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Gjirokastër, Albania. Wow. What a name! The city is just as obscure as its title. It's easy to assume none of you have heard about it, as it went the same for me. But because the cruise ship made a stop at Sarandë in the Balkan region, Giro-Gyro-Gjro... Gjirokastër, of all places, would have to do.

Gjirokastër, the town of a thousand steps, perhaps isn't as off the map as I thought. Not only did several battles occur in the area, but many communist influencers also originated from there. Enver Hoxha, the communistic dictator, and Ismail Kadare, the author who spoke out about communism and a Nobel nominee, both came from the same origins, which was quite ironic. The famous story of Ascension on Death was set and filmed here as well. Furthermore, looking at the city and surroundings, the effects of the lack of money were significant. As our tour guide, Ols describes, many residential buildings remained half-finished due to the stoppage of funds, usually from family members outside the country. I found that somewhat skeptical, but then he explained his credentials, which included being the chief of Culture and Heritage for the president of Albania. Interestingly, there were 700,000 defensive bunks, equivalent to 1 bunk/4 people on average, constructed across the country during the Hoxha era. In the past 40ish years before 1991, Albania had a love-and-hate relationship with Yugoslavia, USSR, China, and Cuba.

Ols led us on a slow trek up the slope of the Mali i Gjerë or Mount Wide to the city fortress over River Drino, which was built in the 4th century and used in WWI and WWII, as well as in the 1991 democracy revolution. Inside, the Natl. Armory Museum featured some old warfare types of artillery, submachine, and machine guns. From the current perspective, they were nothing special. It's hard to imagine fifty years down the road, we'll have a museum where a curator says to visitors: "Here is the nuclear bomb, a primitive weapon of mass destruction."

Eventually, we weaved our way through the fortress, with the guide dropping useful facts and fun here and there. There was a plethora of information, including a Fiat tank, which looked like an actual Fiat car with metal plates glued to the windows. Most interesting of all probably would be the communist paintings. Never have I seen a more awkward smile in a picture. I understand that I force many painful smiles in the pictures, but this was especially out of place. Take a painting of sailors, standing tall in a V-formation on the deck of a ship, ravaged by waves. I can't say if the sailors enjoyed getting sprayed by freezing cold water, but they smiled brightly, with a communist Albanian symbol of a red star painted on the ship head.

Although I felt as if the painting was pointless, this was the type of propaganda the dictators in communist countries imposed on people. It's almost laughable, and I don't get it. Artists who disagreed with their ideals were imprisoned, most likely as treason. Then again, in a communist society, why would an artist even try?

This was the first spot that had no world-renowned brand, which was a break. It also wasn't in the European Union, which also was nice. Tomorrow brings around another famous town, Olympia, in a unified member of the EU. It will be another visit to the country of Greece, too.

【红霞译文】

阿尔巴尼亚吉诺卡斯特(希腊文“银堡”)，多特别哟！这座城市犹如它的称号匪夷所思，恐怕谁都没听说过，包括本人在内，但因为游轮停靠巴尔干地区的四十圣徒市，“智诺──鬼诺──吉诺……吉诺卡斯特”之类的地方值得一游。

银堡被誉为“千步之城”，我蛮以为从地图上找不到它，其实纯属孤陋寡闻。该地区不仅战事迭起，并且涌现出许多共产主义先驱，而共产党领袖恩维尔·霍查和诺贝尔文学奖候选人伊斯梅尔·卡达尔竟然同生此地，可谓天下奇闻；《宁死不屈》的故事原型也发生在银堡，享誉中国的同名电影就是在这个革命根据地拍摄的。另外，城区建设明显面临资金紧缺，正如导游欧尔斯所言，许多民房私宅因经济疲软而处于半完成状态，通常这笔财力投入全部仰仗国外亲属寄钱数额，未免让我难以置信，不过以他的背景身份，上述情况应该属实，毕竟欧尔斯曾担任过总统钦定的国家文化遗产委员会主席。霍查时代举国上下一共建造了70万防卫地堡，相当于平均每四人拥有一座，令人忍俊不禁。1991年之前四十多年间，阿尔巴尼亚与南斯拉夫、苏联、中国和古巴之间更是爱恨交加。

欧尔斯带领大家从德里诺河畔慢慢沿宽山坡爬上银堡要塞，这座堡垒建造于公元四世纪，历经第一、二次世界大战以及1991年民主革命洗礼；里面设有国家军事博物馆，展示战争时期用过的大炮冲锋枪机关枪，用现代眼光来看，它们没啥特别，很难想象未来五十年博物馆解说员将对来访者介绍：“这是核弹，一种具有大规模杀伤性的原发武器”。

最终，我们转遍了整个要塞，导游东一句西一句，但凡打开话匣子便聊个没完没了，其中还涉及到菲亚特坦克，它的外表看上去好似菲亚特汽车，只不过车窗封上了金属板。最有趣的莫过于共产主义宣传画，我从未见过如此做作的笑容，虽然自己面对镜头也常常皮笑肉不笑，但万万不能反映到画面上。以再现水手的绘画为例，他们在甲板上排成V字型昂首挺胸顶风破浪，我吃不准各位是否喜欢冰水扑面，但个个笑容灿烂，船头上还点缀着一颗象征共产主义的红五星。

尽管作品本身并无多大意义，但这不失为共产党国家统帅领导民众的宣传方式，看似非常搞笑，愈发让我丈二和尚摸不着头脑，更何况凡是持有反对看法的艺术家都会锒铛入狱，极有可能被判成叛国罪，既然如此，为什么生活在共产主义社会的艺术家还要尝试呢？

银堡是第一个没有世界名牌产品的地方，正好消停一会；它尚未加入欧盟，日子也挺滋润。明天我们要被带到另一个被欧盟同化的名城：奥林匹亚，又将重访希腊。

Today in History(历史上的今天):

2018: Saranda & Blue Eye Spring, Albania(阿尔巴尼亚四十圣徒城与蓝眼泉)

2018: Gjirokaster—Home to Hoxha, Albania(阿尔巴尼亚银堡─霍查家乡)

2016: Maeshowe in Orkney Is, UK(苏格兰坟地古墓)

2016: Natural Habitat of Orkney Is, UK(苏格兰奥克尼岛生态)

2016: The Orkney Islands in Scotland, UK(苏格兰奥克尼群岛)

2016: Skaill House in Orkney Is, UK(苏格兰厅堂建筑)

2016: Skara Brae in Orkney Is, UK(苏格兰斯地下新石器时代遗迹)

2016: Stenness Stones & Ring of Brodgar, UK(苏格兰石岬立石与桥庄石圈)

2016: Heart of Neolithic Orkney, UK(苏格兰新石器时代奥克尼中心)