Gjirokaster

 Another three hour bus journey from Berat - though it was quicker than that, which was a good thing since we were crammed in, with five people sitting in a row between the seats.

Gjirokaster old town - where we were staying, is at the top of a very steep hill. The bus dropped us off at the bottom of said hill. It was a day rich in humidity and by the time we had hauled our rucksacks up hill, I was not a pretty sight, though I did manage to irritate Lydia by singing "I love to go a-wandering," most of the way up.

Luckily, our guest house had the most incredible views so it was all worth it

and a quick shower later we were out on the streets wandering the Old Bazaar. Whether the old bazaar really is an old bazaar or a tourist confection I'm not sure, but it is a lovely area of four of five pedestrianised streets running up and down hill, each one lined with cafes and bars and shops selling mostly tat - crockery, bags, cushion covers and rugs in traditional patterns, earrings and hideous statues of Mother Theresa, you know the sort of thing. Most of the restaurants served "traditional" food, which is very Mediterranean - vine leaves, stuffed egg plants, Greek salads, lots of liver on the menus (yum). There seemed to be a lot of casseroles and one particular - lamb yogurt casserole which was amazing, though not helping me in my ponderings on whether to become vegetarian or not. 

The following day we did as many tourist things as we could, starting with the Castle. The Castle in Gjirokaster is very different to the one in Berat - there is no doubt that this was a fortress, one that was heavily attacked and defended over the years - starting from before the 12th century. Probably its most famous inhabitant was Ali Pasha, who was a delightful man, and friend of Byron, who liked slaughtering people. The Nazis also built a prison within the castle where unspeakable things went on, so it is a mixed bag of sobering lessons, stairs which lead to bat filled caves, vaulted, shadowy ceilings, intriguing dark corners and tunnels impregnated with a myriad stories and emotions, and all, of course, in the midst of views of blue painted mountains which make you want to weep with the beauty of it all. in the centre of the castle, where once was a small village, there is now a big green and a stage where folk festivals are held and this is a wonder of modern design, a web of orange and purple and gold thread over a black frame, so stark a juxtaposition that it works beautifully!

Apart from the Castle, there are two beautiful old houses in Gjirokaster - one, Zekate house, built in 1811, the other, Skenduli, in 1723. Both are beautiful examples of traditional Albanian architecture and a welcome relief from the communist housing and both with views to die for. Skenduli house has an entire room, apparently dedicated solely to weddings and its neon pink and green stained glass windows are staggeringly modern looking. I would be happy to live in either, (with the addition of modern toilets), but am not a millionaire.

I mean, who wouldn't want this view??????????

The other big attraction in Gjirokaster, is the Cold war tunnel - another bunker built for the bigwigs - 200 of them! - to escape to in the case of civil war. With two toilets, it seems to me that there wasn't much intelligence in the planning. For instance, it was assumed that three months would be all that would be needed in order to avoid the harmful atmosphere, plus it sounds like the 200 were all men. Now, if you wanted to save these people in order to further the species....Not only was it a stupid idea, but unbelievably cruel - for twenty odd years, food stocks for 200 men, for three months were kept there, regularly replenished to keep fresh - and this when the nation was living on starvation rations. Unsurprisingly, as soon as the regime had fallen and the bunker was discovered everything in it was destroyed or pillaged by the furious populace.

Gjirokaster was also the birthplace of Enver Hoxha, the leader of the communist party and not a very nice man, but there is not much, that we saw, at any rate, to commemorate this. 

There is, however, a very nice cocktail bar or two....