The town of Shkodër, “the city of bikes” is quite nice. Bikes rule the road and the cars must be very defensive drivers and yield to them.

I rented a bike from my hostel and biked a route by Skhodër Lake. The bike seat wasn’t very comfortable, but otherwise it was an amazing trip. I biked along the west side of the lake. It offered beautiful views.

Once the road turned to gravel, I parked my bike and kept walking. The trail eventually turned to a nature path, and I accidentally walked up to the border of Montenegro!

I saw many bees and bee houses, so I stopped at a store to buy some local honey. I buy the cheap honey at home, so I can’t compare exactly, but this honey is thicker and tastes more complex probably due to the variety of flowers in the area. The entire town smells like lovely flowers.

Shkodër, the town

Shkodër has a few charming pedestrian streets as well. I got dinner one night at one of the restaurants on the street. I ordered tavë krapi, oven cooked carp in onions and tomatoes and served with bread, a dish unique to Shkodër. The sauce was especially delicious!

As I walked up and down the pedestrian street, I felt like I was being watched by all the people sitting at the tables. If I had more time and didn’t have to work, I would have enjoyed drinking a few beverages and people watching as well.

Kantina Mani

I visited a nearby vineyard, Kantina Mani, and had a tour of the vineyard and cellar, as well as raki and wine tasting. Originally, I wanted to attend a raki making workshop, but the timing didn’t work with my work schedule and the workshop required 2-4 people. I’m sure I could have convinced someone else to join. Working and traveling allows me to travel for longer, but sometimes gets in the way of certain experiences.

Albania has the Kallmet grapes, specifically in the north. It is an ancient variety of the region. One day, Albania will be famous around the world for their Kallmet wine.

The vineyard had rows of Kallmet grapes interspersed with every fourth row being Merlot grapes. To the untrained eye, all the rows look the same, but the Merlot leaves are a bit smaller and closer together, and the Kallmet leaves are thinner in texture. Planting Merlot among the Kallmet helps with the overall success of the vineyard and health of the plants, I think relating to pollination.

Fatjon, who is the owner, told me about the history of the winery, and his life story, and I tasted 3 different varieties of wine.

While I was at Kantina Mani Vineyard, some restaurant owners from the mountains came by to pick up an order of wine. Fatjon, the ultimate host, would apologize when he had to answer the phone or when the restaurant owner came to visit, but I didn’t mind because it enhanced my experience.

Fatjon showed me how the raki equipment worked. One can make raki from wine or from fermented fruit and the raki is the steam that liquifies after cooling from the heating process.

I could have biked to the vineyard, but I opted for a taxi due to time constraints and I wasn’t sure how much wine I was going to consume!

I purchased a bottle of raki infused with blueberries from the mountains and also a bottle of Kallmet wine. I’m very happy for the experience.

Some more Albanian

All of these mean generally “what is your name”

• si e ke emrin
• si quheni
• qysh e ki emrin

All of these mean generally “how are you”

• si po kalon – a local girl said this to me the other day so I will use this one 🙂
• si je
• a je mirë

Other words to know

• Po = yes
• Jo = no
• Ndoshta = maybe
• Çfarë = what
• Shumë = many like the quantity of something
• Sa kushton = “how much does it cost?” the quantity of the price

I am so shy to speak the language.