Berat is known as the city of a thousand windows; however, it is lacking in breakfast cafes. Darren and I roamed the entire walking street and some side streets, but all we could finally find was a grocery store with a massive prepackaged croissant, juice, and Istanbul sandwich chocolate cookies. In awe we walked by the squares mosques and Orthodox Church then took a taxi up the extremely steep hill to the castle Kala neighborhood.
We paid 100 leke or so to enter the area, but interestingly it has quite a few people that live within its walls. Some called out to us to buy their local jams or give us a tour. We declined and found the Onufri Museum. My guidebook said it would be closed on Mondays, but joyfully it was open. Onufri is Alabania's most famous icon painter, and although I find this type of art good for glancing and walking by at a moderate pace (saints, holy family, monsters, martyrs, repeat), I did find his depth of colors more interesting than other typical icons. Due to wanting to avoid the semblance of having any graven images, the Orthodox Church does not have much in the way of statues in its churches. Instead they have the icons--which sometimes pilgrims kiss, frescoes, a couple thrones for the king and priest, some lamps, mosaics, and the iconostasis. The Onufri Museum is located in an old basilica and its iconostasis may the most impressive I have seen. It is elaborately carved and covered in gold. Also interesting was the ability to walk behind it to the holy place and see the covered altar. The covering always stays on the altar to represent the cloth Jesus was covered in after the crucifixion. Behind there is usually the second throne for the high clergy but it was not present in this church.
Outside the museum we wandered around looking for more camouflaged churches, the old walls, a remnant tower from a red mosque, ruins of a white mosque, the trash splattered cistern, the Acropolis, and finally some shade for a snack and water.
Google maps revealed another dirt trail that would take us directly towards town. It was definitely a locals trail and we could have avoided the entrance fee of we had entered through it. We walked down it and over to the ethnographic museum. It was also stated to be closed on Mondays in my book, but once again it was wrong and we went inside. The old house was similar to those we had seen in Gjirokastra, but it included some local costumes, looms, farm equipment, and had a scary bat that occasionally flew around our heads. We relaxed on the tranquil terrace of the second floor--definitely our favorite area of these old houses (I think from the 1800s). I could understand how the raised platforms were for VIPs.
The fortress and museums were the main things I really wanted to see and we had already cruised the main pedestrian street several times. Therefore it was time to move on. We walked back to our house with its great views of the city and let our host know we wanted to take the next bus available to Tirana, the capital of Albania. Our host made us Turkish coffee, I booked our next hotel, and we all chilled on the porch until it was time for him to drive us to the bus station a little bit out of the main town. On the way he pointed out where he had watched the epic and historical game last night.
We rode the bus arriving with plenty of daylight and walked to the center chatting with an Australian girl who had been traveling in Europe for a few months and had been to Macedonia. I asked her about our travels until we separated and Darren and I kept walking to the center of the city. We found wifi, cappuccinos, and croissants at the Opera's cafe and let our Tirana host know we were in town. He picked us up with his friend after about a half hour. He drove us around town a little and let us know that the hotel we booked was being renovated, so we would actually be staying at a different location. The hotel was still central and crazily had a circular bed. The owner was super friendly and after Darren and I relaxed in our room and FaceTimed my sister Jessica, he joined us outside the hotel for free coffee and to talk until we were ready for supper. He suggested Era, which I had remembered reading about in my guidebook. Darren and I followed my phone across the river to the hip Blloko area of the city and found the restaurant. Darren tried a local dish made of goat and yogurt.
After our meal, we walked and people watched the neighborhood before returning to our hotel to watch a little of the night's Euro Cup game before sleep.
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