It's a rather rainy day today, and weather forecast says its going to be raining most of today. We have a huge balcony with a good panoramic view
There were oranges and mandarins trees in the garden so I picked some from the tree 😎
And off to explore Berat, starting with the castle. In reality, there is no castle here, and no royalty ever lived here. It's more of a fortress with different houses within the fortress which are lived in by residents of the city.
We were glad that the rain stopped for us while we were visiting the castle.
A few things I was pointed to see include
The Citadel
Red Mosque
White Mosque
Church
We then went into the New Town, located at the bottom of Berat, and took a quick look at King Mosque.
I was also curious about a grand looking building that can be seen in different parts of Berat, which we later realised is Hotel Colombo. We decided to walk in and check out the hotel.
We were told the building was previously the University grounds and when the university moved to Tirana, the building was converted into a hotel a few years ago.
Unfortunately they were hit by the 2019 earthquake and then the Covid Pandemic in the last 2 years, and occupancy had been very low.
We then made our way to Elbasan.
The castles and its surrounding walls were constructed in the Ottoman period.
During that time, the town was called El basan which is another name for fortress. Sultan Mohammed the second rebuilt the walls and the castles. We didn't stay long as it was raining.
Not far from Elbasan was Fish City - It is huge enough to really be called Fish City!
Never would I ever expect a place like this to be in Albania and not even near the sea!
Almost all the fish that is caught is processed here, right in the middle of Albania.
There's even a cinema here - the story goes that a famous Albanian actor had a son and he also tried to be an actor but was a disaster at it.
He then decided to dabble in fish and it has now grown to be the largest fish supplier in Albania (and possibly Balkans).
There was also a Bar / Coffee Lounge/ Billard pool area and a fancy pool.
And the fish processing area with numerous warehouses.. more than I can count.
There was also a sushi restaurant which was recently completed, but when we were there, no one was in there yet.
We then made our way to the main restaurant, where we really pigged out and left with a very full stomach.
Even got to try the sushi which in my opinion was just average. Best to stick with their typical seafood items.
And then we were given a complimentary dessert.
The guy who started this place really made his dream a reality. From two small wooden boats and selling seafood from a car boot in 1992 to being the largest fishing company in Albania with a fleet of 12 fishing vessels, and 4 important processing centers in Albania and over 1000 employees.
If not for Clemens, I would never have known this place or expected a place like this to exist.
We ended lunch really late, and night has almost fallen when we left Fish City, and a 45min drive to Tirana, arriving in at about 6pm.
Will be spending the next 4 nights in Tirana.
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