All is well that ends well

Yesterday morning, while my housekeeper was cleaning my apartment, I decided to use my reliable car service to go shopping at one of the new, large complexes in the suburbs of Tirana.

Although I've a valid license, I would never drive in Albania, and never did in Italy either, for that matter. I prefer to let the locals handle their own unruly traffic, and, at times, unconventional vehicular behavior. My chaffeur in Tirana is an elderly gentleman, who has worked as a driver for 55 years across most of Europe, and I've been one of his steady customers for the past 10 years when in Albania.

I had quite a few to-do's and purchases on my list and I know I could count on him, as usual, for promptness and help in handling bags and packages. In less than than 1 1/2 hour I accomplished a lot with him, and was serviced expeditiously at all stores with typical European courteusness by the sales people that are always willing and ready to help here. Upon my return home, however, I had to face an unexpected, and unpleasant surprise.

As I entered the lobby of my apartment building I noticed quite a bit of water on the floors and stairs, both elevators out of order, and my floor neighbor, who was also loaded with 3 shopping bags, discussing with other people what had just happened. The problem originated on the 6th floor, where the bursting of a water pipe flooded the elevator shafts, and the administrator shut both water and elevator service off for safety, while waiting for a technician to arrrive.

While he and a couple of men were shuttling back and forth between floors, my neighbor grabbed a couple of folded chairs from the small office cubicle in the lobby and, with unraffled demeanor and resigned manner, invited me to join her in sitting down, surrounded by our purchases. I am not fluent in speaking Albanian, but understand it pretty well and can get along with any native without a problem. The two of us had some small chat while I was thinking that, in the worst of cases, for lunch we could have had some of the ice pops I had just bought.....:-)))!

Notwithstanding the inconvenience, most people accepted the situation clamly, and even the most elderly slowly tackled the stairs to get to their respective apartments. For years Albanians have been used to and had to deal with much more than this!

My neighbor and I were the only ones loaded with stuff to carry all the way to the 12th floor, thus we decided to remain in the narrow lobby, monitor the situation, and hope for the best soon. Thanks to the cell phones, which we both carried, we were able to call out. She reached her husband at work, and I my housekeper, who meantime, not knowing what was happening downstairs, was trying to complete her cleaning by using the reserve water we all keep inside the apartments for emergencies like this.

When the technician, who was summoned while attending a funeral, arrived about an hour later, he put one of the elevators back to work. My neighbor and I, plus my housekeeper, who, meantime, had descended via the stairs, quickly grabbed the ride upward, without a second thought, and safely reached our 12th floor with all our merchandise and a big sigh of relief! What an adventure!

For the afternoon I had a prearranged appointment with a couple of my friends, who wanted, at the end of their work day, to take me out for a late lunch in the country. After hearing what happened, they arrived earlier than expected, and eventually we drove off for one of our favorite places: a restaurant located a few miles out of the city, which I've described here previously. It's always very crowded because of its excellent food. Our lunch was no exception and we enjoyed a variety of their typical specialties.

Usually, we prefer to have the classic espresso at the end of the meal somewhere else, so that we can visit and experience other establishments on the way back home.

Yesterday, we deviated briefly to a side road and reached the sleepy village of Petrela, with its towering castle, which I've visited a couple of years ago.


It's quite a climb to go up there by foot, and we had no intention to do so, especially after a full meal, and also due to the lateness of day.

Later on we stopped at a new, neat looking restaurant/bar that was along the winding road back. It attracked our attention for the interesting style of its windows and the lovely display of flowers along its balcony.

We sipped coffee indoors, prompted by the owner whose place was comfortably warmed up, and watched a beautiful sunset through the glass walls overlooking the surrounding valleys.

Back in town, we stopped for a while at my office to drop some of my earlier purchases, destined to it. Afterwards we enjoyed the first roasted chestnuts of the season that we picked up just before getting back to my apartment where we shared some drinks and chatted some more before retiring for the evening.

The old saying is really true: all is well that ends well!