first impressions...

July 12, 9am. We have successfully made the ferry crossing from Corfu to Sarranda, Albania. We got through customs with no problems, save for the 10 Euro "entrance fee" (is this some sort of theme park?). So, having been drained of cash at the border, we go into "downtown" Sarranda in search of an ATM and a bus to Himare, up the coast. We couldn't find either anywhere, and the bus did not leave until 2pm (5 hours away!) Our only choice was a taxi as we didn't want to hang around very long. By the way, coming from Corfu, Sarranda was a bit of a shock, let's say. Like going from a Caddy to a K-car. The streets are not paved, derelict, no tourist/souvenir shops. I knew I was going to like this place!! After refusing to pay 30 Euro for a cab to Himare, we found a big, round, friendly guy who would do it for 25 Euro. So, ok, we don't want to hang out in this place for long so we hop into the cab after agreeing on a price (memories of being hustled by a Ukranian cab driver still fresh in my memory).
We are in the cab for about 5 minutes and through animated cherade-like conversation, the cabbie, "Jim" (Dejem) finds out I like Raki and invites us back to his place for some. Immediately in my mind red flags are going up, especially seeing the ramshackle neighborhood in which he lived. However, am I one to turn down a drink?! So we arrive at his place and he tells us to wait in the car. Dust is scattering the car and buildings from unpaved streets as topless, unscrubbed children look on curiously. I have to admit, I am a bit nervous. Will he return with gun-toting Albanian maniacs who will strip everything from us and leave us for dead? No, he returns with a 1.5 litre water bottle filled with an amber-colour liquid the colour of gasoline. "You drink, you drink, ees good!", he chimes.
"Well, 'ere goes nothing" I say. Hey, that's not bad!!
"Not bad, eh?" he says.
So goes our ride along the southern Albanian coast to Himare. We banter amicably back and forth the best we can, him stopping for us to take photos of amazing panoramas whenever he saw fit. It must be mentioned here that any stop was a welcome occurence. The roads are often 100m above the roaring sea below, with a main road that would qualify as a go-cart track back in PEI. Trucks come barrelling around the corner and slow down just in time to avoid slamming into us and sending us over the edge into the deadly abyss that lies below. Jim says we'll be alright ( he must have seen my face contort into a grimace more than once) and honks his horn repeatedly while rounding turns to warn on-coming drivers of our presence, or to scatter the grazing donkies and sheep. He indicates that I shouldn't wear a seatbelt as a head-on collision wouldn't be fatal (going too slow around turns), but getting knocked off the cliff would be if you were restrained from jumping out of the car in time. I slowly, discreetly unbuckle my now useless seatbelt.

We stop in Borsh for a break where Jim says is the best, purest "mountain aqua". He also has a friend who runs a restaurant here (uh-oh, I think again, are we gonna get taken for a ride here?). We meet his friend and after many smiles and vigorous handshakes we are asked to wait and his friend disappears. Once again, when he returns, we are presented with a water bottle (only 500ml this time) of a liquid the colour of ethyl alcohol - the guy's homemade stuff. " A gift for you!" he exclaims.
"Are they gonna charge me for this?" I can't help thinking.
We are taken to a table on a multi-leveled out-door terrace in the back, set amongst the falls and springs of the mountain water. JIm orders us toasted bread, a plate of garlicky goat/cow feta, and grilled pork. Oh, and also more Raki. We eat and drink, but didn't linger as Jim indicates that his wife was just on the phone demanding to know his whereabouts. " I tell her car is kaput!!" he laughs. When we asked him how much the meal cost, he seems offended, and insists on paying. Back on the road with more hair-razing pothole dodging, harrowing curves, and breath-taking views.
We get to Himare (in one piece) and he tells us he has a friend who owns a hotel on the beach and he will speak to him to get a good price for us. We are once again greeted with smiles and handshakes and are brought Greek coffee and more Raki. The owner joins us and we chat for a bit. He wants to meet us later for supper. Jim says we will pay 20 Euros for the room, when the Italians have to pay 30. "I get you good price" he exclaims. I pay him before he leaves back to Sarranda and couldn't care less that I only recieved 2000 Leke back (16 Euros) from a 50 Euro note, as it's the only way he can make change. "Don't worry about it", I say, understanding that he cannot understand what I'm saying, " It was worth every penny".

Back to the continent

Leaving Naxos, we went to Santorini, which is one of the most visited Island mainly because of the history and view. A huge volcano erupted 3500 years ago and left a big crater filled with water and that is where Santorini lies today. When you think of the white-washed houses hanging on cliffs in Greece, that is where the pictures are taken from. We unfortunately only liked the view. It was pretty exciting to see that the island is basically only old lava with a bit of soil on top of it. But it was way too tourist-oriented for us and we tried to leave a bit earlier than expected but the high wind forced us to stay 2 days extra as all ferrys were cancelled. Oh well, an extra day by the pool, too bad...!! From there we went to Folegandros, another island but much smaller than the first one. It was a big difference from Santorini and was a welcoming relaxation. We stayed 2 days there and then left back to the main land (after an 11 hour ferry ride) in Athens where we met up with my brother's friend who lives in Greece and his mom. Had some of the great traditional Greek food last night (which ended up at 4 am) and have now rested for the day. We planned to head up to the Pelloponese tomorrow and we'll see what will happen next.

A Favourable First Impression

Hello everyone who reads this blog. It's been quite some time since we've last posted anything, and I suppose this isn't exactly justified. Even though living in London was an eye-opening experience for both of us, detailing it on a blog post for potential readers would be like force-feeding you Javex and wouldn't be nearly the same as telling you all about our adventures while on the road.
Well, having finished our time in south London, we were extremely contented in leaving the grey dinginess of Britain for the 32-34 degree cloudless skies of Greece. Athens was a brief experience, but a good one, as we had a fantastic hospitality-club host who helped us make the best of our limited time in Athens. We saw the Acropolis and that's about it (see pic of me in front of it), but we were happy with this as the sunny islands were relentlessly beckoning to us.
Today is our last day of three in Naxos, the largest of the Cyclades Islands. It is also the most fertile island, flourishing with olive, lemon, orange, and wine groves and has dramatic, sweeping vistas of the coast from the perches of its mountainous interior. Yesterday was strictly a "chill" day as we had no sleep in Glasgow airport upon arriving in Athens on Wednesday, and almost no sleep on our first night in Athens (good times late at night with Lena, our host, and an early morning ferry to catch!). So we slept in till late and went to the town beach in the Hora (every capital town of an Island is called the "Hora", means capital or primary town) to chill-ax and watch the world (and bikinis!!) go by.
Today, we rented scooters and negotiated our way through the mountainous terrain of Naxos. It is a very pretty island which fulfills your stereotypes of the Greek Islands: whitewashed square buildings perched along the hillsides, aqua blue water, large women in black habbit-type things sitting the shade of the village square, golden sandy beaches...ahhhh, these are the things that kept me "going" when I would get frustrated with my job in the winter!
Tomorrow (Sunday the 2nd of July) we are off to Santorini, supposedly the jem of the Cyclades. Our ferry leaves at 1:30, just enough time to go catch some rays at the beach!

Wish you were here,

Nick and Isabelle