Balkan Road Trip - 04. Berat, Albania

With its cascades of whitewashed houses fitted with perfectly uniform arrays of Ottoman windows, Berat may be the most visually-stunning town in the Southern Balkans and certainly my favorite destination in Albania.

Note to fellow travelers -- here we found our favorite cheap restaurant of the six countries we visited, a family-run Albanian grill house that does simple peasant dishes exceptionally well. Scroll down to the food photos if you're craving for a barbecue.


Fittingly nicknamed the City of Overlayed Windows (or Thousand Windows, depending on the translation), Berat is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a must-see in any Albania guidebook. Situated 3 hours north of the equally picturesque Gjirokaster and 2.5 hours from the capital city of Tirana, this made a perfect stop on our south-north bus trip across Albania.


Founded by ancient Greeks and fortified by Byzantines as the Eastern Roman Empire's frontier against its Slavic neighbours, Berat eventually fell to the Ottomans in the Middle Ages and remained under Turkish rule for 500 years. Exceptional perhaps compared with the rest of the Balkans, but Orthodox Christians and Muslims have peacefully coexisted here for centuries.


This is the best-preserved town from Albania's Ottoman past with two historical quarters -- one traditionally Muslim and one Orthodox -- flanking the Osum River and a secluded third concealed within its massive 13th century Byzantine citadel atop a treacherously steep cliff.


Our furgon from Gjirokaster unexpectedly dumped us on the side of a dusty highway roundabout at Lushnje -- welcome to public transport in Albania -- where we had to cover the final 35 km to Berat by other means. A taxi driver was already hovering like a vulture at the roundabout, offering to save us from the scorching sun and the uncertainty of infrequent passing buses for 20 euros. We took up the offer, and within 30 minutes we were in Berat.


We rented a centuries-old Ottoman stone house in Berat's Orthodox Christian quarter known as Gorica, a short but steep walk up a rutted village path of medieval cobblestones. Our host Elisa led us past a heavy wooden gate into a pebbled courtyard that would be entirely ours, complete with its own breakfast table under a persimmon tree.


This simple bedroom was the most memorable out of the 13 properties that we rented along our journey -- not because it was the most spacious or decorative, and certainly not the best in material comfort without an air conditioner. It was the breathtaking view from the row of 18th century Ottoman windows that we most enjoyed.


Outside our window was a panorama of the Ottoman town of stone houses with mysterious dark windows, sheltered by the legendary fortress that graces the back of Albania's 10 Leke coin. Half-metre-thick stone walls kept the bedroom reasonably cool in the absence of air conditioning, and the rest of the house was well-equipped with a second bedroom, functional kitchen and even a washing machine.


German- and Italian-speaking groups occasionally toured through the neighbourhood's cobblestone paths, thankfully saved by the edict of the Communist dictator from the sprawl of hideous 1960s concrete blocks. With its increasing number of cheap hostels and guesthouses, this former quarter of tanners and craft guilds seemed ready to become the next hotspot for backpackers.


Across a graceful 7-arched bridge on the northern bank of River Osum, the predominantly Muslim quarter of Mangalemi -- home to many of Berat's historical mosques and Sufi shrines -- was undergoing major restorations in a government-funded revitalization programme. With the whole neighbourhood reduced to an open construction zone, we had no choice but to bypass the mosques and continue towards the hill top castle.


It took an ankle-twisting 30 minute hike through a steep obstacle course of half-exposed sewer pipes along a potholed dirt path, but it was all worth it. Awaiting at the top was not your typical castle ruins, but a living fossil of a medieval hill town, an 800-year-old isolated community of Byzantine houses with a disproportionate abundance of 15th century Orthodox churches.


The Castle Quarter's unmissible highlight is the National Iconographic Museum, housed inside an Orthodox church and showcasing dazzling gold and silver leaf icons by the great Onufri, leading icon painter of the 16th century and Berat's favorite son. Photos were not allowed, but no visitor would soon forget the golden magnificence of the centuries-old altarpieces.


The best reward for a strenuous hike is always the panorama at the top, in this case a bird's eye view of the Mangalemi Quarter directly below as well as the Gorica Quarter across the river. Getting here though was quite a story in itself.

