Fifth Journey Day 139: Circle Breaking the Grid

"Circle Breaking the Grid" — a soft rebellion of a circle against a city’s measured lines, echoing steps across Skanderbeg Square.

Date: September 24, 2025
Location: Tirana, Albania

First footsteps in Tirana, Albania, led me to Skanderbeg Square—an enormous civic stage where Ottoman, Italian, and socialist-era notes meet contemporary glass. The plaza’s fountains, painted facades, and wide stone grid create a living canvas for everyday movement and light, perfect for a day of watching and sketching.

First Steps in Skanderbeg Square

My first day in Tirana started at Skanderbeg Square. I was immediately struck by the openness of the plaza — an expanse of stone with fountains scattering light into fragments and an equestrian statue cutting its silhouette against a high, cloudless sky. I sat near the edge for a while, feeling the hard stone beneath me and letting my eyes move between the facades painted in faded ochres and reds and the more modern glass surfaces refracting the sun.

Gathered Movements

I felt no rush, only a desire to watch. Children darted in and out of the fountains’ spray, their laughter echoing through the open space. Men lingered near the benches, gesturing with cigarettes in hand. A group of teenagers passed by, their shadows stretching long across the patterned pavement. I sketched loosely, not aiming for accuracy, but rather capturing the sense of lines dispersing and bodies shifting against geometry.

Scale, After Meteora

What I noticed most was the contrast of scale. After Meteora's vertical silence, where stone rose to meet the sky in solemn pillars, the ground itself was the dominant element here: wide and flat, insisting on horizontal attention. It pulled me outward into the rhythms of human presence rather than upward into absence.

As the Light Softens

As the sun softened into the late afternoon, the air grew gentler. A warm wind carried the smell of roasted chestnuts from a nearby street vendor. I felt tired yet content, as if the day had given me enough without demanding anything in return.

A Circle Against the Grid

This evening, I carry with me the image of a child running in circles through the square, his footsteps out of sync with the ordered tiles. Perhaps it's a reminder that movement against structure is what keeps the world alive.

Travel Notes

• Weather: Clear skies, 26°C; dry air with a light breeze. Sunlight glinted off the fountains and warmed the stone underfoot.
• Scents: Roasted chestnuts drifting across the plaza; faint mineral notes from sun-warmed paving and a whisper of fountain mist.
• Sounds: Children’s laughter, the rhythm of footsteps over patterned tiles, low conversation, and a distant city hum beyond the square.
• Reflection: After Meteora’s vertical hush, Tirana’s horizontal sweep invited a looser hand—circles wandering across a grid, people threading order with spontaneity.

Continue the Journey

If this square’s choreography spoke to you, you may also enjoy the later Tirana reflections in Fourth Journey Day 154: Vibrant Footprints, or another Albanian moment in Second Journey Day 81: Ermal Zalli.