We use it all the time to give background information (when I was backpacking across Western Europe). It's also used to explain or give reasons (I didn't get any sleep because the baby was crying all night). Obviously, it doesn't describe main events, so isn't as frequent as past simple, but it's used as often as it's needed.

Really? What was the context? Native speakers use the past continuous to describe states and actions in progress in the past. We allow use the past continuous to construct the near future in the past (I am going to visit my grandmother soon >> I was going to visit my grandmother soon).

The most specific case to use it is when you start to tell a story. Like the answer below. Hope that helps.

There wasn't any context, it was just claimed like that.....) Thank you for your answer!