For the first time in our years of traveling, the locals purposely misguided us as we asked for direction. And yes, I'm sure it was deliberate when the middle-aged hawker pointed me to the dodgy castle rampart above his fruit stand with a partially obstructed view and called it "Panorama." The official Panorama spot, as we stumbled upon later, was actually a minute's walk below his stand.

Perhaps it's a strategy to keep visitors going in circles and maximize their time (and money) spent at this secluded hill town, but this is not how you should build your tourism brand.


As I was busy photographing this 500-year-old Byzantine chapel precariously hugging the near-vertical cliff, a cigarette-wielding child of barely 10 years stood beside me and, while I was least suspecting, pulled the most bewildering stunt.

No, he didn't grab my wallet -- which would have been at least logical -- but reached into the depth of his pants and produced his own penis.

For the next minute or so, the kid simply stood next to me and did two things:

1) exposing his genitals
2) uttering the word money

I can't fathom what gave him the idea that exposing his penis would result in visitors paying him for his antics, but I quickly finished my photography, grabbed my wife (who fortunately didn't witness the above episode) and headed back to Mangalemi Quarter for dinner. As enchanting as the Castle Quarter may be, I much preferred the sincerity of the people we met in the lower town.

Restaurant Review: ZGARA KAON (Berat) (Location Map)

At the Mangalemi Quarter we came across one of our best discoveries of this 23-day journey, a traditional barbecue house with a specialized repertroire of charbroiled Albanian favorites. We knew this place was legit when a bunch of local construction workers came for lunch with their helmets on. Enough said.


Albania's answer to the American BBQ shack or Southern Chinese Siu Mei joint, the Zgara is a family-friendly institution serving hearty portions of expertly grilled meat at blue collar prices. The two of us shared a spicy Suxhuk, a crispy Virshle sausage and the Albanian national dish of Qofte meatballs -- the best Qofte/Cevapi of our entire Balkan trip -- all for 460 Leke (CAD$5.4).

Now this may be blasphemy for an Albanian Zgara, but here we found something even better than the meat.


This was one of my most memorable dishes of the trip, a divine plate of grilled zucchini, bell peppers and aubergine, drizzled with a vinegar reduction and best of all, a sublime olive oil worthy of an upmarket ristorante in Milan ... and for just 300 Leke (2.2 Euros)! I kept wondering as I savoured each slice of aubergine ... where did they source this amazing olive oil?

What I didn't know was that Berat is apparently known for Albania's best olives. I learned this only after leaving Albania.

Lunch for Two Persons

Qofte x 4	160 Leke
Suxhuk and Virshle Sausages	300 Leke
Grilled Zucchini and Aubergine	300 Leke
Korca Beer	150 Leke
Raki	60 Leke
Water	50 Leke
TOTAL	1020 Leke (CAD$12.0)

We rarely visit the same restaurant twice in our travels, which says how much we loved this little zgara. Our dinner started with another Albanian national dish known as Fergese, a thick gravy of roasted peppers and cottage cheese in an earthen dish.


And even better, a meticulously grilled spring chicken that turned out to be one of my wife's favorite dishes of the trip. Underneath the perfectly crispy skin was the firm flesh of the free-range bird, pint-sized but packed with flavorsome juices.


We couldn't resist reordering another plate of their signature grilled vegetables with the heavenly olive oil. After the meal we went up to the open kitchen to give our compliments to the chef-owner and his staff, and while I couldn't quite explain olive oil in Albanian, I don't think the universal love of food needed any translation.

Dinner for Two Persons

Whole Grilled Chicken	600 Leke
Fergese	200 Leke
Grilled Vegetables	300 Leke
Korca Beer	150 Leke
Kaon Beer	150 Leke
Water	50 Leke
TOTAL	1450 Leke (CAD$17.1)

With an entire block of cafes and bars on Bulevardi Republika we had plenty of options for a Friday night, though at the end we chose to wander across the pedestrian bridge for a nighttime panorama of the Mangalemi Quarter. The next morning we would check out in the early morning, hop on a local bus to the long distance bus station then a highway coach to the Albanian capital of Tirana.

IF YOU GO

Berat is 2.5 hours by highway buses departing from Tirana's South Bus Station (see map), located near the Eagle Roundabout as of 2018. If you're planning a cross-Albania trip and need to connect from Gjirokaster, currently the safest bet would be to take an early morning bus to Fier, then transfer to an onward bus to Gjirokaster.

