Old town flair and castle tour in Gjirokastër / Albania

09/04/2023-09/05/2023

Gjirokaster's pretty but very touristy old town winds in alleys along the hill, which ultimately leads to a sprawling castle protected by UNESCO World Heritage. It's fun to scramble through the castle complex, especially since nothing is secured here like it would be in Germany...

I'm unlucky again with my hostel: the kitchen is about to be renovated... But Caro, a volunteer here, offers me to use the gas stove. It's a good thing that I'm a little more independent of traditional Albanian food, which for me as a vegetarian is boring and protein-free.

I'm also fascinated by Caro's story: Caro cycled alone from her home country of France to Gjirokaster. In the hostel she then fell down the stairs and broke her arm. When she didn't know what to do, the owner of the hostel offered Caro to work as a volunteer at the hostel until her arm was okay again and she could continue her bike ride back across the Alps. Together we discover how important it is to fully immerse ourselves in traveling and to accept every turn, no matter how unpleasant it may be, as fate. In any case, Caro realizes how much pressure she always puts herself under to perform and it is a completely new and perhaps important experience for her to simply sit idly in an alley in Gjirokaster once a day and wait until her arm heals again.

The little village of Gjirokaster is atmospherically quite nice, but it is also quite overcrowded and spruced up with tourists. I somehow like it better outside the pretty old town, where Albanian singers perform their art in the alleys in the evenings and I get into a nice conversation with an Albanian butcher about vegetarianism😅....

The next day I'm heading further towards the coast...