This year, according to the sighting of the moon, the celebration
of Small Bajram, the Feast of Sacrifice, fell on Thursday, October 25th . It is observed annually by Muslims
around the world, when, by tradition, they sacrifice sheep for this holiday, giving the
meat out to their family, friends and to the poor. This meat is called kurban
in Bosnia, thus the holiday is known as Kurban Bajram. This day is one of 3 national holidays
observed annually in Albania also by the US Embassy, the others being Columbus and
Mother Teresa Days.
I was invited by some friends to join them for
lunch, which took place in the countryside, in the outskirts of the city of Lezhë,
one and a half hour car ride, northwest from Tirana.
This town of about 28,000 people,
according
to some historians,
is considered the site of the
League of
Lezhë where Albania’s national hero, Skanderbeg, united the Albanian
princes of his time in the fight against the Ottoman Empire.
Today, Lezhë is known
for its site of Skanderbeg’s mausoleum. He was buried here in the
cathedral that was dedicated to Saint Nicholas.
From the city itself, it took another 20
minutes or so to reach the restaurant my friends had chosen. It was really way
out of town, located in the middle of nowhere, on hilly country and roads,
where there were no signs or directions of any kind. Curious about how they knew this place, I was
informed that they also learned about it from other friends, just by word of
mouth. It is, what is known in Italian as,
an ‘agroturismo’, which is a rustic inn that prepares foods using only local, specialty products, at usually very
good prices. In some cases, these establishments also offer lodgings.
Upon arrival we found that some cars
ahead of us were denied entrance without reservation. The place was quite
large, with tables setup also outdoors.
The menu, as usual in these places, is pretty much the same for everyone,
but can be tailored to people’s taste.
We
decided to skip the first course, because we wanted to fully enjoy the large
variety of appetizers, which was followed by 2 types of meat (chunks of roasted
lamb and sheep meat, grilled on skewers in very small bites) accompanied by 3 different versions of potatoes, all very
delicious.
One dish I particularly
favored was fresh ‘porcini’ mushrooms, now in season, the top of which was grilled to perfection (they
sold here at the mere amount of less than $12.00/Kg). What a treat!
The desserts consisted of a variety of “frutti
di bosco” (wild cherries, blackberries, cranberries, and others only found in
this area), a creamy and fluffy piece of the house cheesecake, and a drink also made
from cranberries. To wash down this gargantuan
meal, ‘raki’ and ‘espresso’ coffee were also served.
After snapping a couple of pictures, we leisurely
rode back to Tirana, but made a small detour to see the town of Shengjin,
which houses the 3rd in size, commercial port of Albania.
Shengjin's ‘black
sand’ beaches are favored by the Kosovars that now flock to the Albanian coast to
spend their summer holidays. New roads
and building constructions of all sorts were evident everywhere along the
shoreline. A gorgeous sunset accompanied
us for a while, and we reached Tirana when it was already dark.
It was a perfect afternoon since it allowed me to relax a bit and have some respite from my current work that occupies me also on weekends.
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