Now, remember, the pictures are in reverse order of when they happened. The bottom picture was taken on the ride to Gjirokaster. The scenery was amazing again, but perhaps less dramatic & more peaceful. A lot of the ride, I held the kids, and even after I had hands free, it's hard while zooming along & curving here & there to get reasonable pictures. They always end up looking less impressive than what we were seeing. But I know this, the ride was beautiful and pleasant, and within 10 minutes of getting in the cab, we knew we had done the right thing.
Gjirokaster is a beautiful, town, more preserved than most in its historical state, so it has a significant part of town that is full of older style buildings and cobblestone roads. It feels like a different world. I was so glad that we decided to go there. This is what I had been looking for when I had wanted to see Albania. We found a nice, clean hotel, got settled in a little, then headed up to the castle (not too far of a walk from the hotel). One of the highlights for the kids was seeing cats in the trash can en route. It's funny how it's always the little things - cats sneaking about, a huge grasshopper, a tiny snake, two bugs stuck together, pigeons cooing up above -- that capture their attention.
By the way, have I mentioned that we have had beautiful weather for this entire trip? Really. How is that possible? Spring can be nice - we chose this time of year for the weather, but we did expect a few rainy days. We've had sunshine for 2 1/2 weeks in both Albania & England. Wow!
Gjirokaster had fresh smelling air, birds chirping and historic looking buildings all around us. We walked up to the castle and started exploring. I should also mention that our kids have gotten better about travelling. They walk much longer before they start to complain, if they even remember to complain at all. They also have done very well on these long bus & cab rides, even when the curves upset their stomachs a bit. There are times that I'm very proud of them! (There are other times that they don't listen that well, or try to aggravate each other, and I wonder how they got this way, so I am being careful in my praise, but most of all I am very proud of how they've done on this trip.)
The castle was interesting. It had some canons & weapons from WWII, a lot of archways, a captured US spy plane from the 50's, a performance stage area where we played soccer & dodgeball, and magnificent views of the mountains and valley. Of course, Luke was pushing us to play ball and ignore the castle, as usual, but Genci & I took turns so that we both got to explore. Nathan was very interested in the spy plane (that's what he wrote/drew about in his journal). Luke had an urgent need to poo, and there were no bathrooms there (very bad planning, in my opinion, which perhaps contributes to the fact that a lot of areas of the castle seem to be used as impromptu bathrooms) -- so we had him poo into a plastic bag (quite a production, but we were successful). I didn't feel like contributing to the stink problem at the castle. So many areas you go to explore, but decide not to, because of smell. (I hope these details aren't too unsavory - I think they're a part of the travel experience - there's the thrill of discovering new places and the troublesome details such as food and bathroom needs.)
The castle was interesting. It had some canons & weapons from WWII, a lot of archways, a captured US spy plane from the 50's, a performance stage area where we played soccer & dodgeball, and magnificent views of the mountains and valley. Of course, Luke was pushing us to play ball and ignore the castle, as usual, but Genci & I took turns so that we both got to explore. Nathan was very interested in the spy plane (that's what he wrote/drew about in his journal). Luke had an urgent need to poo, and there were no bathrooms there (very bad planning, in my opinion, which perhaps contributes to the fact that a lot of areas of the castle seem to be used as impromptu bathrooms) -- so we had him poo into a plastic bag (quite a production, but we were successful). I didn't feel like contributing to the stink problem at the castle. So many areas you go to explore, but decide not to, because of smell. (I hope these details aren't too unsavory - I think they're a part of the travel experience - there's the thrill of discovering new places and the troublesome details such as food and bathroom needs.)
Anyways, we eventually headed back into town & then went to a nice, high restaurant with a view for dinner. The food was good. Everyone was happy. And we had a good night's sleep.
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