A Little Background
My blog post “Deciding to Retire in Albania” posted July 9, 2025 details the circuitous route that led us from originally targeting Bulgaria as our retirement destination to switching to Albania. This happened about a month before our planned departure date of September, 2024.
We had hired a Bulgarian attorney online. She was wonderful. She emailed us a checklist of what to do and was quick with replies to our questions. We diligently dove into learning the Bulgarian language starting with learning the Cyrillic alphabet that includes symbols as well as alphabet letters we are familiar with.
When we changed our destination to Albania due to overly burdensome Bulgarian visa issues, I couldn’t locate an Albanian immigration attorney online who would provide the same level of service as our Bulgarian attorney.
What I did find was the https://www.expatsinalbania.com website.
Barry and I studied the services offered and decided on buying the 1 Hour Relocation/Residency Consultation Zoom call for 99 € (Euros). We connected with Denisa and liked everything we heard. We agreed to meet Denisa and her partner Sonila the day after we arrived in Albania. (Here’s the link to the relocation/residency page https://expatsinalbania.com/product/legal-immigration-consultation/ )
Sonila met us at our hotel and walked us to a coffee shop at Skanderbeg Square, the main plaza located in the center of Tirana. Denisa soon joined us. We chatted for about an hour filling Sonila and Denisa in on why we chose Albania and what we were looking for. We ended our meeting by setting a time for a taxi tour of Tirana with Sonila the following day.
Historical Note:
Gjergj Kastrioti (c. 1405 – 17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg, was an Albanian nobleman and military leader who led the League of Lezhë in the Ottoman-Albanian Wars until his death. Skanderbeg is considered to be a major figure of medieval Albanian history and today is the national hero of Albania. As you would expect his statue is prominently displayed at Skanderbeg Square.
The taxi tour was a whirlwind hour or so driving throughout the various Tirana neighborhoods. Most of them looked very livable to me. Every neighborhood had a farmer’s market with fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, olives, and more.
(BTW Albania is olive country. In the larger farmer’s markets you can find many household items like bowls and utensils carved from olive wood.)
The day after the taxi tour Sonila took us on a walking tour for a closer look at a couple of Tirana neighborhoods. From then on Sonila was our go-to guide for everything associated with getting settled. Sonila asked for details about what we were looking for in an apartment and she was on it. Thanks to her we had our perfect apartment nine days after we arrived.
Expats Meetup
Sonila host expats meetups every Friday night from 7:30 pm to 10:30 pm in different Tirana neighborhoods. There are two locations within walking distance of our apartment. Hops Bar (a five minute walk) and LaVeen (a fifteen-minute walk). Both locations also serve great food. Neither place has a website. Here is a link to the Trip Advisor featuring Hops Bar: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g294446-d25081651-Reviews-Hops_Bar_Tirana-Tirana_Tirana_County.html
Here is the link to the Trip Advisors featuring LaVeen: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g294446-d15021299-Reviews-LaVeen-Tirana_Tirana_County.html
A meetup is a very casual / eating / talking opportunity. The expats at the table are a different mix of people every time. We don’t attend every event, but we do run into a few regulars when we do attend.
Sonila is our Expats meetup “Hostess with the Mostess.” She circulates among the group introducing people, asking us how we are doing and offering solutions if we have an issue of any kind. This Friday night she reminded us of the recent changes to the Albanian residency rules that requires that we start the process of renewing our recently acquired residency status sooner rather than later. No worries. She will let us know what needs to be done and will shepherd us through the process when the time comes.
There is no Amazon, Costco, or Walmart here (yet). It turns out that the expat group is a great source for where to find stuff. The “stuff” might be in little shops with no web presence tucked away in obscure locations on side streets and semi-alleys. Or the “stuff” might be at the giant Spar store in the humungous TEG mall (Tirana East Gate), 9.9 kilometers (6.15 miles) from our apartment.
There is also the Toptani mall. https://toptani.com.al/sq/ It is 645,834 square feet with eight shopping floors and four parking levels. It offers more than 80 brands across various categories including fashion, home goods, a supermarket, and electronics. The mall also includes a food court with local food chains and, believe it or not, a KFC and a Burger King! (There are no McDonald’s in Albania.)
