CASTILLOS DE ALBANIA, KRUJË | ALBANIA #3

Well, it's a new day and I'm already dawning here in Corcha. I highly recommend this hostel, the people, the guy who takes it, they're all different, but the one who speaks English is super nice. He gave me many directions, many advice, told me about the history of this place. A little bit, well, of everything that happened, right? So, super recommended. It's pretty cheap, too. And no, he's been having breakfast. The breakfast, of course, is quite normal, with toast, butter, jam, jamon and tal. The only thing so curious is that he put us a donut that I think is called Petula. It's a typical Albanian donut and it was rich, but it's hypercaloric. So I ate half of it because I was already on energy for four days. And now the day is a little gray, as you can see. And what I'm gonna do now is take the car and I'm gonna be on the road today. I'm going to the north of Tirana again because then I'm going to go to the north of the country. And after about three hours and pickup, he arrived at the first destination he wanted to visit today, which is the Castillo de Cruje. Cruje is a town that is north of Tirana, not much, about 20 minutes, 30 minutes. And the most important thing you have is the castle, which is this part where I am now. It's a castle that's been inhabited since the 3rd century, more or less, which is when all this was built. It gained great importance in the centuries, above all, more medieval, in the 13th and 14th centuries. It was used as a kind of main headquarters of defense against the Ottomans. There is an important name, a special name, that is Skanderbeg, that is as the national hero, Especially during this time when he was fighting the Ottomans who wanted to expand their empire to the west. And in fact, when I'm in Tirana in a few days, as I'll show you, there are statues of him in several municipalities. In fact, there's one here beside the castle, see if I can see it now. So, here's a national hero for that, because he could stop, helped stop the Ottoman invasion. And in fact, the Italians are also grateful for this part of the story with Skanderbeg, Because thanks to that wall he put up against the Ottomans, he prevented them from continuing to expand their empire, because next was Italy. Today, what is the castle, the fortress, houses a few museums, mainly the history of what is this castle And around the figure of Skanderbeg, whose real name, if you see him on the other side, is Jerzy Kastrioti, Because there are even gas stations that carry the name of Kastrioti. Then, well, if you see him around, but if you always know him as Skanderbeg, I think the translation, well, came so to compare him a little as if he were Alejandro Magno. Driving here, usually across the country, takes time because there aren't many highways. I think there's only one highway, it's the only one he's been on, that's around Tirana and it's been 20 minutes of highway. All the others are secondary roads, like traversing the mountain, with serpentine paths, etc. So these are distances that are very long, because they must have been about a hundred and fifty kilometers, It takes time because it's a single lane in each direction, it's winding and you always find trucks or vehicles too. It's going to take time. But other than that, he's driving pretty well, or so he says, everything's perfectly paved, at least what he's had to use so far. Everything is perfectly marked, with Google Maps taking you very well to the sites. And the only thing I had heard was that the Albanians were pretty bad at driving, pretty scared, well, because like in most of the Balkans, And Greece too, are places where there's a bad reputation for driving. The truth is that I didn't find myself that much, but it's true that I'm ahead where I can, O sea, no respect for continuous lines or anything, but that you as you can advance a little, so that, The most, where you have to keep an eye on everything is in the roundabouts, because they take a little as they want, O sea, they're entering as they can, they're even in the middle of the rotunda, they're passing others, So just have a little common sense and if you go quietly by your lane, nothing's going to happen to you. This is an old church that, well, it was totally in ruins and now they're restoring it. That's how it would look originally. The truth is, it's a very cool place, worth a visit. I just happened to see him arrive here on Sunday, so, well, there's a lot more people, Because it's typical of all places, the Albanians go to places like this more touristic, But, well, it can still be okay. There are also quite a few restaurants, souvenir shops, So, well, you're here to spend half the day quietly, Because I'm telling you, it's very handsome, above all, and not only the castle, the fortress, But the views that there are of everything that is Tirana and surroundings, because it is all surrounded apart from nature, See lakes, mountains, the truth is it's in an enviable place. And if you surround what is the church, the stone wall that has behind the church, You can come to this point where I am, which has a very cool viewpoint, well, viewpoint, are rocks, But it has a good view to see everything that is the back side, You can't see it from the wall on the other side. And nobody comes here, everyone stays in the castle part, but this has a very easy access.