First Andon Lapa Hotel Sarande

... Greek wine and their local Ouzo. I ate Pastitsia, a pie with layers of pasta and meat but I kept eating Stee's dinner of this fish cooked in peppers and onions. Vance doesn't do fish so he had a harder time with the menu options. Everyone was in a great mood so we ended up just sitting and talking and laughing and drinking and eating for quite awhile.

... I employed my Italian skills to find the right place to go. They employed their English skills to go where I went. Then there's the CA couple that I ate lunch with one day, that also were on the shuttle with us. There's the little Italian couple that I met at the Meringue Party, who I danced with the woman for 2 or 3 songs. There's the couple that sat on the balcony with me during the official cruise send off, who helped me climb up to the balcony -- okay, actually it was a ...

... the day looking at the old forts, the unique streets and of course shopping. Olivia has a pair of Dior (????????) sunglasses now for the mere price of $14NZ, so many terrible take offs here.<br><br>Next day - Santorini. Opened the cabins curtains to see a sheer cliff with a town perched at the top. The only way to get up was a zig zagging path or a cable car. We were ferried by boats to shore and Chris started making noises about walking up. Robyn ...

... on a chair no sleep with so many weird looking passengers seriously it was like the waiting room for hell.<br><br>So we tried and tried to get sleep but the crossing was terrible the boat was up and down and up and down. Just as I thought I was going to sleep this man came stumbling into the room with a cigarette and a cheap bottle of cider looking for his wife shouting her name when he found her he hit her over the head with the bottle and said some random things to ...

... back to the hotel and booked a really nice place in Sorrento with a swimming pool just hope its open the pool at this time of year and its only 7 days now till Danielle comes to meet us in Italy I am so excited to see her.<br><br>Met some English men travelling around there were about our age and they were dead nice so asked them did they want to come for a quick drink with us and we went for some wine. Then for the most food in the world both Ian ...

... in Corfu town where there is a little bit more going on. He was ok with it and we decided to just get on with the day. Ian wanted to walk up to a little villiage at the top of the hill and after Meteroa I said he was welcome to go on his own and I would go to the beach and wait for him.<br><br>The beach was amazing it was so hot the hottest day and I just kept reading my book and going for a swim in the sea it was so calm and you could see ...

... mosquitos even though I have spray on to deter them everything is ok. Go met off the ferry by some american guy who is running the hostel that we are staying at he was really miserable and obviously did not want a conversation with us as we where talking to him asking him questions and stuff he put the radio on really loud how rude this was my first impression of Brian and it did not get any better. <br><br>Arrived ...

Albania! Albania! Albania????? That is what we said when we heard that this was our next stop on Captain's Choice for the next "secret island" stop. Only about 50,000 tourists visit Albania each year ... and for 2005, it will be 50,004 after the Butler/ Hamilton invasion of Saranda, Albania. We were herded onto buses and given a tour of the city of beautiful downtown Saranda (see the photos). Most noticeably, many (most?) of the buildings are half finished. In ...

... roadside vantage point. Turning off the engine for a moment, all I could hear was the sound of birds and the cicadas. Further up the road still, I passed through the village of Strinylas where elderly Greeks sat on chairs in the street and my passing was noted with interest. I raised my hand to a few of them by way of greeting and they returned the gesture with a smile. Still, I felt guilty about driving through, disturbing the peace with the engine's high ...

... I loved Sarande, and hope to go back there one day.<br><br>As we were walking down the street trailing our luggage behind us, we stopped one last time at the pastry shop. While we were ordering (pointing) our pastry, our little hotel owner came running in. He had come to say goodbye, and give us some cookies to take with us. We all hugged, and kissed cheeks. <br><br>I'll never forget Sarande, or the wonderful people that we met there.