"Albanian sites" mjbcoffee's Profile

Tirana at Night

This picture is taken from the Sky Tower's revolving coffee bar. In the foreground with the fountains is the Taiwan and coffee bar. The restaurant there is excellent! I've seen the mayor of Tirana, Edi Rama, and the previous Prime Minister, Fatos Nano, there often.
The large hotel in the distance is the Tirana International Hotel.

Albanian Weddings

Albanian Wedding celebration

The custom of Albanian wedding is to celebrate 2-4 days! Generally the weddings are Saturday and Sunday, but often they begin on Thursday and go through Sunday. Saturday is the bride's day when they have a large party at her home or local restaurant. The groom is not always present for this celebration. (In Tirana, the customs are more westernized) Sunday is the groom's day and he will go to the bride's home and pick her up. While there, he will be given a large feast along with the 10 men who accompany him. When the bride leaves her home she is to cry and sob. This custom is to show her parents that she loves them. (Again, in Tirana, the bride usually does not cry.) When my friend Arjana got married I even cried. Everyone did!
The groom then takes his bride, tears and all, to his home. There everyone dances around the car and around the bride and groom. For the Northern Albanians, the bride is not to look in the eyes of anyone. She is not to smile. This shows she is a humble girl. For a photographer this is a difficult situation!

Djati Tram

The Mt Djati tram take only 13 minutes to get to the top and the views are breathtaking! Worth the 500 Leke ($5) per person. At the top you can have lunch or dinner at a local restaurant, or drink coffee and have a dessert just about anywhere! The kids can have a horse ride and play in the snow in the winter.

Interesting Volleyball game

Notice the importance of the Land Rover in the game! We find that our Land Rover comes into uses in many different ways!

baby Goats

baby goats on horseback

This was taken on our trip to Saranda. There were a number of horses carrying lambs, but this one with two baby goats was really precious.

Tirana's French Bakery

French Bakery

This is one of a very few restaurants that have a non-smoking area (upstairs in the corner). The desserts are wonderful also! The owner is French, and she is often working on site. This is a big hang out for English speaking foreigners.
Update: They do not have a second floor anymore, but the first floor is still amazing and the almond croissants are divine - they sell out often by noon!

Intro Updated May 25, 2013
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Comments (29)

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GyuriFT May 19, 2012 at 2:43 PM

UHappy belated birthday!
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rudysmom626 May 18, 2012 at 12:45 PM

Happy Birthday mjbcoffee! I heart coffee as well, but not enough to make it my member name - that honor is reserved for my dog!

Here's hoping this birthday brings lots of new adventures and exotic destinations in the year to come!

Cheers,
Blake
VT Team
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DaHongHua May 18, 2012 at 8:26 AM

A warm happy birthday greeting from Malaysia.
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bakalapoe May 18, 2012 at 2:50 AM

Happy birthday to you! Nice description of the Albanian wedding celebration. Quite the same happened in my region in recent years, but not nowadays...
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TrendsetterME May 17, 2012 at 10:24 PM

Hey, "Happy Birthday", with all my best wishes ... :)
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MacedonianUK May 18, 2010 at 12:12 AM

Happy Birthday and many happy returns!!!! Valentina
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JLBG May 17, 2010 at 8:38 PM

Gëzuar përvjetor! This year, we have not been to Albania in May. May be in late August, to make a change!
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a2lopes May 18, 2009 at 5:49 AM

Happy birthday and many happy returns of the day. Greetings from Lisbon which is waiting for your visit. Albania it's still on my wish list...
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Donna_in_India May 18, 2009 at 5:19 AM

Hi mjb - wishing you a very Happy Birthday! Love the photo of the goats on horseback. :-))
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Rushi23 May 15, 2009 at 6:26 AM

Incase I forget I want to wish you a very Happy Birthday for the 18th, hope you get better soon, Love Danielle xxxxx