Gjirokastër

Gjirokastër was my favorite city on the tour, and the only one not on the beach.  The top picture is a view from our hotel window overlooking the old town and the Drinos River valley.  The roof covering for most all the old town houses is slate, but the one right in front has a red tile roof. 

The second and fourth pictures are of the mosque school and the mosque, respectively.  The hill is so steep that the top of the minaret barely rises above the street in front of the school.  The middle picture is of our hotel, taken from the castle.  The hotel is actually an old house, which I'll cover in a separate post.  

Bottom picture is the clock tower at the castle.  The slate roof right in front has grass growing on it.  If you blow up the picture you can see how thick the slate is -- that's a lot of weight.  

If any of you have read Chronicle In Stone by Ismail Kadare, this is the town and this is the castle, and that's the valley where the airfield was. Kadare is the most well-known Albanian writer now living, living in Paris, as a matter of fact.  He gets nominated for Nobel prize but doesn't seem to muster the votes.  Maybe some day.  Gjirokastër is his hometown.  Another of his books I liked is Broken April, about the blood feuds of mountain tribes of northern Albania.  Two book club recommendations for my Bethesda friends.