Bruno Pjetri works as a guide of the Kadare Museum in Gjirokastra.

“7 years ago, I started working at the building where Ismail Kadare used to live. Having studied literature and foreign languages, I wanted to work in the Kadare Museum. Day by day, I started loving my job, because it’s so beautiful and it’s a good way to explain our city to foreign tourists,” Pjetri tells Euronews Albania.

The first few days as a guide were hard for Bruno, but the experience gained throughout years, have made him appreciate Kadare’s contribution in the Albanian literature. He explains everything with the same passion as he did in the first day of working.

It’s exciting for him to see foreigners being interested in Kadare’s works. Some of the visitors even put him in a difficult position, because they have extensive knowledge of the famous Albanian writer.

“I have a lot of memories, but the most impressive one that I always remember, was a Swiss tourist. He had read so many of Kadare’s first works and told me he had gotten goosebumps from reading. Even for me in the position of the guide, it was emotional listening to him,” Bruno tells us.

A life spent in between lines written from Kadare, Bruno reminisces the time when he met the writer.

“I’ve only contacted him once, when he came to visit the museum. He knows I work in the museum and obviously it was a special day for me. It was a meeting of translators of his works in the friends’ room and it is one of the most unforgettable days,” confesses Bruno.

Even though the profession of the guide seems uncared for, the development tourism has had in Gjirokastra, has highlighted the need for such a job.

“To newer generations, it is a good way of employment, not only in the city’s museums, but also in rural areas. There are so many monuments and having a guide is a good way of stopping them from leaving the country,” says Bruno.