Barry and I don’t have “Date Night” on the calendar. It is more of a spur of the moment thing when one of us invites the other out. If it’s a middle-of-the-day invite it’s to go out for coffee (hot chocolate for me). If it’s five o’clock or later we go for a beer for Barry and a glass of white wine for me.
COFFEE BARS
We have six coffee shops on our street . . . two are next door to each other and two of the same chain are across the street from each other. Four of the coffee shops also offer beer, whiskey, vodka, gin, etc. and Albanian raki, of course. We hadn’t found even one that offers wine.
Five blocks away is Hops Bar Tirana. They are known for their dozens and dozens and dozens of craft beers, their tasty menu items, and they offer wine by the glass. My preference is white wine.
There is no such thing as Chardonay, Chablis, Pinot Grigio, etc. to choose from. It is whatever white wine is in the box in the bar’s fridge. Works for me. I’ve always been a connoisseur of Trader Joe’s Two-Buck Chuck (Now Three-Buck Chuck) so you know I am no wine snob.
A week or so ago we went to Hops for our date night. Oh no! They were out of wine. We headed toward home and stopped at Angel’s Lounge. We’d passed by it each time on our way to Hops Bar and often thought we’d try it sometime. We decided this was the sometime.
Barry ordered his beer. When I said “a glass of white wine” the server didn’t understand me though I repeated “a glass of white wine” several times. He scurried off to get help. A knowledgeable server appeared. He understood and soon returned with my wine.
I took a sip. Barry asked “is it cold?”
“Uh no.” I guess I could have asked for some ice, but I didn’t. I can probably think of a million things in life that are worse than being served room temperature white wine. But that was not good enough for Barry’s “girl.” The next day he set out on the mission of finding a coffee/bar that reliably served chilled white wine.
CHEERS WAS HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
Ever since we’ve been here, when we came to the end of our street we walked past an establishment set back from the street. It has a lovely black wrought iron enclosure with a double-wide gate that’s usually open. All we can see from the street is a patio with tables and chairs, often unoccupied. There is no visible signage. Is it a private club? A restaurant? A coffee shop?
Fortunately, Barry’s voracious curiosity had to be satisfied. The very next morning when he went out for his morning coffee, he bypassed his usual café, the one closest to the apartment. He walked to the mysterious establishment at the end of the street. There were people seated on the patio with coffee cups in front of them.
Barry ventured in. He was warmly greeted by a young man (Dorian) ready to take his order. Still not seeing any identifying signage Barry asked the name of the place. “Café Roma.” Ah, one mystery solved.
Barry ordered his Americano coffee. What makes it an Americano coffee is it comes in a cup twice the size of an Albanian espresso.
From the patio Barry got a clear view of the café interior and saw a bar with rows of alcohol on the shelves. When his server returned with his coffee Barry asked if they also served white wine. YES! He immediately texted me with the good news!
Last night I invited Barry out — with the goal of checking out Café Roma. Fall weather is creeping in and sweltering heat is slipping away. It was a perfect night to step out so down the street we strolled.
Oh, oh. There was no one on the patio and the wrought iron gate was closed. Barry attempted to turn the gate handle but it didn’t budge. We were about to turn away when a man way back in the interior waved a hand and headed toward us.
“The owner is away but he’ll be back soon. Come on in,” he said in perfectly understandable English. He gestured to the empty tables signaling we should pick a spot. Shortly after we’d settled in the guy came back to take our order. Barry asked a few questions about the beer selection and settled on a tall beer from Montenegro — a Nikšićko Svijetlo. Of course, I ordered a glass of white wine.
I saw our server pull an aluminum bag from what I suspected was a box of wine in a refrigerator. He went behind the bar. All I could see was the bag from which he seemed to be pouring what could only be wine into an unseen glass. I wondered if he was carefully measuring the amount. Any place I’ve had wine since we’ve been here looks to be a carefully measured five-ounce pour.
Our server arrived with our drinks. He had a distinctively tall bottle of beer for Barry. He had an empty wine glass and a little carafe of white wine for me. He poured some wine and set the carafe on the table. When I took a closer look, I saw the carafe was marked as one fourth of a liter.
This morning, I looked up the liter-to-ounces conversion. One fourth of a liter is 8.45 ounces! Wow! To heck with the stingy typical five-ounce pour from all the other places. We have found our perfect Date Night place where soon everyone will know our name.
THE SUN WAS BEGINNING TO SET
The owner was back and a few people had come in. We’d leisurely finished our drinks and were ready to leave. I have mentioned in previous posts that the server will not bring the fatura (check) until you signal you want it. Literally, people can order one $0.70 cup of coffee and sit at the table for three hours undisturbed and never be made to feel they should move on.
I caught the owner’s eye and signaled for the check. My wine was 300 lek. Barry’s beer was 150 leke. We left a 100 leke tip.
As an aside, the US dollar continues to lose value against the leke. When we arrived in November 2024, 550 lek was equal to about $5.83. Today the exchange rate makes 550 lek equal to $6.17. Even so, we consistantly have budget money left over at the end of every month since we’ve been tracking it.
No money worries here. I am immensely grateful for that!
P.S. Barry got a haircut today from the barber on our street. So convenient! Besides the haircut, the barber trimmed Barry’s eyebrows and mustache, and neatened up his beard. Total cost: 500 leke ($5.70)
You both look wonderful! Is it okay for me to share your site with Norma for the group? So many people have asked about you. Now I have to stay healthy and outlive my husband and daughter—and pray that the orange idiot doesn’t stop social security payments to people who leave the country!
Dear, Dear Sharon! Thank yew very much! Jennifer is looking very wonderful, as always. I am looking only moderately wonderful. November 6, 2024, was our arrival date and we have had a super ten months.
ABSOLUTELY OK TO SHARE! WE ENCOURAGE IT. The intention is to inform, encourage, and (I hope) entertain. And I GAR-ON-TEE, Ms Darrow, that life here is better than moving to Swinging Door, Wyoming.
Please be sure that the very busy Norma makes it happen. And my new email barryschoenborn739@gmail.com would be the way to send us newsletters. And any member can write me directly.
ABOUT SHARON. You’ve gone through so much! I’m glad you’re alive and well. If you visit, we’ll treat you like royalty. That applies to all NCPA members.
SOCIAL SECURITY. Yeah, we watch that. But El Dumbo doesn’t dare mess with Social Security. That would be a grave mistake.
My best to you and all NCPA people!
Barry