We’ve been in Tirana (Albania) for almost two months (it was supposed to be just one…), but we’ve pushed back our stay twice, and now finally settled on hitting the road about Jan 5, 2026. I’ll get more into the “where” of that later, but, after taking short walks to the Tirana Lake, I finally hiked around the entire perimeter.

It’s officially called, “Artificial Lake Of Tirana,” which I admit, is a horrible name (!), but most just call it Tirana Lake, which is part of Grand Park of Tirana. Who cares if it’s artificial, it’s a nice park and walking the entire way takes just under one hour (57 minutes to be exact), walking at a brisk pace. The distance is 2.97 miles (4.8 km), and at my pace I burned 273 calories. In case you wondered…

Aside from the numbers, it’s a beautiful walk, with lots of off-road trails along the way, and in many places there are THREE walkways to follow. One is dirt and gravel, and another is a nice asphalt running path which veers into the woods. I’ll try that next time. There are three basic “gyms” on the way, with outdoor equipment, a place to play ping-pong, plus at least six coffee shops—no big surprise there! The walk is nicely covered about 90 percent, which is great when it’s hot, but we’ve actually gotten a heat reprieve the past few days and it’s been very nice outside. For a city of this size to have such a place of solitude and nature really makes it a pleasurable stay! I encountered what MAY be Helmeted Guinea Fowl (thank you Google lens!), which I would have identified at pheasants at first glance. Regardless of what they were, they were a nice surprise, along with several species of ducks. What is unique is that the lake has NO boats, and no fishing allowed, so it is all for show, which works for me.

And the other night I found another nice perk: Tirana Open Air, which is an outside movie theater for people, instead of cars! It offered a selection of beanbag chairs and a decent size screen and good sound. They don’t show first run movies, but dig into the archives, and don’t always offer “family friendly” films, since I watched Deadpool there, which is “R” rated and rightfully so! It played in English with Albanian captioning, and it was cool watching a movie outside with people just hanging out with popcorn and beer. Oh, and it’s free, a city service provided by the municipality.

I’ve had several people pose the question, “Do you really like Tirana?” and the answer is “hell, yes,” though we’re not QUITE ready to “settle down,” even at ages 71 and 72. Coming up next year: Asia again