Gjirokaster
Our bus ride from Ioannina would take us across the border of Albania. We wondered what the process was for a bus full of people crossing over, and we would soon find out. The bus pulled up to the border crossing, and the driver got out and walked to an office. After a short wait, he got back in and pulled up to a gate arm. Everyone got up and started filing off the bus, so we followed. We all needed to show our passports, and they were processed individually. After each person was checked, they got back on the bus. We thought that was it, but the bus drove for about ten seconds, stopped, and everyone started getting off again. I was initially confused and realized we had to be processed leaving Greece and now needed to be processed entering Albania. It was the same process as before, and we got back on the bus.
I saw a change in the landscape only shortly after entering Albania. The border crossing was in a mountainous area, and we came over a low ridge when we left the gate. Instead of driving through the mountains, we went through a broad valley. There were small towns in the hills and slopes of the mountains near the bottom, but the valley was mostly made up of farmland and open fields. This was peculiar to me since I'm used to developments in more flat areas. However, this part of the country isn't as developed, and this land is needed for agriculture. It was neat to see the towns nestled up and down the slopes. Just another unique difference that adds to our experiences.
Gjirokaster, where we were staying, was the largest town we'd seen since crossing the border. The bus came to its stop, and we got off and retrieved our luggage. Once we had everything and everyone together, we started walking up the street to our Airbnb. When I say up, I mean literally. Gjirokaster is another mountain town, and even though we weren't far from our place, we had to earn it to get there. Starting off was alright. The main road was a hill, but not bad. When we turned off the main road, it got very steep. No one was talking since we concentrated on breathing as we climbed the street with our luggage and backpacks. My youngest was running out of steam, so I took her bag. The walk was only 10-15 minutes, but just getting off a three-hour bus ride didn't prepare us for a loaded hike.
We arrived at our place, and the host let us in. It felt good to put our bags down and catch our breath. This place was older but comfortable enough. The layout was odd, with the three rooms in a line. The living room was a combined bedroom with three single beds, then the kitchen, and the second bedroom with the bathroom at the end. Our host left us some homemade dessert bread with preserves, and both were delicious. The kids picked their beds, and we settled in. The Airbnb location was excellent. It was a short walk to a popular part of town, but far enough away that noise from the liveliness would reach us. The only bad part was the grocery store was down the hill, so we only went there once later on.
After resting briefly, Tanya and I wanted to take a stroll to check things out. We heard good things about the nightlife up the street and wanted to get a feel for it. The kids were done walking, so she and I had time to ourselves. The street was blocked from vehicle traffic, and tables and chairs were set out from the restaurants. In some areas, lights crisscrossed the street, giving the old buildings and stone streets a beautiful ambiance. It wasn't peak tourist season, but the roads had plenty of people. We stopped at a shop to admire colorful handmade bowls and mugs. Seeing the different restaurants was fun, but we had to navigate through the tables and chairs in the street if it got a little crowded. Coming to the opposite end of this area, we saw a side street approaching the large castle up the mountain. This was our destination for tomorrow, so we walked up a little to see if we could find the entrance while trying to avoid stumbling on the stone street.
By the way, ALL of the streets were stone. There weren't large flat stones or stones laid out like tiles either. The design looked like stone bricks, but slightly larger than bricks, arranged on their sides and cemented together. None were the same height, so the street wasn't smooth at all. Every three to four feet was a straight stone line across the street a little higher than the surrounding stone. We guessed this was for better traction in winter and much less maintenance than asphalt or concrete. It looked beautiful and unique, but you must be mindful when walking.
We walked far enough up the street to get an idea of where we would be going. It was another very steep street, and we didn't care to go far. We passed a cross street, and we decided to explore it. This street gave a decent overlook of the busting area we walked through earlier. One restaurant had club music thumping with purple and green lights reflecting off the white building. It was a fun contrast to everything around. On our way back, we walked through here to see what it was about. It was a fun atmosphere, and if we didn't have kids to get back to, we would have sat down and soaked it in. We returned and got everyone ready for bed since we were getting up to visit the castle the next day.
The Gjirokaster Castle was the best castle we've ever visited. That's really saying something since we did a month-long visit to the UK several years ago and saw lots of them. This one was huge, and so many parts were open to explore. The first thing we saw when we entered was a hall lined with old anti-aircraft and anti-tank WWII guns on wheels. We read a placard about the castle's history, which dates back to the 5th century AD. Around the corner from here was a long hall with openings that looked into large rooms. We went up some stairs that led to the castle's roof, and it was open to walk all over. A sign at the entrance warned not to get close to the edge. This was because no railings or barriers prevented you from falling; it was just your common sense. The rooftop was very fun to explore and see the different views of the town.
