\n\t\t\t\tView From Berat Castle \n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nI was only up there half an hour before the most hectic storm hit, torrential rain, thunder, lightning. It was so hectic, I started heading down straight away, Being on top of the hill with this amount of lightning was a bit scary. As it was so dark and raining there was not another soul around (just this idiot…).<\/p>\n
I was finding it tricky to find my way down again. I eventually found a tiny hole in the wall shop still open and asked the way down (they didn\u2019t speak English…). They told me… To stay put they would get me a taxi – great! Their son turned up in a car to take me down the mountain. If I knew you could drive up!!!! Anyway, we set off in the torrential rain, very quickly, I realized he doesn’t have windscreen wipers!!! So down the winding mountain, we go ( the long way) not being able to see a thing. We only went in the ditch once, when another car came around the bend (at least they drive on the right…). It took 20 minutes – of pure terror (on my part) to get all the way down. I will bring an umbrella next time…<\/p>\nNo windscreen wiper!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I first “saw” Albania when I was 17, sitting on a beach in Corfu. We were told, under no circumstances to kayak or swim over there as you will be arrested and might not be released – mmmm ok….! A few years later…?I find myself in Albania – cool!!! I arranged a driver from Ohrid to bring me to the airport in Tirana to get a car. No way I was being without one now! The first hire company, had a car, for half the price of Macedonia and I could drop it off in the North, and I was told if I crash the car no problem – perfect… The driver had taken me through Tirana on the way to the airport. I had no desire whatsoever to battle my way back into the Capital and complete bedlam. Not after coming from such beautiful places, I was in a peaceful mood! I headed instead for the 2,413-year-old (can’t get my head around that!) city of Berat, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Another name for it is the City of Floating Windows. When you look at the houses you just see windows… The castle is way up on a hill (funny that), so, up I trundled. The castle grounds are huge with a lot of the little houses still occupied. I went up at sunset to have a look around. I was only up there half an hour before the most hectic storm hit, torrential rain, thunder, lightning. It was so hectic, I started heading down straight away, Being on top of the hill with this amount of lightning was a bit scary. As it was so dark and raining there was not another soul around (just this idiot…). I was finding it tricky to find my way down again. I eventually found a tiny hole in the wall shop still open and asked the way down (they didn\u2019t speak English…). They told me… To stay put they would get me a taxi – great! Their son turned up in a car to take me down the mountain. If I knew you could drive up!!!! Anyway, we set off in the torrential rain, very quickly, I realized he doesn’t have windscreen wipers!!! So down the winding mountain, we go ( the long way) not being able to see a thing. We only went in the ditch once, when another car came around the bend (at least they drive on the right…). It took 20 minutes – of pure terror (on my part) to get all the way down. I will bring an umbrella next time…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3155,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[79,85,88],"yoast_head":"\n
Berat, Albania - Otter Travels<\/title>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ottertravels.com\/?p=3147\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Berat, Albania - Otter Travels\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I first “saw” Albania when I was 17, sitting on a beach in Corfu. We were told, under no circumstances to kayak or swim over there as you will be arrested and might not be released – mmmm ok….! A few years later…?I find myself in Albania – cool!!! I arranged a driver from Ohrid to bring me to the airport in Tirana to get a car. No way I was being without one now! The first hire company, had a car, for half the price of Macedonia and I could drop it off in the North, and I was told if I crash the car no problem – perfect… The driver had taken me through Tirana on the way to the airport. I had no desire whatsoever to battle my way back into the Capital and complete bedlam. Not after coming from such beautiful places, I was in a peaceful mood! I headed instead for the 2,413-year-old (can’t get my head around that!) city of Berat, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Another name for it is the City of Floating Windows. When you look at the houses you just see windows… The castle is way up on a hill (funny that), so, up I trundled. The castle grounds are huge with a lot of the little houses still occupied. I went up at sunset to have a look around. I was only up there half an hour before the most hectic storm hit, torrential rain, thunder, lightning. It was so hectic, I started heading down straight away, Being on top of the hill with this amount of lightning was a bit scary. As it was so dark and raining there was not another soul around (just this idiot…). I was finding it tricky to find my way down again. I eventually found a tiny hole in the wall shop still open and asked the way down (they didn\u2019t speak English…). They told me… To stay put they would get me a taxi – great! Their son turned up in a car to take me down the mountain. If I knew you could drive up!!!! Anyway, we set off in the torrential rain, very quickly, I realized he doesn’t have windscreen wipers!!! So down the winding mountain, we go ( the long way) not being able to see a thing. We only went in the ditch once, when another car came around the bend (at least they drive on the right…). It took 20 minutes – of pure terror (on my part) to get all the way down. 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