Blogs from Berat, West, Albania, Europe

We took a bus from the North-South bus terminal in Tirana to Berat. The journey was fine, dropped off in Berat on the river front. We stayed across the river at Hotel Ajka It had a great view from the large balcony over to the main town and the castle. The lovely Ottoman houses are clustered up narrow cobbled strrets that wind up to the castle. There are also a cluster of these houses on the other side if the river  where we stayed. Enjoyable to wander the streets and take in the views. The castle is still lived in, it has many houses within the main walls. The evening views from the viewing platform at the castle were great. There are various walking routes around the castle grounds with some interesting churches to look in. ... read more

Like with Shkoder to Kosovo this is meant to be my tricky travel day but somehow everything just runs on rails. I am up, showered and downstairs by 7. Mark and the American guy whose name I somehow never get are already there. We are just waiting on Alex, luckily she doesn’t keep us long. We walk to the roundabout. My foot is a mess, yesterday’s walking has put blister on blister and I’m in a lot of pain. We have walked past the taxi rank when we realise and I am all set to plough on when one literally stops and offers us a ride. It is 2 euros to the bus station and an absolute no brainer. The American guy gets his ticket, the rest of us have ours so we order coffee. Alex ... read more

We left Shkodër after breakfast on the balcony at our hotel. The drive from Shkodër to Berat wasn’t particularly scenic for most of the 3 hour journey, largely because of the haze but also because many Albanian cities and towns aren’t particularly beautiful (uninspiring buildings, litter, unfinished gardens). The roads were mostly pretty good though. We drove into Berat through the new part of town. Eventually we turned around a corner and caught our first glimpse of the beautiful old city Berat is famous for. Berat is the 9th largest city in Albania and is also home to a historic centre which, along with Gjirokastra’s, is UNESCO world heritage listed. Berat and Gjirokastra are recognised as rare examples of an architectural character typical of the Ottoman period. Berat’s historic centre consists of a castle (Kala) most ... read more

Albania Day 12 Radhime to Berat 92km. 720 m Well the day set if well but ended badly, for me at least. After a good breakfast with the compulsory cheese and egg we headed north along the coast with gentle slopes and a view of the sea on our left. As we entered Vlorë we ignored another ’No Entry’ sign and went through the tunnel on the footpath which had vertical angle iron posts which would be deadly if we caught our bars on them. On our exit we followed a very pleasant cycle way along the boulevard into the town centre. We had a problem here at the central roundabout where our exit was completely blocked off due to roadworks. After some dodging around side streets and up and down steep kerbs and steps we ... read more

Zondag 5/06/16 – Durrës Dagexcursie met plaatselijke gids naar Berat, ergens in het midden van Albanië, authentiek stadje met oude moskeeën en oude Orthodokse kerken. Stevig klimwerk naar een vestiging op een hoge rotsheuvel, eigenlijk een volledig ommuurde stad, met oorsprong in de 6e eeuw voor Christus. Vandaaruit een weids uitzicht op het omliggende hooggebergte en vanop de wallen een duizelingwekkend uitzicht op de benedenstad, ook genoemd “Stad der duizend ramen”. Onderweg bezoek aan Apollonia, belangrijke Griekse site, gesticht in de 6e eeuw BC. Prachtige resten van een Artemis-tempel, amfitheater en colonnades met marmeren beelden. 95% van de site ligt nog verborgen onder de grond. Er is hier dus nog wat werk aan de winkel. Zowat 100 foto's genomen vandaag. Gelukkig hoeven die nu niet meer ontwikkeld worden zoals in het pre-digitaal tijdperk.... read more