I’ve been on Spring Break for the past week, so Mom and I decided to rent a car and drive out to the city of Berat for a night, which is about an hour and a half away. We stayed in a cozy boutique hotel right in the heart of the old town, giving us easy access to the ancient churches, mosques, and stone buildings. We spent the first day wandering around and visiting a museum. The second day, we hiked up a steep hill to a walled-off village/castle.
Day One
Mom and I headed off at about 10 am and we arrived in Berat around 11:30. First, we grabbed some lunch at a “Mexican” place that didn’t actually have anything Mexican…
“I’ll take the enchiladas, please.”
“We don’t have.”
“Okay, how about the chili con carne?”
“We don’t have that, too.”
“Um… chicken wings?”
“Okay.”
The wings were pretty good, actually, and combined with the lovely tray of fruits the lady at the hotel gave us, it made a nice lunch. Afterwards, we walked around a mosque called the “Lead Mosque,” because the ceiling is made of lead.
After that, we went to a museum in an old house that showcased life in the village in the 1800s. There were cases with clothes, dishes, and tools. There were spinning wheels, looms, and other machines. There were also lots of fully decorated rooms with information about each one. Back at that time, the houses had separate spaces for the men and women to spend their time. When guests that weren’t close to the family visited, the women and children had to stay out of sight, even during festivals and ceremonies, when they would follow along through the windows.
Next, we crossed the Gorica bridge to the other side of the old town and walked along the river. It was a rainy day, so the river was really muddy and the sky was dark. It was still beautiful, though.
For dinner, we ate kebab at a restaurant called “Heaven’s Kitchen.” It was pretty good, but I’ve had better here in Tirana. Then, we went home and watched Albanian TV, which was surprisingly entertaining. There is a music channel that was showing mostly 90s/early 2000s music videos.
Day Two
We woke up around 8 am the next day and had a huge Albanian breakfast out on the terrace at our hotel: eggs, sausage, cheese, fried dough and various jams, tomatoes and cucumbers, and orange juice. After breakfast, we began our trek up the hill to the castle. It only took about 25 minutes, so I personally feel that we severely overestimated the difficulty, but I was still happy when we finally got to the top. We came in the wrong entrance and then ended up wandering around the village for about an hour. We never found the museum that was supposedly there, but we did see an old church and an old mosque. Then, we had a small lunch of Lima beans in tomato sauce at a little restaurant. The owner had a little baby that Mom was very excited about.
I was very happy to get out of the house for a couple days and not think about school, and now I’m ready to start working again. Berat was a lovely place to take a break, relax, and reset after a stressful couple of weeks. XOXO
Way Out Wanderer 