GJIROCASTER, ALBANIA - AKA "The Steepest Town in the World"

Time to leave Berat and head south.  Gjirocaster is directly south of Berat on the map but geography interferes and we need to head west and then south.  The minivan ride Berat to Fier goes well other than its sweltering hot.  Aircon is the front passenger window rolled down.

Long term travellers say if you don’t get scammed once in a while you aren’t putting yourself out there enough.  It was our turn.  We tell the driver we need to be let off where the buses gather to go from Fier to Gjirocaster.  He drops other passengers off at one spot, tells us to stay then takes us and two other people to a remote spot where there is a car waiting.  On the side of the car, it has something about bus lines.  The bus driver, woman passenger and car driver all say No bus, No bus.  Our luggage is already in the trunk and we are being herded into the car with the other two.  Lesson: If things are moving too quickly, take time out, leave, start over.

The car driver thinks he’s Mario Andretti, passing on curves and hills and lines of vehicles with oncoming traffic.  Our guesthouse host in Gjirocaster is to meet us and can’t believe how quickly we arrive.  It was only a $20 scam, but still bloody annoying.  Ah well, we get to enjoy Gjirocaster for longer.

We are staying in the basement suite of a couple in their 50s or 60s (I can’t tell ages anymore) and their son.  Between the three of them, they operate two shops in old town Gjirocaster.  It’s a complicated schedule they have between working long hours (9 am to 9 pm), taking breaks and covering for each other.  Mom is a talented craftsperson and is recognized as a Gjirocaster Artisan.  She makes some unique items for sale in their shops.  Elly also starts late in the morning so that she can feed us breakfast … she’s an artisan in this department too.  What a great start to the day.

Dad (Stavros) greets us one evening as we come home.  He is the gardener in the family.  He proudly shows us his bucket of ripe tomatoes, then proceeds to pick hazelnuts off his tree, shuck them, split the shells and feed them to us.  Later, near bedtime, he brings us down a plate of nicely sliced cantaloupe as a snack.  Breakfast includes fresh garden produce too.

The family has befriended a street dog who had pups in their back yard shed.  Stavros has blocked off access to the shed with a ladder to keep the pups safe while momma dog can easily jump in and get to them.  They feed her what they can, maybe some warm milk and bread in the morning - she garbage hunts to keep the hunger away.  After combing grocery stores for dog food and coming up empty, we finally find some nice meaty canned food.  It's expensive.  A luxury that not many could afford.  Momma is a sweet dog and we spend some time with her.  The pups are young enough that their eyes are still closed.

Across the road from the house, a temple and some round stone buildings are under construction.  These are by the Bektashi Order, a Liberal Sect of Islam of the Sufi Dervish order.  While they have mystical rituals, they don't practice whirling here.  Poetry plays an important role in Bektashi spirituality and humour is used in much of their teachings.  Tirana, the capital city of Albania is the World Centre for the Bektashi Order, so we hope to visit their museum when we get to Tirana.

The fortress of the Gjirocaster castle sits high over both new town and old town, as protection demands good sightlines.  We have been to many castles now, but this one is extraordinarily large, with incredibly thick walls and high ceilings.

The Clock Tower

The armoury section here is large and includes a Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star plane from the US Air Force that was shot down.  Below are a little Fiat tank and one of many canons.

From atop the castle walls, we can see 'new town' and a view of the Drine Valley

Endless Arches:

We clamber down some steep steps to the bakery.  Baskets full of bread were constantly churned out to feed the soldiers.

Below is the tomb of two Betakshi Babas (fathers in the Betakshi religion)

Every 4 or 5 years a folk festival is held here on the castle grounds.  We are surprised that this space is not used in the summer as a cafe and resting spot for those who climb up to visit the castle.

Some of the music that will happen at this folk festival is of the Albanian folk iso-polyphonic type...songs are often improvised.  This website describes it well: Albanian Folk Iso-polyphonic Singing  On the top left of the page is a recording with a small sample of the singing.  This You-Tube recording of a choir performance give a longer example: Robert Bisha & Albanian Iso-Polyphonic Choir

OLD TOWN

We stop on this hot day for a beer and our friendly hostess after some conversation brings us a complimentary qifqi.  This vegan fried rice ball is unique to Gjirocaster ... and so delicious we order a couple more for lunch.  Here is a traditional recipe: Recipe: Qifqi  In the second-hand shops I've seen pan that looked like they were for poaching very large eggs, but they are qifqi cooking pans.  Most were cast iron.

Walking around, we love the beautiful kilims  (rugs) floating in the breeze and wish we could carry one.

Thankfully Gjirocaster has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so that the old buildings and streets here can be restored and so that tourists will come.  Gjirocaster is out of the way.  The tourists are few and the shop-keepers struggle to stay open for six months of the year.  The craftsmen needed to restore the buildings are few and far between.  Many have left Albania and many are old so the work goes slowly.  We are told that every year shows some improvement and we think its certainly a town worth visiting.

We are fascinated by the stacked stone roofs on the old buildings.  Apparently, the stones are expensive to buy.  They must be incredibly heavy, especially with a snow load in the winter.  How the freeze-thaw cycle doesn't make the stones erupt in every direction is a mystery too.

These two old buildings are particularly interesting:

Its time to say goodbye to our lovely hosts.  The next stop is on the Albanian Riveria - Ksamil.  The advice is to never go here is August ... but what can you do ... as full-time nomads, we have to be somewhere!!