Rapos Resort Hotel Himare

... Opnieuw valt de wind na twee uur motorsailen weg en is het voor al de diesel die ons voortstuwt. Rond twee uur komt het eerste Griekse eiland inzicht en hebben we een gevoel weer een mijlpaal te hebben bereikt in ons avontuur. <br><br><br><br><br><br>En na twee uur hebben we ons plaatje rond, we zijn omringd door groene eilanden N.Othoni, Erikoussa en Mathraki, de witte krijtrotsen van Corfu ...

... on to the islands of Ksamaili. We jumped on the local bus which took us along the coast. A 20km journey took aound an hour because the roads are so windy along the coast so we didnt go very fast. As soon as we got to Butrint there was tons of school children there as part of a trip which were really annoying and they were all there playing there music on there phones and making a general racquet as kids do so it was really hard to get peace and ...

... me, I dont really drink anymore and I just dont really feel like getting drunk like I use to. Apperently the pink palace is just full of young Americans spring break style, and I just dont think I could hack it. One of the stories the boys told me was that an American girl asked them why it was always sunny in Australia and they told her its because it is controlled by cranes and they are able to move the island towards the sun so that it is always sunny. This ...

... Nikoletas brother would be very unhappy and chase me all the way to England to rescue her. I drive to the ferry port and check in, I'm nearly on first name terms now with the agents. Once booked in I find my last Corfu Gyros Pitta and wait, and wait, and wait. The ferry finally appears about half an hour late, I'd been starting to worry that I might be in the wrong place, unlike England and France the whole ferry departure ...

... and such a brilliant temperament. My bath is booked for tomorrow, I want to get properly clean for my journey home as I think washing could be the least of my concerns as I want to hotfoot it home as quickly as possible, watch out England stinker incoming! (Tracy it's probably best to let me bath first before you give me a big hug.) Once back at Nikoletas the previous night catches up on me and a nap is called for. Then I'm dispatched to the shops for Gyros Pitta. I ...

... in the sun, gunshots sounded in the distance, the odd motorbike could be heard from many kilometres away, sound really carries up here. We sat on our cushions and contemplated, I tried very hard to memorise all the details so I can revisit this place in my mind, just in case I can't remember I can feel another panorama coming on. We then head back to Palaiokastritsa, it looks so good from the mountain we have to pay it a visit. As we head down we come ...

... des bunkers partout a travers le pays; on en vend meme des petites repliques dans les boutiques de souvenirs... j'ai dit a la vendeuse:" vous avez le sens de l'humour de vendre ceci" elle me repliqua:" que voulez-vous, ca fait partie de notre histoire." puis, comme ses copains staline et mao, hohxa est mort... on dit que c'etait un regime corrompu et que hohxa n'avait prepare aucune releve... a ce moment-la les regimes communistes d'europe de l'est venaient tous de tomber ...

We crossed the border into Albania with very little paperwork, just &euro;10 per person in tax, nothing for insurance (we're assuming that meant we weren't covered!) and a new stamp in the passport. The road was absolute **** (narrow and patched so many times that it was like driving on rumble strips constantly), and there were piles of rubbish everywhere. There were heaps of abandoned fuel stations in varying degrees of being finished. We ...

... bike overtook us. Also, there was no toilet on board. Having reached Vlora (the end point of the railway tracks), we had to wait for a few hours before a bus showed up, though there was some doubt as to whether it would or not. Some more advice - never trust the taxi drivers, or anyone who knows a taxi driver. The inevitable response when asking about public transport - "No bus until tomorrow. Come, I take you in my taxi. Only 40 euro!". As it was, the bus to ...

... little gentleman also gave us a bottle of wine that he had made. He didn't speak English, and we of course, didn't speak Albanian, but we were still able to converse quite easily.<br><br>After checking in, we began walking around. Up the hill from our hotel was a very, poor area. Dennis was tired, and not impressed with what we found. We walked through a beautiful park, and then began our journey back toward the beach area. <br ...