At the far end, we saw where the castle ended and came to a "point." We walked over to get a family picture. There was an opening going into the ground, so the boys and I checked it out. Not far down, I saw the gate that used to cover the entrance lying on the ground, wondering if we should go further. It looked like it had been that way for a while, and the desire to explore won out. It was completely dark here, and we couldn't see without flashlights. My oldest had one, and I used my phone. There were so many rooms under here. We could see old mounts and wires for lights and wondered how many uses these had been through. It was so much cooler down here that we could see our breath. There was a lot to explore, and it made the overall experience that much better.
After some fun exploring, we emerged after being there longer than anticipated. We went back inside and walked the other way to the other end of the castle. There were some lighted stairs leading down to some old ovens. We followed them and found another large room with two large ovens. Leaving here led to a courtyard overlooking the town and more large rooms open to the court. These had been used for various workshops. They were large empty rooms with about 15 ft high arched ceilings, 10ft wide, and went back about 30-40ft. There were several of these next to each other. Past these was an old Byzantine prison. There was an arched tunnel not taller than 5ft and about 10ft long because the wall was that thick. There weren't any lights inside, and we needed flashlights again. There were two huge rooms with a wall constructed at about two-thirds of the way back, about 4.5 ft high, with a floor going the rest of the way back.
We left the prison and walked past a ruined building with the first floor mostly intact. We could walk through rooms all connected with large arched doorways. The archways were open to the outside as well. We found some stairs leading to the top and walked around what was left of old rooms. It was about midday, so we had lunch here. After lunch, we walked to the far edge of the castle to get the grandest view of the town and valley. We found stairs and small doorways leading to random large rooms we never would have guessed were there. An old bell tower was at this end, so we explored the open areas. We followed the old stone walkway down the gate, but there was no entry from this end. Now that we had seen all of the castle, we went back down to get some byrek, a traditional Albanian dish.
Tanya was interested in the small handmade ceramic bowls, so we looked at some at a shop. While we were looking, a lady from another shop must have heard Tanya say something about finding one with "Albania" spelled out in the bowl. The storekeeper said she had more in her shop and had us go across the street to hers. We thought she was stealing business, but we discovered that wasn't true. She gathered all the small bowls she had with "Albania" in them and even grabbed the ones we were looking at from the other store. We realized some shop owners must be family members who own several stores. We found one we liked and purchased it.
Not far up the street was a shop with a well under the floor the owners had on display. The well was hundreds of years old but was discovered seven years ago when they renovated the shop. We looked around for a few minutes, and the same lady from the other shop came in. She started talking with the owners here, and we knew one or more families were running most of the souvenir shops. Of all the unique things we see, my boys were most excited about finding pocket knives. Granted, these did look a little different than others we'd seen in America. They both got one, and we left to return to our place until dinner.
For dinner, we went to a restaurant with a good selection of traditional foods. They even had a plate called Mix Traditional, which is precisely what it sounds like. It had shapkat, sarma, laropit, qahi, qifqi, and meatballs. Some were better than others, but it was worth trying. We had some other dishes, and it was a great meal. The town has stray dogs and cats that frequently walk around the tables, which are all outside. There was a restaurant next door, and it was funny to see their host or owner trying to coax people in. The poor guy looked so frustrated when people passed by, especially when they went to the other restaurant. We finished and walked to a bakery for dessert. They had some small cakes and different types of balls or cupcake-sized goodies. Each person got two things, and everything was delicious.
On our way home, we passed a bar with a guy playing his guitar out front and singing to the bar owner. He was singing "Ramblin' Man" by the Allman Brothers Band, and I love that song. I stopped and sang along, which was a big surprise to him. He didn't expect anyone to know the songs he was covering. This turned into a wonderful conversation with him and the man running the bar. We talked about traveling, of course, but it led to other topics about life. Tanya spoke with the owner about why he loved America and how much our government had helped theirs. He had family in Pennsylvania and loved it when he visited. Once again, this kind of experience with people trumped the sites we'd seen. Connecting with others is so fulfilling, especially in a different country.
The next day, we slept in to recover from all the uphill and downhill walking. Tanya and I walked down to a market to get sandwich fixings and croissants for breakfast. We didn't plan on going out for dinner, so we grabbed a couple of pizzas again. It was a gorgeous sunny day with a pleasant temperature, so we opened the windows. Across the street was a wall with a driveway leading up to a house and a tree on top with purple-dropping flowers hanging over the street. It was so beautiful seeing the mix of old stone and nature just outside our door. We cooked the pizzas for dinner and went outside to enjoy our meal. The next morning, we would be leaving for Berat. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Gjirokaster.
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