Folk Music Festival

Last weekend I went to Gjirokaster for a folk music festival. The festival only happens every 4 years. There were groups all over Albania and other countries as well. It was going for 5 days but I only saw 2 nights. We saw performers from Kosovo and Macedonia as well as a few regions in Albania. There were skits, singers, dancers and musicians and I liked the dancing best. It was also good to see my rival town as Berat and Gjirokaster have been rivals for a long time. Both towns have a castle and an old historic neighborhood. They are both also UNESCO world heritage sites. Berat’s castle is more castle walls and theirs is more like a castle and people still live within the castle walls in Berat. I like Gjiros castle better and that was where the folk fest was. Berat’s historic neighborhoods are better though. Leaving Gjirokaster was an experience. My friend and I were on a bus waiting to leave and a better direct bus was coming. We jumped off the bus to catch the other and I wasn’t paying attention to the ground and twisted my ankle and fell off a small curb. The ground is very uneven in Albania and one must always watch your step. We did catch the bus and rode painfully for 4 ½ hours as my ankle swelled. Turns out it was a bad sprain, no broken bones. Fun.