As the title would indicate, today’s a solidly relaxed day. Coming off of a day stuck in the bus, I’m feeling a bit sore/wanted to sleep in and thus postponing my planned trip to Shkodër. Plus, it’s just nice to take it easy and kick back with a beer.

Prior to the trip I had done some research about places to see and eat at, and seeing as I had more free time than expected, I naturally had to check them out! In particular, I was jonesing for some meat (I’ve over indulged in fish since I got here, thus proving the Law of Dminishing Returns true), and it was time to chow down on some barbecue. Situated across from the bus station, Tangja is a wonderful family-owned restaurant. As you walk in, you just see meat that’s about to be sacrificed to the food gods. It’s a small place for sure, but you thankfully have the option of sitting in the back in a slightly bigger garden. Its atmospheric for sure, and you almost want to fall asleep there due to the coziness. What was interesting was how you don’t pay until the end of your meal, which I guess enables people to run up their bill thanks to the abundance of options. If I wasn’t so full, I most definitely would have gone back for seconds, but I had ordered the ubiquitous dish of the Balkans, ćevapi. What this is is a type of sausage that uses minced meat-it’s super tasty! However, the twist was that I had a sandwich of ćevapi, and and I got to choose up to a staggering three sides. So, come in with a fairly sizeable appetite, because you will have a quite a lot of food! It’s decently cheap as well, as the sandwich combined with a beer costed 4.50€. Definitely recommend swinging by there, as it’s a culinary treat!

Since I didn’t end up making it to Albania today, I decided to compensate by planning for the intended trip. As it turns out, two cool Americans in my hostel have been to Shkodër, and they said it was pretty cool. Not as developed as the west, but a great place nonetheless. Based on what they told me combined with my research, I’m pretty excited to be heading to a third (and lesser known/traveled country)!

Again, this post comes with plenty of time left in the day. I’ll be heading out to a beachside barbecue tonight, so hopefully that’ll go well. If I can, I’ll try to keep you al posted about how that went. Though, things are shaping up to be a worthy conclusion to this great trip!