Balkan Road Trip - 03. Gjirokaster, Albania

Here I stood at one of Europe's most photogenic street corners, a stunning medieval quarter that would be a major tourist draw in just about any country. Place this in Germany and it would rival any romantic old town along the Middle Rhine, or Italy to complement the magical Alberobello.


Except this is Albania, one of the most underrated European destinations for various negative reasons -- most of them unfounded as we have since learned. 10 out of 10 friends of ours expressed safety concerns -- and various degrees of envy -- upon hearing of our itinerary. But how safe is Albania?


Since I personally didn't know anyone who had visited Albania, we turned to Government of Canada's travel advisory page which provided the following warnings as of 2018:

Economic hardship and easy availability of firearms increase the risk of violent incidents ...

Demonstrations occur in many Albanian centres, often with little or no advance warning, and have the potential to suddenly turn violent ...

Avoid non-essential travel to the city of Lazarat, where Albanian state police and armed marijuana growers have in the past engaged in violent altercations ...

And Lazarat is a 10 minute drive from Gjirokaster, which put us at the outskirt of Albania's gangland. Fantastic.


So we played it safe and easy with our own private taxi to old Gjirokaster, 40 km from the ancient Roman ruins of Butrint as the bird flies though it felt twice as long on the narrow mountainous roads of the Southern Balkans. Our young driver Mario became the first Albanian we came to know, and his gentle manners and openness to discuss politics and local life gave us the most welcoming first impression of his homeland.


The second Albanian we came to know was Tina, mother of two and gracious owner of our rental apartment who, in limited English, offered most helpful advices such as negotiation tips with local taxi drivers. Our apartment for four, located less than 100m from the aforementioned street corner, cost a fraction of what we would pay in Montenegro and Croatia later on our trip.


Stepping outside Tina's apartment immediately landed us at the heart of Gjirokaster's open-air bazaar, curiously steep and slippery with its paving of patterned cobblestones polished over centuries by the feet and hoofs of Ottoman caravans.


Through its 1700-year-old history Gjirokaster has earned two nicknames: City of Thousand Steps for the steepness of its streets, and City of Stone for its whitewashed masonry walls and grey slate roofs, all designed for defense and fire resistance in case of war.


A magnificent example of a fortified tower house, Zecate House is a 200-year-old Ottoman residence with a breathtaking reception room of immaculate fresco walls, ornate wooden ceiling and a still-functional fireplace. This is not an official museum with fixed opening hours -- just knock on the neighbour's door and pay a nominal fee for entry, and perhaps buy a cheap drink of raki from him for taking care of this priceless heritage asset.


It should hardly be suprising that the grandest and most defendable residence is located near the old town's highest point, offering from its balcony a sweeping panorama of Gjirokaster's merchant quarters with its brooding, expansive castle perched upon the hilltop.


Proudly on display inside the castle's labyrinths are various anti-aircraft guns and tanks captured from the retreating Italian and Nazi German forces during WWII, as well as prison cells that housed political dissidents during the communist era.


The most famous Cold War relic was an U.S. Air Force T-33 that landed at Tirana amid technical difficulties, and placed here as a trophy by dictator Enver Hoxha, Gjirokaster's most (in)famous son.


At the far end of the castle stands the handsome clock tower built by a 19th century warlord, now overshadowed in importance by the newer open-air theatre tapped as venue for the National Folklore Festival, the foremost showcase for traditional Albanian performing arts held once every five years or so.


The castle walls afford a bird's eye view of Gjirokaster's old and new quarters, stretching down the narrow plains of the Drino hemmed in by barren rusty hills typical of Southern Albania. It is a land that has always bred -- by deep-rooted discontent or perhaps just destiny -- revolutionists from Enver Hoxha to the riotists that helped bring down the government in 1997.


Unmistakable from above is the five-pointed intersection of the old bazaar with its uniformly grey roofs that has become the town's trademark. Next to the intersection is the only mosque in Gjirokaster that survived Hoxha's Cultural and Ideological Revolution when Albania was declared the world's first atheist state, back in the late 60s.


