Berat

This post has been a long time coming. Partly because I didn't have the pictures I needed to complete it, and partly because I think I was putting off writing about my last weekend getaway. My time in the Balkans is sadly coming to a close :(  It was the perfect mixture of exercise, relaxation, city, and fresh air that we managed to fit into a regular weekend. The city of a thousand windows is an easy sell.

So many windows. We started counting and then we realized there were more on the side we were on!

We left for Berat right after school and drove the two hours there fairly easily. Finding our hostel was a bit more difficult since the directions led us on foot from the bus station, but we arrived in the car. (I'm one lucky girl, I know.) Once there I knew we were going to have a fantastic weekend. The staff at Berat backpackers hostel were kind and welcoming and immediately showed us a map, pointing out locations and restaurants we would want to visit. After claiming our beds and using the restroom we were off to see the castle. The hike up was exhausting enough, but short, and well worth the effort. The castle of Berat was one of the biggest I've seen in Albania, and the views of the mountains were perfect for the evening sunset. The lights came on halfway through our time exploring, and  though the trip down was a little scary and difficult, I was happy with our decision to visit that night. Post hike, we were feeling extremely famished, so we headed to the number one rated restaurant in Berat, Mengalemi. The food was disappointing, but satisfying enough. For about 10 dollars I was able to split a salad with Cortney, devour a main course of stuffed peppers and complete the meal with ice cream and 2 glasses of wine. Halfway through our meal, Cortney was kind enough to invite a woman dining alone to join us.

Castle

Sophie, from Switzerland, was visiting a friend in Berat and had spent many years back and forth watching Albania change. She had some very interesting views on all of the politics, and the development throughout those years. After saying goodbye, we stopped at the market to get some water and headed back to the hostel.

My night was filled with strange dreams of foam parties and rafting (don't ask), but overall I slept very well.

The following day was one of the most interesting I've had in Albania. We left at 8:30am after realizing our car was parked behind a weekend market. We had to ask a truck to move for us, and had quite the hassle getting on the road. The "very nice" road was one of the bumpiest I've ridden on, and there were several points where I thought I might throw up.

Eventually, after calling the man in charge and getting misinformed directions from him, we made it to where we needed to be. We snuffed down some byrek, put on our wet suits and hopped into a few jeeps to make the trek to where the rafting  trip would begin. This trip was also awful, but luckily the fact that I had just eaten helped a bit and we made it without problem. Once there, we still had to spend time waiting for another group to arrive. Shortly after their arrival our guide proceeded to give us our safety instructions, and to explain each of the 5 cues to us (forward, backward, left backward, right backward, and everyone inside.)

All ready to go!

Our group of 5 got placed with 2 random people even though the smaller rafts were clearly made for a group of 5. I was quite confused. I also received a broken paddle at first but ended up switching with Eva about 5 minutes down the rapids because otherwise the sides were uneven with 4 paddles on one side and 2 on the other (we were already a paddle short.) Luckily the man who was without a paddle had a waterproof camera with him. These are mostly his pictures.

Such a beautiful sight!

The nice thing about the trip was that it was just the right amount of difficulty that you were able to enjoy the beauty of the cliffs and enjoy the amount of exercise you were getting.  We were also lucky enough to stop several times to look around. At one point I had the privilege of a very safe cliff jump. It wasn't very high and I was wearing a life jacket and helmet.

Me, Eva, Bobby, and Gill in front of the first waterfall

We also got to walk under a waterfall back into a small cave. This was quite overwhelming and the water was very cold, so after this I wasn't able to warm up and the trip got to be a little much toward the end, as my hands were numb and white. Luckily the beauty around me was able to help me have strength for the last portion of the journey even though I was freezing cold.

Walking under the second waterfall. I'm pretty sure I'm the girl out swimming in the deep water. 

At one point, the canyon was so narrow that we had to push our boat through. It was amazing to me that the water was not flowing super fast at this point, and our guide explained to us that the water was extremely deep, and that if it wasn't the water would be flowing quickly and would be very dangerous.

Paddles up, time to push ourselves through the canyon.

We could tell we were getting close to the end of the journey when we started seeing trash all along the sides of the river. I was glad that further out there was no trash and that our guides were super knowledgeable about the preservation of nature(they went around several times to make sure they got all of the trash from our snack.) Leave no trace!

Beauty!

Upon arrival back they provided a small barbecue snack of french fries, veggies, and lamb. The lamb was particularly good, however after our hard workout we were still hungry. After driving back to Berat we headed to White House for a dinner of pizzas. The evening consisted of showers and an early bedtime.

We spent the following morning hanging out at the hostel. The rooftop porch was just what we needed to relax our muscles and soak up some sun. I was also lucky enough to get my hand on a guitar for a brief 5 minutes (after that they hurt.) I only remembered about 7 chords, but I was able to play and hum along to "Oh My Sweet Carolina." It felt great to hold an instrument. I may have to invest in one in Jakarta. We'll see.

This was our morning

A brief drive was followed by a tour of the Cobo Winery in Berat. This is a family owned business, and I was excited to finally go on a winery tour since I believe Europe is the place to do it. The man who did the tour was the same man who makes the wine today (his grandfather started the company) and he was very sweet and kind to us. As it turned out the same group we went rafting with was doing this tour as well. They, of course were in a hurry, so after sampling all the wines, eating some delicious homemade olives, bread, and cheese, they quickly left to go to Durres for lunch.

Storage

We took our time. I had 2 glasses of the most expensive wine (the reserve) and even enjoyed/purchased the walnut raki. During the last part of our time there we had a fantastic conversation with the man concerning his opinions about Albania, and their transition into freedom. I would describe him as a progressive, who had the right ideas about what Albania should be doing: perserving their heritage and culture. This country tries so hard to be European/American, but they aren't and that is what makes them special. You can go anywhere and find people walking in heels, shopping in malls, eating at expensive restaurants, and driving cars. But you can't go anywhere and almost get in a car accident with a donkey(did I forget to mention this?), or hike up to a castle, or sip on walnut raki.

Vineyards

Overall I'd say Berat was one of my favorite experiences in Albania, and was the perfect last Albanian trip before I head home.