Berat is what a hillside does when it decides every house needs a front-row seat. White Ottoman houses stack up both banks of the Osum, windows punched into the slope so densely the town earned the name City of a Thousand Windows, while the castle on the ridge has been lived in since antiquity and never quite emptied out. Mangalem and Gorica face each other across the river like two neighborhoods that never agreed which side was the view. UNESCO listed it with Gjirokastër in 2008, which is a fancy way of saying the place still looks like someone forgot to modernize it — and that is exactly why you stop.
We found when we arrive in a new town the key thing to do is find where you will stay. We stayed at Agro Camping Harmony Berat. Eglantina & Fatos were wonderful hosts. Beautiful place. I guess we are getting more remote. They have never had Americans visit their place.Sharing the road as we arrive.We started the day riding into town then hiking up a 2 mile cobblestone road to the Castle/Fortress.This is a huge place like you might image from Game off Throwns. Now shops restaurants, multiple churches, and families living up there.Video of town from the Castle.Oh then there’s this view too.Christian church in town.We ended our time here looking at the 1000 windows while the sun eventually set on the City. So tomorrow we have networked with other van lifers and have been invited up to a family farm high up in the Shebenik National Park. This looks to be the ultimate adventure we’ve been looking for. Stay tuned…
The Riviera here is pretty amazing. It is very quiet now but stretches for endless miles with a beach town every 20 miles or so. We chose to only stay at one for the afternoon and night. We have had a lot of beach time in Greece and are anxious to explore inland Albania.
Driving over you are on amazing roads that pics don’t do justice.The views are stunning at the top of the pass.Top of the pass.Typical part of the boardwalk you see. Water here was a lot calmer than we saw on Naxos.Beautiful mountains as backdrop.Coming full circle you can see Corfu across the sea.Lots of color as sun sets.Oh, we are parked 30 yards off the beach for the night. Treated to a colorful evening.… and of course you knew this was coming! Dogs here are friendly but hungry. Often fully stretched out on the sidewalks. And for you cat lovers, that think it’s fancy feast or nothing, cats here will eat French fries, cheese or even lettuce! Hunger does that. Oh and we literally saw a cow eating out of a garbage can! Not to be confuse with the donkey standing on a stone table! (Driving too fast to snap those photos). Ok on to Berat. The city of 1000 windows. Stay tuned…
Most people still picture Albania as a blank on the map. For nearly fifty years it was. Enver Hoxha ran a hard-line communist state that sealed the borders both ways: almost nobody in, almost nobody out, bunkers instead of welcome signs, and a country told it was safer alone. That isolation lasted until the regime cracked in 1990–91. Protests, a first multiparty vote, and the old system simply ran out of road.
What replaced it is a parliamentary republic — messy, young, and still finding its footing — not another closed shop. The coast road is open, the springs never closed, and the stone villages are deciding, one house at a time, whether to come back to life. You do not come here for a finished postcard. You come because the door finally opened and the place behind it is still figuring out how loud to be.
For me since middle school I was always intrigued by the mystery of the closed place. To finally get a chance to visit and meet the people is special.
But let’s start with how many of you know where this even is! Ha. (Just north of NW Greece).