Souvenir shops at the bazaar opened late on this balmy evening in early September, hoping to squeeze the last Lek out of the short tourist season at a UNESCO World Heritage Site that has remained anonymous to 99% of international travelers. Also scrambling for tourism Leke were the restaurants, mostly serving rustic Albanian dishes extremely affordable by Western European standards.

Restaurant Review: ODAJA (Gjirokaster) (Location Map)

We visited two restaurants in Gjirokaster, averaging less than CAD$9 per head for multiple courses to share including drinks. Needless to say prices were the cheapest we've seen anywhere in Europe, comparable to rural China even.


Gjirokaster's famed contribution to Albanian cuisine, Qifqi is a vegan dish of rice and finely chopped mint, deep fried in its own customized frying pan that somewhat resembles a French escargot dish. Between the Qifqi, the earlier dish of stuffed peppers, an Albanian version of a creamy chicken-and-rice soup and a green salad, spending 900 leke (CAD$10.6) was enough to make the two of us mostly full.


But the best dish was the cheese.

This should be no surprise as Gjirokaster county is widely acclaimed for Albania's best cheese, its secrets honed for centuries by the region's sizeable Greek minority. Our slice of smooth white cheese was battered, deep-fried and drenched in local honey for a delectable side designed as appetizer, but saved and treasured as our dessert.

Meal for Two Persons

Village Salad	200 Leke
Stuffed Peppers	300 Leke
Rice Balls	200 Leke
Chicken Soup	200 Leke
Deep Fried Cheese with Honey	200 Leke
Beer	150 Leke
Water	Free
TOTAL	1250 Leke (CAD$14.7)

After the cheap lunch we decided to splurge on some seafood for dinner. This was small town Albania of course, where splurging meant spending CAD$10 per head.

Restaurant Review: KUJTIMI (Gjirokaster) (Location Map)

At last we came across the baby mussels that we spotted in the morning, farmed at the pristine salt lagoon of Lake Butrint. In traditional Albanian fashion these mussels were shelled, lightly battered, deep fried and served with a dash of lemon that was quite optional for shellfish this fresh.


With frog legs sadly out of season we ordered the next most exotic dish on the menu. Our deep-fried freshwater eels turned out reasonably fresh, but did come with a slight muddy flavor that benefited from a generous squeeze of lemon.


To be honest none of the dishes stood out, and the only memorable dish on this first day in Albania was the excellent fried cheese at Odaja. Little did we know that we would soon encounter two of our favorite restaurants of this 23-day trip over the next two days, as we moved into Central Albania.

Meal for Two Persons

Fried Peppers	200 Leke
Vegetable Soup	200 Leke
Deep Fried Mussels	400 Leke
Deep Fried Eels	650 Leke
White Wine 0.5 L	250 Leke
TOTAL	1700 Leke (CAD$20.0)

The next morning we took Tina's advice and found a cheap taxi to Gjirokaster's makeshift bus station, really a gas station on the main thoroughfare. Here we boarded Albania's infamous mode of long distance transport, the legendary furgon, towards our next destination of Berat.

IF YOU GO

Gjirokaster is 4 hours from Tirana by bus, currently departing from the South Bus Station (see map) near the Eagle Roundabout. For those traveling north from Saranda, cheap furgons departing from Parku Miqesia take about 1.5 hours ... but the last one leaves around 13:00. If you're pressed for time like us and need a private taxi from Saranda, leave me a message below with your email address and I'll send you Mario's contacts.

Balkan Road Trip - 02. Butrint, Albania

Albania has never been the most popular destination even for independent travelers.

Call it communist or perhaps Cold War stigma from pre-1990s, but visitors remain relatively scarce and even fewer would travel the length of Albania from south to north. My Italian coworker knew only of its cheap beach resorts along the Adriatic coast, and nobody could advise us of what to expect as we walked up to the immigration counter at Saranda's port.


Part of the fun -- aside from Corfu's wildly disorganized port -- was to arrive at Saranda before the vessel even departed Corfu. That's right -- our hydrofoil departed Corfu at 09:40 and arrived at Saranda at 09:25, after adjusting to Albanian time which was one hour behind Greece.

And Saranda itself was not our destination. As evocative as the 5th century synagogue ruins at its city centre may be, everything pales in comparison to nearby Butrint, one of the best preserved Roman towns of its era and one of Albania's national treasures.


