Montenegro/Albania: Day 14

Gjirokastër

A 9:45am start left me time to hit the laundromat in the morning and consequently drape my room in wet clothing for the day 🙂

Our tour today was a walk up (literally) to the Old Town where we strolled through the “bazaar” on our way to the castle.

The castle is a big, elongated fortress on top of a promontory overlooking town. Ted gave us the history, basic directions, and set us free for the afternoon until 4:30pm.

*Really hard to grasp size + where you are. Initially went to roof above the arrow but can’t see the 3/4s of castle in front of you. Same on the left half, can’t see the back half….*

There’s always been a settlement up here but in the 15thC the Ottomans built up the fortress into an impressive fortification and in 1811 Ali Pasha (of yesterday’s fort) extended it substantially. It was in constant use up to 1963 when the communist regime was using it to hold political prisoners.

*Interior stalls/warehouses filled with tanks*

*A rare surviving little 1940’s Fiat tank*

*Top right end of castle. Modern construction on top*

*Vaulted spaces here once contained the workshops of artisans and craftspeople.*

*The metal dome is the stage and the middle is all seating for performances held here*

I window shopped my way back through the bazaar till I found a quiet cafe under the trees for a pleasant lunch.

@ 2pm I joined a tour of the Cold War Nuclear Bunker. Built between 1970-1980 it was Dictactor Hoxha’s paranoidal defense against the world after he’d already split from China & the USSR and feared invasion from everyone.

It has 56 rooms, can hold 200 people for 6 months (only important government officials), is 800m long and 80m below the castle, and always 16°.

*Two toilets and one shower for 200 people – good thing bunker never actually used!*

At 4:30pm we took a short drive to a local vineyard. We had a very short explanation of how to make Rakia and wine, then spent most of our time eating and drinking!