We drive towards Berat, city of a thousand windows. Another town with, if all goes well, a supermarket with a gluten-free range. You won’t find this a lot in small local supermarkets. What is striking here is that little or no fresh products are sold in supermarkets. You can find bread, vegetables, fruit and meat in small shops, which is of course only nice for these entrepreneurs. That is different in the Netherlands.

 What makes this city so fun is the enormous playground on the boulevard. The girls love it there. 

We’re going out for dinner tonight. Unfortunately, the tip we received is closed, but TripAdvisor will help us further. The gluten-free choice is limited but what is available is delicious and the view tops it off. An ice cream on the boulevard and then it’s time for a little wash for the girls, put on their pyjamas and go to bed. We sleep wonderfully until 5 am. Then the Muezzin calls us to come and pray. We hesitate for a moment but turn around again. The mosque is beautiful from the outside.

After breakfast we decide together that we are going to do something fun for everyone this morning. The girls want to play in the playground, fortunately Jinte understands better than anyone that Diede also “says” this. We want to walk around the bridges. First the playground, then the walk. Jinte thinks that Goos can also do something fun, so we let him take a nice swim in the river, although he doesn’t have to do much, the current is so strong.

We get in and drive towards our next stop, Bovilla Lake. In Tirana, Mirre is able to brake just in time and swerve just enough to avoid kissing the side of a pick-up truck. Traffic, especially in cities, is quite reckless here. We continue driving with a heart rate of 200.

We already read on park4night that the last 6 kilometers towards the lake are unpaved and challenging. We rode unpaved before but this is next level. It feels like we are participating in the most dangerous roads. After one kilometer, which took us at least 20 minutes, we decide to turn around. This is unacceptable and we would like to keep Tinus and ourselves in one piece. Turning that around is easier said than done. A truck is coming towards us, cars behind us. Diede on my lap because she had just woken up upset. Everything squeaks and creaks. Johan manages to turn around and what a relief when the asphalt is in sight. Then no Lake Bovilla. You can get there with a walk, but that is a tough one and not possible with two children. Who knows, we might come back again.

We drive to a campsite nearby. Nothing special, but next to an orchard and a very nice man. Fine for tonight. The shower and toilet are being renovated so we can use those of the apartments. After dinner we all shower under a wonderful rain shower that is warm and also stable in temperature.

Girls go to bed, we make new plans. The weather will deteriorate in the coming days, so we decide to spend that time at a campsite with more facilities.

This morning we had breakfast with buckwheat pancakes with strawberries. That was appreciated. Enjoy! At this moment we are driving towards the campsite. New place to discover, always fun.