For various reasons, we have not traveled extensively yet.  Part of the reason is we are fairly busy at our work places and what free time we have had, we have spent it exploring Durres and Tirane.  The other reason is most of the volunteers are still in host family situations and so we can only stay in hotels, which can get a bit expensive, although it is nothing like the states.  But remember, while here in most cities a good hotel will run $30 to $40 per night, we only make about $220 per month, so that seems like a lot to us.  However in August, five of the seven of us who trained in Peqin gathered in Berat to celebrate birthdays and city the city.

Berat is about 2 hours from Durres and is a World Heritage site (I think).  Besides being a quaint city built on the hills above the river, there is a large walled city built in the Middle Ages on the top of the hill and is still occupied.  The existing walled city or castle dates from the Middle Ages, but the foundation of the walls date from earlier Roman periods.  So off we set to explore this place and see friends.

Traveling in the summer is always a warm trip.  However on this trip, a heat wave from Africa was moving up the coast and we were in for the hottest weekend of the summer.  Carol had seen that on the news, plus the fact that there would be several of us in town needing a place to stay, we opted for a hotel.  That was about the smartest thing we did on this trip.  We had reservations for Saturday night as we did not know if we would be able to catch the last bus to Berat on Friday at 4:00.  We did manage to get away a 3:30 and got to ride for 2 hours during the hottest part of the day.  While the bus did not have a/c, the breeze felt good when we could get people to leave the windows open.  There is a real concern that a breeze blowing directly on you, it is not healthy and so, most locals will close the windows.

We arrived wilted but just getting off the bus was refreshing.  While it was warm Friday evening, it was not unbearable and it cooled as evening passed.  Saturday, was another story as it was hot in the morning and by noon, all we could do after lunch is sit under the fan or a/c.  Not much sight-seeing until evening on Saturday.  Finally at dusk we decided to hike up to the castle so we could see it.  It as a long, hot hike and by the time we got to the top, it was getting dark, and so we did not get to see much.  That evening, as the power drain from all the a/c and fans hit, the city lost power for about 2 hours.

Sunday was just as warm and so we explored a little that morning.  About 11:00 we headed for a restaurant where we could sit under the a/c and wait for our bus.  This return bus had some a/c but the windows did not open and it was a hot ride back to Durres.  After the ride in the bus, the fan in our room felt very cool.