Toptani mall is just 440 meters (471 yards) from the apartment. It was the first stop after signing the lease on the apartment. Sonila took the lead. She steered me to the things we’d need: sheets, pillows, towels, hangers, a vacuum cleaner, etc. Next were the pots and pans and cooking utensils, which was Barry’s area of expertise. He had clear requirements regarding quality. He took his time and chose wisely while Sonila and I selected tableware, a hamper, a garbage container, etc. The clerks speak enough English to complete transactions. I was glad for Sonila’s presence. I’ve never liked shopping and get overwhelmed by the mall vibe.
From the expats . . .
- I learned where to find beach wear for our trip to Pogradec to celebrate Barry’s birthday last month.
- I got the name of a skilled chiropractor in this city where chiropractic is not readily accepted.
- And I was warned about the shoddy workmanship of an expat’s newly purchased Birkenstock shoes, which saved me from an expensive mistake thinking the well-respected Birkenstock’s brand name was trustworthy.
Truth be told we are usually too tired to go out on a Friday night.
Last Friday Was An Exception
The meetup was at Hops Bar. It’s close by – a whopping 280 meters (about 300 yards) from the apartment. We decided to go early and have dinner before the meetup. We went at six o’clock so we could have a leisurely dinner and then join the group at 7:30. I ordered a cheeseburger with French fries.
A Word About Eating Beef
The only beef I’ve eaten in many, many years was an occasional In-N-Out Burger in Lodi. My new exception is a Hops Bar’s cheeseburger. The thick, juicy hamburger patty, generous cheese slice, luscious farm-fresh tomato slice, crispy lettuce, secret sauce, and exceptionally tasty sesame seed topped bun makes this a burger to “die for” . . . even better than a Double Double from In-N-Out Burger, and that’s saying a lot! The fries are seasoned with salt and a greenish spice I haven’t identifed yet but love. Barry agrees about the burgers. He reminds me they also have some nice snacks like wings, too.
The price of the Hops burger and fries is 590 lek ($7.02)
NOTE: The U.S. dollar-to-lek exchange rate continues its downward slide! Fortunately, we are still more than financially OK because everything is so affordable here!
Now about the Hops Bar’s glass of white wine. (It is the photo below on the right.) I had not so much as a sip of the skimpy pour. The photo on the left is at Café Roma. Notice the amount of wine in the glass (from which not one sip has been sipped) and the rest of the pour is in the one quarter of a liter carafe situated between the wine glass and the beer bottle as mentioned in the “Date Night in Tirana” blog posted on August 29, 2025. Hops’ skimpy glass of wine is 400 lek ($4.80) which makes Café Roma’s one fourth of a liter carafe at 300 lek ($3.45) an astonishing bargain!
Barry’s only knock on Hops Bar isn’t money. It’s the availability of the beers. They have 40 beers on the menu, but often don’t have what they advertise . . . all the way from cheap domestic beers to high-end Belgian brews! BTW, the prices are a little high, but the pours are honest. (After all, most of the beers come in bottles.)
Next time we head out for dinner I’m voting for a cheeseburger and fries at Hops Bar even when there isn’t an Expat meetup that night!
We are continually grateful for our good fortune in connecting with Sonila and Dinsea. Their commitment to the expat community is deep. They have genuine interest in our well being. Hosting the expat meetups every other Friday night meshes with their daytime brunch meetings every other Wednesday. We rarely attend the brunch just because we have plenty of stuff going on during the day that gets in the way. The best thing is if I have a problem or a question Sonila is as close as my WhatsApp account.
Feel free to leave questions or comments in the box below.
I wish in some of our travels that we might have visited Tirana. I’m not sure if we’ll live long enough to do that. Maybe, before we both fall apart, we can work it in to one of our trips.
You two are bold travelers. I hope we’ll see you one day!
What a great roadmap to a bit of your journey. How great it is to have such wonderful direction and help, I love hearing about the kindness you’ve experienced. Oh my, I want one of those burgers right now!!
Jennifer does some super “how-to” stuff and doesn’t spare the detail. I’ve been doing little “short shots” with mostly pictures. Barry