Views of Lake Ohrid, nice hike, and anniversary dinner

We were overdue for some exercise, so we made plans to climb up the hill to Pogradec Castle. From there, there were several choices to continue our hike. 

I did some research before we left. It turns out that some visitors attempt to drive up to the castle. Yes, there is a road, but as with many rural roads in Albania, you are better off if you have a 4 wheel drive. I read stories of people attempting it in a regular car, but once you get to a certain point there is no way to turn around, and if you can't make it, you have to back all the way down.

Good thing we were walking, because I think our car would have had a tough time getting up there.

Ruth, on the road up to Pogradec Castle.

Looking back at the city of Pogradec.

Pogradec Baeach.

This young fellow was happy to see us.

And this older one was friendly too.

This is the Albanian side of Lake Ohrid.

Looking down on Pogradec.

Nothing remains of the castle.

Unfortunately, nothing remains of the castle. You can see definite indications that there was a settlement there at one time, but I knew in advance that the main reason for coming up here was the views of the lake.

I took a video for you... turn up your volume...

Views of Lake Ohrid.

We had only done 4 kms (2.5 miles) so it wasn't much of a hike yet. We could see some beautiful green hills in behind us, and lots of goat and sheep paths, as well as a continuation of the four wheel drive road. So we headed off that way.

Hills in behind Pogradec.

Scenery along the way.

Me, and the view looking back.

The hill behind me to the left is where the castle was.

Climbing up cross country.

Off in the distance you can barely make out a little white dot on a ridge on the bottom left.

Here, I'll zoom in for you.

It's s church in the middle of nowhere.

Another great view.

I almost stepped on this tortoise.

Mr. (Mrs.?) tortoise.

Another view.

Goats enjoying the nice day.

The weather was perfect for a nice hike. Sunny with cloudy periods and a high around 20C (68F). Perfect. We ended up doing 13 kms (8 miles) so we got a nice walk in.

We made it to that little church, but it was nothing special. From there, we took the church walking path back into town. 

And back in town, we stopped in at that little restuarant where we had wanted to have our anniversary dinner last Wednesday but it had been closed at the time. This time, it was open and we asked the owner about coming back for dinner and he said that was fine. So we went back to the apartment and relaxed for a few hours then around 7pm, we arrived back at the restaurant.

The English menu.

Click on the photo to enlarge. Then click again to zoom in.

Each menu item is followed by the item serving in grams, and then the price in Albanian lek. For perspective, 1000 lek is about $12 CAD, $10 USD, €8 euros.

We don't splurge very often, but I decided to have the roast wild duck, and Ruth ordered the grilled koran fish which is a type of lake trout endemic to Lake Ohrid. 

Restaurant selfie!

It's a pretty cozy spot, even when you're the only customers!

Ruth inside Poradeci Restaurant.

Mixed salad.

Koran fish.

Roast wild duck.

Mulberry raki.

With a couple of glasses of homemade red wine each, the bill was 3,800 lek ($45 CAD, $37.50 USD) including a small tip. A little more than we would normally spend, but it was a bit of a different experience. The duck was good, but not great. Tasty, but too many small bones for my liking. Ruth's fish was nice though, and so was the salad. 

Today, we are taking the car up the western shore of the lake. We'll be doing this drive again on Wednesday when we leave here, but it will be a long drive to our next stop so we won't have time to do any exploring that day.

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