Gjirokaster, and dinner with the lamb master!

Really enjoying the weather. Beautiful high of 27C (81F) in Gjirokaster yesterday, although in the morning we drove up into the mountains at 4,000' and it was certainly a bit cooler up there.

Ruth and I had done a drive and hike up the mountain when we were here last year. The views are spectacular, and the mountain road is a fun drive.

We stopped a couple of times on the way up to enjoy the views...

Switchback road we took leading up to the village of Erind.

Scenery along the way.

Tony, enjoying the view.

A farm way up in the mountains.

Apparently there is a trail up here. Maybe next time!

And there are more trails going down into this valley.

We'll have to come back here with Max and stay a few days!

Ruth spotted this big bird way up in the sky.

I zoomed in on it, but it was pretty far away and this was the best I could do. We found out later that it's a golden eagle which are quite rare in Albania.

Back to the house for lunch, and then we drove into the city of Gjirokaster. We walked up to the castle and the old town area. Ruth and I had been to the castle last year, so we suggested that Tony and Helen visit the castle while Ruth and I went for a walk in the area above the castle.

Walking up to the old town area.

Lots of tourist trinket shops.

We stopped into one shop specifically because Ruth had read an interesting story about a water well. The lady spoke English and she told us the story. She has been working in this little shop since the fall of communism in Albania 1992. So she's been working here 30 years. She said the first tourists that began coming to Albania were from Netherlands. Anyhow, they did some major renovations to the building five years ago and under the floor they found access to a large water well that was used in the Ottoman period. Apparently the building used to be a bar back then.

I saw some tourist bottles of raki on the shelf and we began talking about that. Next thing you know, she's getting a bottle of homemade stuff out from under her counter, and pouring us a glass to taste her homemade stuff. Help yourself, she says. Too funny. 

Tourist area of old town Gjirokaster.

Definitely some interesting buildings.

The castle is above the old town.

Nice views of Gjirokaster.

Helen and Tony went into the castle. You can read about the day Ruth and I did the castle here. 

A different view of the caste from the other side.

And a view looking south.

More bunkers from the communist era.

These ones had tunnels connecting them.

We were walking up from the castle, and a dog was barking at us. Eventually it stopped barking and simply followed us. Ruth even picked up a rock in case it became aggressive. But then it wanted to become friends. We know better than to pet or give the strays a treat because they will quickly attach themselves to you.

This one definitely wanted to be my friend.

We walked over to this Ottoman era bridge, built around 1820.

We didn't have our hiking boots with us, so didn't go down to explore further.

Sheep on the opposite hill.

Yes, she's still with us.

Me, and the view.

A different angle of the castle.

Traditional stone roof.

Love the old architecture.

Time for dinner! We were looking forward to this! Last year, we had lunch at "the lamb master" as he is known locally. It was delicious, so we were looking forward to returning for dinner with Helen and Tony.

One kilo of roast lamb, salads, bread, french fries, a half liter of red wine, and two large beers.

3,950 lek ($45.20 CAD, $32.90 USD) for the four of us.

Just as delicious as it was before!

Another wonderful day in Albania.

Today, we are off to the town of Tepelenë. 

Oh, I wanted to post a map of the approximate route of our travels so far on this trip...

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Nice price drop on the 3 lb Bag of Kinetic Sand. Our grandkids love this stuff!

And in Canada...

K-Cup Coffee Pods.