Kruje, Albania

Dear Family and Friends,

It was a good thing that Chuck and I flew into Albania before the tour began because the tour only spent a short time in Albania before heading to Montenegro.

Today I will share with you about Kruje, a lovely mountain side town in Albania.  We went to see the Ethnographic museum and bazaar there.

The museum, located inside the castle walls, was in a house built in 1764.  The museum was created to show what life was like for a wealthier family during the time that Albania was controlled by the Ottoman Empire.

One of the first rooms we saw was the living room for the women.  The woman on the left is wearing a traditional bridal dress.

The next room we saw was the living room for the men.  They were lucky to have a fireplace to keep warm.

Here is the kitchen, you can guess whose room that was.

In the front hall was this copper topped table.  It was for burning coals to keep the room warm during the winter.  

Traditional dress of the men during that era.  Notice his hat.  I will show you some we found in the bazaar.

Outside the museum, I noticed this interesting tree.  I do not understand why it is still living.  The inside of the trunk is almost gone. 

The view from the museum were awesome.

Below is a picture of the Skanderbeg museum.  Skanderbeg is Albania's national hero.  He led the fight against the Ottomans.  He was able to fend off the Ottomans for 25 years before his death.

A local man playing a traditional instrument.

Here are some pictures of the bazaar.

Of course the bazaar was mainly for tourists to buy souvenirs.  Back in the day, this is where the produce and meat was sold along with some shops.  

Even though it is now a tourist trap, there were a couple of very interesting antique shops.

Remember the man in traditional dress?  Here are some felt hats they were selling.  The red symbol on the front is the symbol of Albania (double headed black eagle on a red background).  Also, if you look far to the left you can see a coffee mug with a picture of Mother Teresa.  On the right, are some dolls dressed in traditional clothing.  

We ended the tour with dinner in the castle.  Traditional food that was very tasty...they had those meat sausages of course.

Goodbye Albania, the next post will be about the mountains of Montenegro.

Love,
Nancy