Following a busy full day in Tirana, I was hoping to get a good night’s sleep to prepare for our second stop in Albania (and our first road trip stop), but, unfortunately, jet lag set in, and we got maybe three hours of sleep. That was a rough start, but we had another city to venture to: Kuçovë! After an early start, we packed up and headed back to Teze’s for breakfast and got to see The Grand Park of Tirana (Parku i Madh i Tiranës), which was beautiful and so impressive. After enjoying the lake and a yummy lunch back at the apartment, we got our rental car (which the rental company dropped off—yay for connections!) and set off for Kuçovë during rush hour with our fingers crossed for a seamless ride.
We arrived in the evening and explored the few blocks of Kuçovë before enjoying another huge, delicious Orthodox Easter dinner. Kuçovë is where Roobz’s uncle’s family lives, along with his grandma, whom I was very excited to finally meet. Although this was a family-centric stop on our trip, the bonus of stopping in Kuçovë was its proximity to Berat, aka the city of a thousand windows. Berat is a UNESCO-protected town, and the views from Berat Castle, plus the local food we enjoyed, were some of my favorite parts of the trip.
Beauty in Berat
It was about a 20- to 25-minute drive from Kuçovë to Berat, and we parked for $1! #AlbaniaPricesFTW We walked around the square and checked out the happenings. There was some sort of haircutting event—possibly for a charity—that people were gathered around to see.
After walking around the square and the boardwalk-type area, we headed over to the Gorica Bridge, one of the oldest and most popular Ottoman bridges in Albania, and took some photos of the old houses.
The forecast called for rain, so we skadaddled up the way to the castle. We ended up ditching the legit pathway of stone steps and took a shortcut up the hill, so we didn’t pay to get in. Whoops! But, pro tip?
The views were BEAUTIFUL. We saw the whole city and then some, including Tomorr and Shpirag, legendary fighting mountain brothers, which were large and in charge up close. The architecture of the castle, fortresses and Holy Trinity Church were so scenic and beautiful.
I would definitely recommend Berat to anyone who goes to Albania. We spent a long time taking photos and taking in the views because it was so spectacular. Pro tip, though: be careful walking on the stone steps—they’re really slippery!
For lunch we went to Onufri, which is owned by Roobz’s aunt’s cousin. We had a delicious meal, and it was great to enjoy some local dishes. We got salad, beans, bread and spread, stuffed eggplant, byrek, and risotto. There was also some chicken and goat that everyone else enjoyed. It was so authentic and scrumptious. Albanian cuisine is very pescetarian/vegetarian friendly, so I was in food heaven.
Bonus Stop in Belsh
As we were leaving Berat, it started to rain a bit, but luckily it didn’t last. We made it back to Kuçovë and took a break (lodhur!) to rest up a bit. Later in the evening, we checked out Belsh, apparently the could-have-been capital of Albania, which Roobz had never heard of. It was maybe a 40-minute drive, and it was a nice modern-looking town on the water. The docks were lit up and looked sparkly and magical at night—it was a good excuse to try out my camera’s night settings. Belsh would have made for a nice day trip, too. After heading back to have some dinner, we got ready to hit the road again to Fier, Roobz’s hometown!
