One of my cousins also wanted to make contact with a shop manager on behalf of someone else in Italy, who needed some information about a special brand of clothing. The shop was just one block away from my property, in a very new, modern, fashionable and highly priced center. The woman we were looking for runs a "Versace" shop on the 2nd floor, with imported outfits and clothing for men tagged with astronomical prices!
The visit went perfectly, and by 1pm we were at "La Tavernetta' for lunch. I frequented this trattoria type of eatery for several years now, and both owner and waiters recognize me when I return. One of their specialty is a 'salad bar', which, however, has nothing to do with what we name the same in NYC.
There are no raw greens on their display table that surrounds a fire place. With the exception of a delicious cole slaw (that does not contain any mayo), all other dishes are cooked. The choices include cauliflower in light winegar, roasted peppers of all sorts, sauted sweet carrots, grilled zucchini, and eggplants, beet salad, huge green olives in oil, small meat balls in tomato sauce, Albanian 'byrek' (phillo dough stuffed with cheese), and the ever present light yogurt sauce (that includes garlic, shredded cucumber, and even dill sometimes). These salads are usually consumed while waiting for the main entree` which could be pasta, or risottto, or gnocchi, or any meat dish.
There is not a place in Tirana where I have not enjoyed the local meat, whether it's chicken, veal, pork, or beef. My favorite is what they call 'bifstek'; not a steak at all, but 2-3, thinly sliced, beef cutlets, well grilled, very tasty, tender, and juicy! For me, they beat any time any bloody and thicker filet!
After our leisurely lunch, we began walking toward the center of Tirana and its main, large square, named after the national hero, Skanderbeg, which is now under reconstruction all the way around, and thus a bit difficult to navigate.
We passed the building that currently houses the Ministry of Defense, but used to be the High Court when I was a baby, and my Father ex-office now display the flags in the picture below.
After some money exchange, my guests were curious to see the little old mosque that has been part of this huge square since the 1700's.
We didn't know whether it was open or whether we could visit it, but, we decided to try since it was not a Friday afternoon, time of high prayer.
We took our shoes off, when a young man that spoke Italian and English motioned that we could enter the main hall. All floors were completely carpetet.
The inside was kind of dark, and there were a few men around (especially young ones), who were praying. One elderly got up and went to turn on the lights so we could enjoy the beautiful drawings and decorations. He even motioned that we could go up the narrow, high step, round stone staircase that leads to the minaret. My trio went up, but I declined since I knew my knees, after all the walking we had already done, would not take this effort kindly.
Then we strolled down the main boulevard, toward the Art Gallery. The entire area was quite busy at the time (almost 6pm), notwithstanding the light rain. It was one of the several events organized by the Italian Embassy in the past couple of months to promote closer relationship between the 2 countries. Its logo, translated, is "two people, one sea, one friendship".
There was a cocktail going on and a large outdoor exhibit of Italian and Albanian books - a real book fair - of which we took a tour. Then, we walked some more to the modern European Tower, where I did some food shopping. At that point a taxi was in order. Everyone was tired, but would not admit it.
The evening continued with drinks and snacks at my place. I invited two business partners who I knew were planning to drive us sightseeing during the weekend.
Dinner at another nearby restaurant concluded this day.
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