Customs was really rather simple. People like the van so it seems to take the focus off of other stuff.We headed for Permet. A small little town on the Vjosa River in SW Albania. Driving along the river you feel an emerging simple vibe to life. Roads are nice but some very narrow. At 60 km/h it’s both hands in the wheel, full attention.Then out of nowhere will come a fantastic restaurant. Food prices very low. A big salad, pasta dish, and Coke Zero $16.Eventually we got to the countryside where we were going. Camped by a small farm. Sheep were running all around.Then of course you know who they come after!Ok. They’re friends!We had a great evening with two Brits (worked on the Tolkien series), and Albanian friends. In the morning they gifted us an Albanian flag for Spud (our van)! Super excited for it. As we drive around locals were flashing their lights and waiving to us. I should add after 73 days in the van we have yet to see a U.S. plate on any other vehicle, so this combo had people quite puzzled.Day two got us out on our bikes for a short ride before the rain. Beautiful country side crossing the Vjosa River.Farm country made me feel at home.Had to stop and talk to a farmer. Tried to explain my farming heritage (cousins and sisters would get this).Late afternoon we headed out. A typical road crossing. Lots of farmers with about say 20 sheep or goats heading down the road. I have to add that we get lost a lot it seems. Google / Apple will give us a location whether with “driving directions” or Lat Long Coords. We will end up down an alley that is so narrow you can’t turn but slowly have to backup. Headed for a restaurant with a few parking spots sent us into basically a landfill! All part of the adventure!Finally found the restaurant which we couldn’t believe was this nice on a road that for 10 km had nothing but woods around it. We will stay parked here for the night and give Teena a night off from cooking.Local Albanian appetizers.Today was a big hike day (5miles), to a place called Blue Eye.Blue Eye is a massive single underground spring that comes up and feeds the Vjosa River. It is over 150 feet deep. Divers can’t reach the bottom due to high pressures below. Vivid clear water.Crystal water flows for miles.Hmmm. Tempting! Well off to the Albanian Riviera. Stay tuned…
Naxos is the big, green Cyclades island that never settled for a white-cube postcard. Up in the mountains, Panagia Drosiani is the old stone church that matters: built in phases from the fourth to sixth centuries, with fifth-century frescoes still on the walls. It is among the oldest churches in the Cyclades.
Said another way. You come for the beaches and stay for the mountains, history and charming towns.
The main city of Chora is a beautiful view. It is one of the things along with their beaches that attacks you to visit. Got our workout in one day going up endless steps.From the top was an old monastery for girls made into a restaurant. Views worth the effort.Day two the bikes came out. A good 20 mile ride till we realized the first 10 was wind at our back! Ouch.Teena flying by!Epic colors.Day three we rented a 4 wheel ATV and took off into the mountains to find history and adventure.We found an old old stone church. Built 5 BC!Amazing history, just think about it…Light of the world shining thru for Centuries.Two candles for the two girls lost in Fayetteville over the weekend. Rinny’s close friends.Walking and exploring quiet towns.Have to stop for traditional Greek lunch.The walkways are often made of marble from the island. Bright spot of my day!Spud (our van), relaxing at the campground.Final dinner in this Greek paradise.On the Ferry. Here we go again. Off to the Balkans. Now the real adventure begins! Stay tuned…
Yes, the Acropolis. The marble on the hill. You go. You take the photo.
Then walk down to the water.
Palaio Faliro is where the city actually sits: a long path by the sea, coffee, bikes, ferries heading out. There’s a bronze emperor on a horse facing the water—Constantine XI, last ruler of Byzantium, who died when Constantinople fell in 1453.
Hill for the famous view. Shore for the rest of the day.
Ok. What’s emerging is the relationship pieces of the trip top sight seeing. We met up with one of my dearest professional friends Uta Werner. One of the three most influential people in my career. Brilliant, passionate, supportive, on and on. She was a Partner at Marakon Consulting. Worked together at both Kelloggs and Tyson. Taught me so much on strategy, business, finance. Part of her family is in Athens and she was there, for perfect timing to see us!While we saw buildings from 400 BC, the other ones built for the 2004 Olympics complemented the others.One of the many sailboat harbors.Over looking the kids Optimist sailboats while we were having lunch. Much like the ones our kids sailed on Gull Lake.Speaking of lunch. I had to go halfway around the world to see Uta, AND have smelt (fish) to eat.… and boats for big kids!Teena, Teena, Teena. They find her everywhere!Such an amazing day with my dear friend. One to always remember!… and we are off to Naxos. Stay tuned…
Yes, the ruins. Olympia. Mycenae. Stones that still have names. And Biblical places like Corinth part if Paul’s travels.
Then take the coast road.
The Peloponnese is a big fist of land with water on three sides. Small ports, olive trees, towns that go quiet after lunch. Gythio sits on the water like it has nowhere else to be. Ferries leave. The hills stay.