Most visitors based in Corfu would arrive at Saranda's port and do Butrint as a day-trip. Except we had to start traveling north after visiting Butrint and, most importantly, had no place to stash our heavy luggage at Saranda. We ended up pre-booking a taxi with our friendly driver Mario, traveling directly from Saranda port to Butrint then onward to the enchanting Ottoman town of Gjirokaster.


A UNESCO World Heritage Site in the same order as Olympia or Delphi south of the Greek border, the ruins of Butrint is a microcosm of Balkan history in its transformation from an ancient Greek colony to thriving Roman and subsequently Byzantine town to Venetian and Ottoman outpost, before being rediscovered as an archeological treasure in the modern era.


Even the most uninitiated visitor would be charmed by Butrint's natural setting, built on reclaimed marshland a few kilometres off the island of Corfu and surrounded by the turquoise waters of a National Park. The neighbouring brackish lagoon that bears the same name produces Albania's best mussels, available at any fish restaurant along this Ionian coast.


Designated a colony for Roman army veterans by Julius Caesar and later Emperor Augustus, Butrint was a a well-resourced town with its own aqueducts, multiple public bathhouses, theatre, gymnasium, nymphaeum and numerous temples all packed within a defensible circular fortress, a few hundred metres in diameter.


The Romans were not the first to arrive. The oldest standing structure is a Greek theatre from 4th century BC, designed for 1500 spectators with its 19 rows of marble seats. Like similar theatres in Delphi and Olympia, the stage is still used occasionally for everything from dance performances to beauty pageants.


The Roman town was inherited by the Byzantines who built the Great Basilica in the 6th century and fortified it with two flanking defensive towers. It would be used as a place of worship by the town's primarily Greek-speaking population for the next thousand years.


Most spectacular is a 1500-year-old Byzantine baptistry with a perfectly concentric circular array of marble columns and a gorgeous floor of mosaics depicting peacocks and various creatures. Unfortunately the mosaics are currently covered with a natural layer of sand for protection until a permanent solution is engineered, and visitors can only admire the reproductions in the museum.


With the depiction of a ferocious lion taking down a bull, the Lion Gate was one of few entrances to a well-defended acropolis featuring a multitude of land gates and one amphibious gate for naval access from the salt water channel that acts as the town's natural moat.


Remnants of several public baths are identifiable by their characteristic central heating system, a feat of Roman engineering in which hot air was circulated beneath the floors to provide hot water for the citizens' enjoyment. Stagnant water still fills some of these baths, now enjoyed by the resident turtles.


Twenty years ago UNESCO relegated Butrint to the list of World Heritage Sites in Danger amidst reports of looting and mismanagement as Albania became embroiled in civil unrest, precipitated by the mass collapse of pyramid schemes. Since then the government has done an admirable job of resisting the seduction of resort and casino developers, and the site now receives half a million visitors per year, most arriving on guided tours from Corfu.


Most visitors end their visit at the archeological museum atop the acropolis, housed inside an 800-year-old Venetian castle now flying an Albanian flag with its double-headed eagle. Fascinating artifacts aside the museum also offers panoramic views of another Venetian castle across the narrow channel, and the pristine blue waters that connect the lagoon to the Mediterranean.


On the way back I spotted the rarest seal in the world -- and yes, I know how strange this sounds -- while standing at the shore next to Butrint's parking lot.

I don't know whether this was a testament to the national park's ecological protection, or perhaps a total coincidence. But as a Canadian I know a seal when I see one, and this puppy was sticking its head out spying on those funny humans. Too bad it disappeared before I had the chance to whip out my camera.


On the way to Gjirokaster I did consult Mario, who thought I was either joking or hallucinating about the seal. But I later googled it up, and Butrint National Park is listed as one of the world's few remaining sanctuaries for the Mediterranean monk seal.

And Wikipedia is never wrong, right?

IF YOU GO

Butrint is a popular day-trip from Corfu with organized tours from numerous agencies, though it would be cheaper to simply take the hydrofoil to Saranda then transfer to a local minibus, currently departing from a street corner just 300m north of the ferry terminal. Alternatively you could splurge on a private taxi like we did and visit Gjirokaster as well. Leave me a message with your email below if you need our trusty driver's contact info.