Berat, Albania
Posted on August 8, 2023 • 4 minutes • 810 words
A UNESCO World Heritage site and nick named ‘The Town of a Thousand Windows’. Seeing photos and knowing it’s significance, this was clearly going to be a stop on our trip. I had planned to spend a few nights there, but looking back, I think we did it right with a day trip from magical Alpeta Winery. An easy 30 minute drive down the mountain and we were there. Found street parking (that we hoped was, and was, allowed) and started walking to the center. We walked along a pedestrian walkway and Dan needed coffee. We could have our coffee while the kids played and looked for sticks. Sticks: the universal toy no matter where we go.
With a castle perched high on a hill, there was really only one thing to start the day with.
We hiked up through cobblestone streets, and when I say cobblestone, I mean super slippery ones that have been smoothed over by hundreds of years of walking and driving on them.
Some zigzags on a dirt path and big steps and we were there.
The part closest to the river below, and the part where you get the great view of Berat below was a little crowded.
It was hot and always being aware of kids’ (and husband’s) hunger levels, we decided to try a bit of everything from a fruit stand at the top. The woman was so sweet with the kids and by the time we left, Sam had given her a hug and man was standing there with a big silly grin.
We found a rather large bench and chowed on our fruit and pistachios.
Super juicy peaches. You can see the juice running down Sam’s arm.
Next we explored the top of the hill.
So many interesting rooms to peek our heads in.
The Red Mosque had really cool patterns, probably for structural reasons but also to look pretty.
An old cistern that was a bit ominous to look down into and even though we were a bit back, it still felt too close.
The front had the classic view of the town below, but every direction you looked you had views of the hills and mountains around.
We posed under archways without anything else and I asked the kids “and why can that stand up like that?” “Compression Mom,” with some slight eye rolling from Ben. Roll your eyes kid, but that is engineering at it’s finest!
We started down the back of the hill a bit and found a little restaurant as we were all hungry now and kids had to go to the bathroom. We are still working on the squatting without Mom holding you up when you pool over the hole toilet, but I’m annoyed I usually end up in the bathroom with at least one kid.
Food was delicious and we splurged and got some lemon soda, juices and beer. It was hot and being outside on a patio (even though we were in the shade) it was still hot. We ordered 2 of the local specialties, the safe village salad and some meatballs. Everything was delicious and we scarfed up every last bit.
Sam ordered the ‘pickle salad’ and had half a fit when we told him he had to share. He still took a decent amount for himself.
Because I really didn’t want to walk down the same way we came up, we thought we would try the ‘trail’ at the front of the castle. It stared out acceptable but not great.
Turns out it is switchbacks with loose rock, giant steps, slippery dirt with a drop off for about half of it. We took it very slow and with a tight grip on the two younger kids arms.
It wasn’t fast, but we all thought it was kinda cool by the time we got to the bottom or at least to the point where civilization returned.
We hadn’t been in the town long, but we were done…maybe we missed the tranquility of our winery. We got some water from a cool water foundation…seriously the water fountains in Europe are awesome! Some look like they are old wells from a very long time ago that got refurbished with a spout.
With the Osum river running through it, Berat traditionally was divided into the Muslim quarter and the Christian district. Now bridges crisscross over it (the 2 we walked on were pedestrian only) and it’s a great stroll on each side to look back at the other.
The contrast of all the windows against the stone façade was beautiful. We did a quick loop and headed back over an old stone bridge.
After the climb and so many steps, I decided we all deserved gelato. We walked as we ate, got to the car and headed back to our temporary home for the week.