Ruins for the story. Shore for the miles in between.
Ok. Let’s start with where do two Spartans go in Peloponnese? Sparta of course. The warrior statue on their square like at Michigan State! Go Green!!How do you say Sparty in Greek?Peloponnese is actually a giant island although it seems like it’s the mainland.Quaint coffee shops right on deep blue water.We missed our May trip with John Dozier and the VBT group, so we came down and rode some of their courses. Amazing!The day’s destination. Deepest blue water we’ve seen.A typical cafe for lunch.I’d say 1/2 time just camped on a beach, 1/2 time at a campground. This one was a resort type with full hookups, an amazing pool, SUPs, windsurf, lots of shade, AstroTurf, restaurants, and quite evening bars like above.Seems my building muscle these days is more about eating muscles!!One of the nicest farmers markets we’ve seen!
Meteora: giant stone fingers, monasteries glued to the tips, monks who looked up and decided the view was worth the climb.
Six still hanging. The rest of us just stare and wonder who packed the first rope.
Ok. After hiking up there it’s time to enter like the 14th Century Monks!Yikes, and here I go!Oh wait. Teena found steps! Whew.Hard to describe it.Depiction of the 12 Apostles.I don’t expect you to read this but it really spoke to me and filled some gaps. Most people picture the Greeks with a crowd of gods. This plaque says something else: their philosophers were already reaching for one God, a Word that would take flesh, even a suffering God-man—seeds of the same truth later named in Christ. Paul used that opening in Athens. Then Greek itself did the rest: it was the language precise enough to write the Gospels, the liturgy, and the doctrine so the story could travel. We saw examples of ancient manuscripts (not allowed to photograph), where Monks here were writing more copies of the 4 gospels for others to read.Of course the insides are amazing.Wine cellars too. Also Nursing homes for ailing Monks said to be as important as their bakery.Six of these exist here and are all still actively inhabited.OthersWon’t post them all. I think you get it. An inspiring day!
This post is dedicated to visiting Paxos, the feature island in one of our favorite Netflix Series “Maestro in Blue”. Filmed here, it is a combination of a love story and mystery set in music. We highly recommend it. It is why we chose to visit Paxos.
Setting the stage. 1.5 hour passenger ferry from Corfu. Greece is set up with groups of islands. Big ferries take vehicles to the main island(s) in the group from the mainland (like Corfu). Then passenger ferries connect those islands in the group.This is the harbor where many scenes are filmed, stunning. We had to leave Spud 🥔 (our van 🚐) on Corfu so we got a little flat for two nights. Also a nice break from the heat. The movie’s main building is this schoolhouse set up as the music school.In the movie there is a grand piano and the rehearsals happen here.It’s set on the turquoise harbor.Photos from the filming.In the series the main girl is on a Vespa a lot.Not sure the world is ready for this!We took the Vespa all over the island. Truly magical!!Ending our time here at the cafe often used for various scenes. Oh two things we keep forgetting to mention. At restaurants in Europe there is no rush to leave. In fact often times it’s hard to get the waiter to come back so you can pay. Also so far they expect no tip. Salaries are set and covered in the food cost. This is why many Europeans were rather shocked when they visited the U.S. for the World Cup.
It seems each day we are saying “today was the best”.
Well today truly was. When we came across on the Ferry from Bari Italy to Corfu we met a wonderful French couple Thierry & Florence who also have a home they are restoring on Corfu. They invited us to their home today for a fun French lunch. It turned into 4+ hours of laughter, amazing food, learning French and Greek culture and the beginning of a wonderful friendship.
But first a stop for Cappuccino on the way. The winding roads are super narrow but the views are worth it.The meal on their outside terrace was a Normandy dish since the day before I had said I liked that area of France. Can you believe she did that?!A four course lunch with homemade apple tort.Their beautiful home they are restoring.A 500 year old olive tree. Assume we all have one of these!An amazing view from above their home.Ended the day with a walk down Old Town Corfu. It was a 10!!
