Tirana, Albania

Tirana is the capital of Albania and a bustling city full of cafes, restaurants, ice cream parlors, and relics from their recent communist past. I meant to just stop here for the night but the hostel I found was great and it seemed like an interesting stop for a few days. I've had a suspicion building in me that the closer one gets to Italy, the better ice cream becomes. Turkey and Greece got me thinking, and now that I've tasted the ice cream in Albania, I know I'm right. It is absolutely amazing and just dirt cheap. A large cone will cost less than $1 and keep you well satisfied. I can't claim this didn't factor in to my decision to stay for a bit longer. But it has more as well; due to its communist past and recent reopening, the city has great communist buildings and an art museum full of communist era propaganda and artwork.

The former inner party section of the city, restricted to elite members, Blloku, is now the thriving, hip nightlife area of town with trendy bars and incredibly well-dressed people.
I had a memorable meal here at a nice restaurant owned by a Turk who served us plate after plate of Ottoman dishes, including a crown of roast lamb cooked in plum, apple, and dates sweetened with honey and spiced with cinnamon, apparently a 500 year old dish from the Byzantine Empire. There isn't another city like Tirana, so I would definitely recommend getting here before tourism ruins the authenticity, friendliness, and value here.


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Details:
From Gjirokastar, just get a taxi to the bus station (tell the cabbie "autobus, Tirana", pronouncing things as if in Spanish, $2/200lek, 5 minutes). The buses leave frequently, it seemed like every two hours or so until 18:00. I got the 12:00 bus ($11/1000lek) and it takes 8 hours to reach Tirana. Don't expect it to be pleasant, though, the bus is hot and without AC, though it claims to have it, and the driver will most likely play Albanian techno for not just himself, but the entire bus. Ask to open the roof vent to let in some air. When you arrive you'll be dropped off on a street corner west of the city center. As a general rule, just keep going in the direction of the bus and you'll get to Skandebeg Square because it seems like all major roads go through there. But just in case, ask someone to point you in the direction, most everyone is helpful and some speak pretty good English. Make sure to write down Skandebeg though, or they may not understand what you are saying. From there, follow the road behind the statue for 3 long blocks to Ismail Qemali Street. Take a left and two blocks down, where the street appears to come to a T-intersection is Tirana Bakcpackers Hostel directly across the street, a fun place to stay with decent facilities ($16/12€). As for sights, almost everything is located on or just off of Skandebeg Square; the art museum is a must, a few blocks south of Skandebeg square.