (did we both get trained at Thunderbird or what).
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Wonderful to see her and then meet Tim and the baby at their wonderful 10th floor apartment right next to the meeting point. For our first night we quickly found ourselves at a pub catching up on all that has happened since with saw them last in Lake Ohrid Macedonia where we celebrated my Bday and Kosovo Independence. We then wandered to their work colleagues bday party and enjoyed a low key evening of free finger food and drinks.

Saturday we headed all the way up the coast (2.5 hours) to hang out on the beach for the day (Velipojo) in a desperate attempt to escape the city heat. An added incentive for our destination was the fact that one of my yoga students from Kosovo lives in Tirana and had opened up a sailing school there for the summer. So we were taking him up on the invitation to enjoy the day playing with his boats. As I am (appropriately) learning, having a 2 year old slows things down a bit. So it wasn't until after Sam's nap at 10:30 that we were able to roll in a highly overpriced old ghetto VW rental to weave our way through the typical stupid, reckless and slow driving of Albanians (just like in Kosovo).

We arrived in time to sprint to the closest restaurant and get some much needed beers, fresh fish, pork ribs and plenty of french fries for Sam. The beach was quite wide but with so many people, trash, blackish sand and floating trash I immediately appreciated the heavenly beaches of Thailand I had just enjoyed. We walked out to the water to try and spot my friends boats but due to the high wind conditions non were actually in the water making our rendezvous a bit of a challenge. But after several inaudible phone chats we located him and finally parked ourselves on the beach.

Sam was in the water before we had the umbrella's up. My friend Ilir insisted on a welcome drink which we grabbed at their closest beach pub. Not before too long was I in the water with my friend suiting up to windsurf for the first time in 10 years. Funny enough after a couple of reminders and being given the beginner board and sail, I got up on my first attempt and raced all the way out to sea, with Ilir far behind. When I could no longer make out the details on shore I thought it was time to head back. Since coming about is so hard I just dropped the sail, went for a nice swim and turn the board around to head back. Funny thing is that since this was my left (and weaker) side, it took about a dozen attempts to get myself back up and a couple more falls to figure out how to steer the boat in the direction I needed to go. With my back screaming, my mouth full of salt water, I finally made only to be convince by Ilir I had gotten the hang of it and we went back out for one more tact. It was a great blast and certainly something I would rather now wait 10 more years to do.

Back on shore with applauds from the peanut gallery it was Tim and Kat's turn to hit the water. So they fired up the fast 2 man catamaran hobbiecat and give each a tour well out to sea to get in the full spirit of the day. Even little Sam joined them later in the 2 man kayak as they paddled around the shoreline. All and all a wonderful day to have fun in the sun with old and new friends.

Our two hour return trip left us with enough energy to pick up some fantastic hickory sauce cheeseburgers and onion rings and stuff ourselves silly on the sofa with some fine beer and bad Albanian TV. Didn't take too long before it was lights out for everyone...

Sunday we slowly rallied the troops after several mugs of nice coffee and some Tim special omelette's. Sam was ready to go in the backpack this time as we headed slightly out of Tirana to the gondola that was going to whisk us all the way up this massive mountain for a perfect windy and crisp, sunny Sunday of hiking and a long lazy lunch overlooking Tirana in its entirety. Fortunately Tim and Kat had done this before so we jumped into a free shuttle to head to this wonderful restaurant which had the perfect, low impact hiking trail that we enjoyed for a couple hours. With Sam in backpack we enjoyed the long walk, extremely fresh air followed by a traditional lamb and beef/yogurt meal with the obligatory beers.

With no particular rush we enjoyed our time up in the hills, the wonderful views from the high speed Austrian gondola and weaving our way back through a much less congested sleepy Sunday city with most its inhabitants out at the beach still. The new road to the new airport was a quick and pleasant way out of the city to head back to Pristina in time for a rendezvous with Pranvera and a late supper. The Balkans certainly have their advantages and I believe I can safely say I have maximized my two years out here to explore them to their fullest.