Penguins Bike

Day 53 - Every city needs a rotating Sky Bar - Tiranë, Albania

August 08, 2026Sarah

August 8, 2026 - biked 0 km (0 mi) - biked 1866 km (1159 mi) total

Spent a rest day in Tiranë.

The beloved Skanderbeg etched in a building

Clock tower that used to be the best view in town. Now it is surrounded by skyscrapers. But you can still pay to go up in it.

The pyramid of Tiranë that was previously built for the remains of communist dictator Hoxha. Now it has stairs for a view and the center is used for art and innovation. We didn’t climb the stairs as our muscles are still recovering from our hike.

One of 170,000 useless bunkers that were built during the communist era

More penguin art! Gabs is represented here.

We visited House of Leaves which was a Sigurimi place of surveillance under Hoxha’s reign similar to Stalin and the KGB.

Another bunker underneath the House of Leaves

We walked to a lake that had a sign: No Swimming and No Fishing. And there also appeared to be no boats. How do you like to experience a lake?

We ascend to the best viewing spot in town.

This cafe rotates slowly around as you sit and sip.

We circled around just in time to reach the sunset.

The 7:30pm daily protest from the Skanderbeg square to Rama’s office

Traffic because the protest is on the other street

Finishing the day with a donër at a Turkish restaurant

Day 52 - Albanians love US(A) - Lehzë, Albania to Tiranë, Albania

August 07, 2026Sarah

August 7, 2026 - biked 73 km (45 mi) - biked 1866 km (1159 mi) total

Albanians love us! All the kids run in the street and yell, “Hello, hello, where are you from?” The old men ask us too. They say, “You are American? You are welcome here in my country. Welcome.” At least in the small villages we bike through.

Mostly old men riding mopeds honk a friendly toot and some cars too. In all other countries this trip, we were largely ignored as cyclists but here MOST people wave or give us positive little honks.

Albanian love started in 1919 with Woodrow Wilson protected Albania from Italy, Greece and Serbia from it carving up after the Ottoman Empire fell.

In recent times, I hope a few very wealthy Americans don’t taint the people’s love as they protest against Rama, their current prime minister.

For now, it doesn’t seem like it does.

In other news, sigh, David got his 5th flat on the trip. The Ghost of Spain continues to haunt us as this flat was a thorn finally working its way through after a few weeks.

Sarah still holds a perfect record of zero flats on all of her tours.