So, pretty much every city I've ever visited has an entertainment district and in Tirana it is Biloku. I heard good things about this place so I decided to wander around a bit and have a look. From the main bus stop head towards the university down the main road, I believe it's called Bulevardi Deschmorete Kombit. It's a bit of a walk and you can take a taxi of course but I like to walk and get an on the ground experience. I found Biloku by walking in the general direction and asking the locals for assistance. If you're not careful you can walk by as I did but this was due to my enjoying the walk and doing the tourist thing. So, I actually was quite close when I walked by and turned around to head back to where I had just came. It was early afternoon when arrived and the place was fairly busy, with shoppers and people out enjoying the afternoon. I did some recon of Biloku witha plan to return in the evening as I wanted to explore the city center during the day. So, I headed back to the town center to have a better look as I passed some places that looked interesting earlier, like a museum and some government buildings.
I ended up at Sheshi Skenderberj (Skanderbeg Square) which worked out as my point of reference for the entire trip and wandered into a side street that looked interesting. As I've learned during my travels in Eastern Europe most cities of any size have an outdoor market of some type. So, just as I appeared to be getting lost I stumbled upon an outdoor bazaar. The one in Tirana is a combination with some tables open to the weather and others inside tents or covered in some fashion. You can spend the better part of a day exploring as I did because there is an enormous variety of items for sale. I've explored these markets on many occasion in other countries, so I'm familiar with them but this was the first one in Albania. It contains basically the same stuff and was packed to the rafters with everything imaginable . After several hours I came out in what appeared to be approximately the same area I entered and looked around to orient myself. I thought I saw a building that looked familiar in the distance and walked in that direction and after an hour or so was back in the center of the city. Something I've come to do when I'm in a city is use building or something visible from anywhere in the city to remain oriented. started exploring before electronics and digital aids which allows basically anyone to pretend they're an expert navigator.
It's actually impossible to get lost in Tirana so unless you have some genetic propensity for it so I began wandering down the side streets back and forth encircling the city and after several hours of this I ended up again back by the statue. During my circuitous route I managed to make my way into a grocery store, a couple restaurants, some stores and met a few people that spoke a little English. I took back off after a break and as I passed a store clerk standing on the sidewalk I said hello. She immediately said, “The Americans that live in Tirana are over there”, and she pointed me in the correct direction. I told her, “I didn’t come to see Americans, I came to visit with Albanians” and she smiled as I walked away. I've learned that human nature causes people to seek out what's familiar, meaning people that look and act like them. I prefer to immerse myself in cultures and generally avoid expat communities although I know where they are. Anyhow, I managed to stumble upon another outdoor market but this time with fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, an open air grocery store of sorts so I looked around for a bit, sampled a few things, took some pictures and pointed myself back to the center of the city.
You can spend days walking the town if you really want to explore but since it was nearing evening I came back into the city center and noticed an artist sitting in a small makeshift enclosure on the sidewalk. I stopped to see what he was drawing and we discussed the possibility of his drawing me in chalk. There are almost always local artists plying their craft and you can get some good deals if you're into art and help someone make a living at the same time.
So, I spent the next hour sitting as still as I could as people wandered by and stared at me. I was able to strike up a couple conversations as I sat there and after a short period came away with my first souvenir, a chalk drawing of me. It was raining a bit at this point so I took cover in a restaurant and grabbed a cup of coffee which seems to be a popular thing to do all over Eastern Europe and Tirana is no different. After the rain let up I wandered back to Biloku to see what was afoot late in the evening. By this time the place was hopping and people were all over the place. It's easy to identify the popular places because they're packed with people hanging out and you can also hear music thumping.
I did manage to make my way into a few of the popular places and do some people watching but spent most of my time getting a feel for the place and identifying where I may wish to visit later. In my travels I found by way back to the area where my room was and I heard loud music coming from up the street. I headed towards it and there were a couple of women standing outside so I walked up behind them and asked what all the noise was about. They turned quickly as apparently it isn’t all too often an American shows up out of the blue on a side street in Tirana. They invited me in and as one spoke English quite well, we chatted until 3 am or so. It was fun sitting there watching the locals do their thing and carrying on while I chatted with the women. I finally left after learning all about them and their lives in Albania and as it turned out the hotel I was staying at was owned by the uncle of one of the women, How interesting I thought. Well, we exchanged email address and I was on my way back to the room. The found the people in Tirana to be friendly and helpful without exception and up to this point I've enjoyed my time.
More later
Wizard of Where