After the warm short-sleeve weather of Saranda, Gjirokastra was just cold. It is an ancient city with a large castle set on the hilltop. Overlooking the river valley, this castle controlled movement through the valley. The ancient city developed around the castle and today, cascades down the mountain to the valley floor. Gjirokastra is known as the city of 1000 steps and is a World Heritage site.

We have 4 volunteers in Gjirokastra and so on our way back from Saranda, we stopped there for 2 nights. The city is about the same size as Saranda, but has a much larger feel and a more diverse economy. It also has several affordable restaurants open in the evenings which is nice if your staying in a hotel. The hotel we stayed at is a remodeled Ottoman house with lots of charm (that means things don’t work) and it was hard to heat.

We talked David (onsite volunteer) into giving us a tour of the castle on Tuesday afternoon. It was an Albanian National Holiday and so we were not sure if the castle would be open. When we got up to the castle, we stood by the locked gate until the guard let us in. We still don’t know if the castle is open on holidays. Only half of the castle is accessible and the open part is not well maintained or documented. David is working in the armaments museum to improve this situation. The last modifications to the castle occurred in the 1800s and those parts are open and now store WWI and WWII artillery.

There is also a US trainer plane on display. The story is that under communism, the spy plane was shot down, the pilot captured, questioned and released. The alternative story is the pilot was moving the plane and became lost, ran out of fuel and had to land in Tirane, Albania. The pilot was released, but the plane was kept. Whatever the story, the connection between the plane and the castle is at best confusing, unless it is supposed to be part of the armaments museum.

The other thing of interest is the rug lady. She has a shop in the old part of town and if you go in, expect it to be a long visit. When we stopped in, she was having her lunch, so she offered us wine, tea, part of sandwich and I forget what else. We will have to go back and pick up a rug from her. We would have done it while there, but we really don’t have a place to store it right now.