I've been to Berat, the pictures don't do it justice at all. There's an illusion in the hills as you near the town and it seems almost like an oasis. There is still greenery and trees outside of the town, but it's just such a dramatic difference between the town and the surrounding landscape - you can't really see that in these photos.

Anyway, here are some more:

We drove south, took the long way. I saw a lot of Albania, actually. I don't remember which city was which most of the time - but Berat and Gjirokastra I remember - I even used Gjirokastra in the "Guess this City" thread - hehehe.

Hahaha...communist fashion.

My Grandmother has a picture of my Mother standing on the steps of the National Library in Sarajevo. She's wearing black shoes, knee-high white socks, a black skirt to her knees, a white shirt, a red bowtie, and home-knitted black sweater, and her hair cut like a bowl was on her head...hehehe...

Older in life...same thing...replace black shoes with white high-heels and change the bowtie to a scarf tied around the neck.

Communist fashion in Sarajevo was a lot like, I don't know, flight attendants. At least from the pictures I've seen...hehehe.

Cities of Albania: Berati