Today started out rather pleasantly as we woke up to a nice, cloudy day instead of the downpour we had yesterday, so we took advantage of it and out we went. We started walking up Rruga Don Bosko where we live and headed to the main street which crosses our street, unfortunately nobody seems to know the name of the street, it is something I will have to get back to you on. The street is part of the revitalization of Shkodra and it is shaping up to be the nicest looking street in the city. It leads to the pedonale on the north and to the Bashkia (Municipal Building) to the south. The whole strip is one big walking path with beautiful pavers, trees, lamp posts and benches. It is scheduled to be completed within one month and I just know it is going to be lovely come spring!

We headed out to lunch and ended up at Cocja Bar Restorant, on Rr.Vasio Kadia, next to the Orthodox Church (seen on the right). The house was restored after a fire and houses a lovely restaurant, with a bar downstairs and an outside garden patio which is open in the summer. Upstairs is the main dining room also leading to an outside patio area for summer dining. The house is charming and very warm. There is a beautiful decorative wall across from the bar made with river rock, we just happened to sit right by it and I was amazed at how beautiful and well constructed it was. The staff was very friendly and spoke both English and Italian and the menu was in English. We both had veal, ham in a wine sauce for me and Vince’s with mushrooms in a cream sauce. We started with a mixed salad and Djath Bardh Furre (baked white cheese), it was simply sublime!! It just melted in our mouths and the toasted bread brushed with olive oil paired it perfectly. We had some red house wine which was exceptional! All in all I would recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting or living in the city. It was fairly priced, the service was excellent and the atmosphere very inviting. I loved the way it was decorated for the holidays and I also loved the fact that it had a bicycle rack outside for the more adventurous types. We are definitely going to make this restaurant one of our favorite stops in Shkoder!