We picked up our car from the airport and got straight onto very good highways. Albania has spent a lot of money improving the roading system. We had researched a recommended restaurant for lunch about 30 minutes outside the capital, it had been pre-planned as a destination not too far away, while getting used to the car. But we got there far too early for the kitchen to be open and had to find an alternative on the fly. We picked a random restaurant while driving down the hill based on good reviews on Tripadvisor, and it was a fantastic alternative. OKO Farms describes itself as a traditional restaurant and we had a cracker meal.
Once we got off the main highway on the way to Berat we got more of a look at the sweeping countryside. There was plenty to see from the occasional donkey to a NATO air base. At one point it looked like there were oil derricks. So we stopped and confirmed they were oil rigs and a quick internet search told us that Albania has the largest on-shore oil fields in continental Europe.
Berat, is a Unesco World Heritage town “as rare example of architectural character typical of the Ottoman period”. The city has a castle high on a hill, and there is a lively community living within the castle walls. Our Hotel, Hotel Klea, was a small family run establishment – Mother and Grandmother ran the kitchen producing fantastic traditional food, and the grandson was the charming face of the operation. We watched so many people being turned away each evening because they didn’t have a reservation to dine.
One morning we walked down the hill from the castle to the town. It was another very hot day and we sat down to sample the local delicacies – coffee and sweetmeats followed by some raki – which was a real pick-me-up. The little folding blue fan in our bags was a relief from the temperatures
It isn’t difficult to see why the town is also known as – the town of a thousand windows – with the historic buildings down near the river.
Even looking down to the modern town, still no shortage of windows.
