Hotel Grand Sarande

... that used to do cruises in the northern waters. It is way past its former life but much like 'Miss Havisham' in ‘Great Expectations’ hangs onto its past.

Tickets:
We arrive in the morning and are able to purchase tickets for the ferry across the Gulf of Aqaba in the late afternoon.

Departure procedure:
We only wait about two hours before being allowed to drive onto the ferry and move up the passenger areas.

Igoumenitsa, Epirus, Greece manic-trip

Corfu was surprisingly warm today, around the mid 70s, which was warm enough for us to spend some time at the Aqualand water park. I've never been to a larger water park and we make is just in time before they closed for the winter. Me and my buddies played around until it began to get cool towards the late afternoon.

This morning we visited the ...

... tastic. Truly, it's been great.

When I arrived in my room I had a momentary hiccup where I just was so sad. I hadn't really missed Larry or felt home sick too much during the trip, but for some reason, on the cruise, in the room by myself, I just broke down. BUT. I told myself, "Josie, you are here and you're alone. But you're here." From that point on it was, pardon -- or don't, the pun, smoooooth sailing.

I had a FABULOUS welcome treat in my room in the form ...

... straight for the cable car queue. The compromise (after Robyn found out the cable car queue was an hour’s wait) was a donkey ride up the zig zag path. Robyn only just got on her donkey before it took off at full speed. Olivia was on next and much to Mitchell’s disgust the guy lifted him straight off his feet and planted him behind her as a pillion passenger. Next was Chris’s ride with Ryan planted in front of him. Their donkey ...

... there was another rally this time the Prime minister was making a speech in the square we decided not to hang around for it but went to collect our bags and go for some soulvakli.

The boat was due in at 9 but was late due to the weather conditions so we waited in the cafe at the harbour when we got there guess who was there only Brian and the American girls turned out they were getting the same boat as us. Brian was taking an unfortunate suspect back to scum ...

... they spend a lot of time relaxing, because they live on an island. I have only one dislike. The water was too cold and dirty for my taste, but there are a lot of swimming pools around, so I didn't need to swim in the open. This journey was a fun journey and I will never forget it.

... swimming and cliff jumping (worst kind whasname who wouldn't jump, potentially killed the entire vibe of the booze cruise)
Met L-Bow and Jess due to Bosh's inability to capture Jess's cliff jump on camera due to forgetting what she looked like
Bosh labelling some brown dude as an absolute zero and reiterating it constantly
Creepy Captain George offering a couple 300E each to have sex in the hull (not the first people to have been ...

... for a local diner to get something to eat. At the diner I was able to order, using my English-Albanian dictionary, a bowl of soup and some bread. Eyed by the surrounding diners I tired to relive the awkward silence by asking one of the people how I should pronounce the Albanian vowels written n my dictionary. As the young guy tried his best to explain the difference between "ci" and Cthi", the waiter shot ...

... well as in Greece) where they do speak some english, and take Euros. I pick up my new favorite: an Amita juice box (pear), as well as some fresh made pseudo-Baklava that they give us for free! Back down the road, we pass some adorable little boys practicing their english at us: "Hello! Do you speak english?" and "Where are you going?"...to which I shrug and reply "we don't know!" As we round the next corner and start heading down a hill, oh look ...

... my wife from the port. He looked baffled.

'What's the room like ?', Michelle asked when I got back to the port, now almost deserted. 'I don't know, I didn't look. It's got a roof over it and a bed, I suppose'.

The room was actually fine, the only problem being its location on the first floor above a busy street. Life in Corfu Town seemed to start incredibly early and by 5:30am a rush-hour crescendo had been reached with whining scooters, buses and ...