Here charcoal is called carbon and we are finding it is not as plentiful as in the states. Many of the restaurants cook with charcoal and people roast corn over charcoal on the streets, so we never thought that finding it would be difficult. And it is not, just ask anyone and they will tell you to look in the supermarket. We have searched every store that looks like a supermarket and every dyqan that looks like it might carry anything associated with a grill and have not been able to find charcoal. But where do the restaurants and street vendors who roast chestnuts and corn get their charcoal?

Finally in desperation, Criss asked one of the restaurant owners. Taking pity on Criss, he sold us a small bag of charcoal and told us they get their charcoal off a furgon from Miredita. Miredita is a small village about two hours from Durrës. That actually makes sense as there are not a lot of trees around Durrës large enough to make charcoal and Miredita is in the foothills of the northern mountains where the remaining forest are located.

The small bag of charcoal lasted a couple of weeks and in that time we located charcoal in a store in Tirane. As we were with a friend with a car, we picked up two five-kilogram bags. Not the most convenient source, but we were excited to have charcoal. Half way through the bag though, the pieces of charcoal become too small to sit on the grate and so fire building requires a new skill level. We have also found that an easy way to get the weight correct is to add a few rocks to each bag. Now the challenge is to find the furgon from Miredita for the next bag.

In a city without street names and house numbers, giving and getting directions is difficult. We will make another trip back to the restaurant and ask again. Once we get the directions, probably we still will not know where the furgon stops, but we will have a general idea. We will go to the area and ask again. There is a saying here, “You can find Istanbul by asking”, and we are learning to ask. Eventually, we will find the furgon, but we expect it to take two or three outings over a couple of weekends. That is just the way we do business here. It is not fast, but it does eventually work.

The best option may be to buy a big bag from the restaurant. We hope the owner is willing to sell a bag.