18. Tirana, Albania

Albania is one of southeast Europe's Balkan states, with coastline along the Mediterranean, Ionian and Adriatic Seas. At present, it is a candidate for, but not yet a member of the EU. It's currency is the lek, but many vendors will accept euros.

We visited the capital city of Tirana. With one small caveat, I LOVE this city!

Upon arriving at Tirana airport after midnight, we grabbed a taxi to the hotel, and chatted with our driver about what its like to live here. His shared that he gets paid too little for his work, finds minimal opportunities to improve his status, and is anxious to "get out" as soon as he can. He seemed frustrated and I felt bad for him.

Although the World Bank classifies Albania as an upper middle income economy, the average monthly salary here is just under $1000 US, with an average cost of living for an individual at about $655 before rent. The 2022 census, at about 2.79 million people shows a 3.7% decline in population over 2011. (Young people leaving?) I had low expectations for what we might see when touring the city.

I was in for a pleasant surprise. The city has a vibrant energy to it - lots of eclectic shops, cafes & restaurants, with 4-6 stories of apartments built over them, interesting and unique architectural high rises, lots of piazzas and green space, wide pedestrian friendly walkways, streets filled but not overcrowded with locals and tourists. A mini-Manhattan! The caveat I mentioned above is the traffic jams. The city has no rail system - everyone is in a car or bus, and the congestion is dreadful.

We walked the city for a few hours, grabbing lunch and doing some shopping along the way before negotiating with a non-English speaking Albanian taxi driver for a ride back to the hotel. (Luv Google translation app).Læs mere