Pedalbania – Stage 3
Petran – Gjirokaster
28 May 2018
Distance: 44km; total ascent: 392m
Stayed at: Hotel Çajupi, Gjirokaster
This was our easiest, shortest, laziest day: just 44 kilometres in the morning, mostly downhill or flat with only a few small blips. A delightful coffee and snack stop at a modern café/bar/restaurant/guest house outside the small town of Këlcyrë, built over a mountain stream and overlooking a river; then rolling on to the junction with the national highway SH4 south of Tepelenë.
Here we loaded the bikes on the trailer and ourselves in the minibus to drive to the city of Gjirokaster, so avoiding cycling along the not-quite-motorway SH4.
I’d been looking forward to visiting Gjirokaster ever since reading about it, first in my guidebook and then after reading “Chronicle in Stone” by Ismail Kadare. Kadare was born in Gjirokaster, which is probably the only thing he has in common with the city’s other famous son, the dictator Enver Hoxha. The old city’s steep cobbled streets and tall stone houses with grey stone-tiled roofs have earned it World Heritage status so it’s very firmly on the tourist trail.
We checked into our hotel, the upmarket Çajupi on the main square at the foot of the old city, changed out of cycling gear into tourist gear and regrouped in the fourth floor dining room with panoramic views over the city and the valley below. A large lunch of mixed starters followed by a main course of chicken in a creamy sauce was served. Erlis raised the question of the evening meal. Did we want him to book the usual place for dinner? Seven rather overfed cyclists looked disconcerted. It was agreed that we would each fend for ourselves that evening.
We did two touristy things guided by Erlis: we visited the castle and one of the big old traditional houses, this one known as the Ottoman House. This is a bit of a misnomer as it doesn’t date from that period and is in fact an example of a traditional house of a wealthy Gjirokaster family.
Both visits were interesting and worthwhile. Wikipedia has good pages on the castle, on Gjirokaster itself, and on its two famous sons Kadare and Hoxha. The Ottoman house is also known as the Skëndulaj (or Skenduli) House. We were shown round by a young English-speaking woman who under friendly questioning admitted to being one of the family who own it. The best write-up I have found in English is in the Bradt ‘Albania’
guidebook by Gillian Gloyer, a book I heartily recommend.
Later, after consulting the guidebook, Peter and I set off to find a restaurant it recommended. We were waylayed by finding the others occupying the terrace of a bar/restaurant in the old city. After a beer or two we ended up eating there*.
I should mention that today marked a significant cultural transition. Until Gjirokaster our beer of choice had been Korça. But now Korça was unavailable; Elbar had become the default offering.
* The place was the Bar/Restorant Rrapi on Rruga Alqi Kondi. ‘Restorant’ is the Albanian spelling of ‘Restaurant’, and for the tourists Rrapi has dropped the double-r of the Albanian spelling.
Viewranger track of the day
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