Berat is described in my guide book as the most beautiful city in Albania...hmmm. The view from the castle above the town is spectacular and from there it certainly could be :)
I'm given a warm greeting in my little restaurant/hotel and i instantly like the place due to the feel of that hotel. To get to the hotel was another matter - I've got a business card from the previous hostel, there are no directions of course, but "it's a little town you will see". Grrrr :) I end up with ten locals surrounding me, all of them scratching their heads. I MEAN for Christ sake they have probably lived here all their lives, can it be that DIFFICULT! i only jest, it was really nice to get so much help.
Apart from a wander around town and a leisurely climb to the castle i don't have time to do much before it gets dark (4.30pm). I chill after my 'exercise' watching the only English channel on tv - cartoons, CARTOONS! I think i blink about an hour later, and return to my adulthood - it's been a while since I've watched any TV. It's as I'm about to take a shower that the power goes. I'd heard about the regular power cuts, the water was also cut so i couldn't even take my shower. Bugger it there's only one option - i have to hit the bar. It's a difficult early start to say the least. 6am to catch my 7am bus. The sign at the bus stop says 8am to Saranda - I tell the bar tender; the bar tender says "you have good food, good drink. Tomorrow you have breakfast 6.30 and catch bus at 7. NO sign, locals know best". Who am i to argue - needless to say the bus left at 8am...
