Take a cruise to...Albania?! (and the dreamy Grecian Isles)

This week and next our cruises are highlighting the Greek Isles, but of course there are other ports involved to get to and from the islands.  For instance, we go to Turkey both weeks, we hit Croatia and Italy and two days ago…Albania.  Yup.  Hmm.  (cricket)  So…not the first choice of vacation spots for just about anyone.  The port of Saranda, Albania is a new port of call for Regent’s ships and I don’t know that it’s going to get the top ratings.  The passengers of course knew it was on the itinerary when they booked the cruise, but I’m sure it wasn’t the selling point for anyone. 

When planning for the port I, of course, turned to my handy dandy guidebook and saw that there wasn’t much at all in the town, but I did read about a small beach where I figured we could spend the day.  We headed in and since Albania isn’t much of a tourist stop and it’s not really a thriving economy the 30 minute taxi ride was pretty cheap.  We headed through run-down, dilapidated construction and abandoned buildings on roads that were less than sub-par and inhabited by cows, sheep, etc.  I was a little concerned, but finally we came up to Ksamili Beach where we found the 8 of us were pretty much on our own besides a few locals out for the day.   The beach turned out to be really gorgeous, though.  What a diamond in the rough!  There was a nice little dock headed out over completely clear aqua-blue water.  You could see straight to the bottom of the water even when it was 15 feet deep or so!  It was really fantastic.  We had fun swimming out to little islands where we found an abandoned frame of a deck/bar/hut that we climbed on and jumped from!  There was also a nice restaurant right on the sand to cater to all its customers (all 8 of us) and we ended up having a fine day in Albania!  (Oh!  I also tried a new food called saganaqi.  Let me know if any of you have had it.  It’s literally a slice of hard, white cheese, fried.)  When we returned to the ship we found out that even though we were still ported for another hour all the guests and all but about 3 other crew members were back on board!  Ha!  I guess people weren’t so impressed.

Today was a lot of fun, though.  I headed out with Brett, Elena, Bruno, and Chris, the latter two being guys from the boutique whom we have started hanging out with quite a bit.  We were in the stunning port of Santorini, Greece, one of the most picturesque of all the Greek islands.  (It’s also famous for being the thought site of the lost city of Atlantis.)  Our visit began by figuring our way up the cliff side of the island to get to the town of Fira.  The options were as follows:

-Pay 5 euro for a donkey ride up narrow winding steps

-Walk for half an hour up said steps and through donkey poop.

-Pay 1 euro to ride a cable car and be at the top in 5 minutes. 

We quickly decided to give the donkeys a break and head to the cable car.  From there we reached the white, sun-drenched town of Fira and walked through its maze of shops to find a rental spot.  Me and Elena quickly chose to rent motor bikes while the other guys decided to go with ATV 4-wheelers.  Brett had his own and the boutique guys shared one.  We got a map and headed to the south side of the island.  It was a fun ride around twists and turns, but we found the hills gave us a problem.  The ATV’s were not giving enough power…ESPECIALLY with two men on it.  It was funny for Elena and me, passing by laughing and waving at the guys, but they were quite frustrated.

Anyway- we ended up at Red Beach, named for its signature red sand and rock beach, which you have to hike to.  The beach is red from its volcanic origins and has beautiful, blue water, providing for a really nice, unique look.  We took a quick dip and enjoyed the secluded area before heading back to our vehicles.  After a frustrating try getting back we knew the ATVs just weren’t going to be able to keep up, so Elena and I headed off to the northern tip of the island, to the village of Ia, pronounced “ee-ah. “

This town is truthfully BREATH-TAKING.  When you see an image of Greece what do you think of?  White villages made of plaster and blue domes popping up to highlight the Orthodox churches over looking the blue Aegean Sea, right?  That clean feeling of those perfectly smooth white buildings are just unforgettable.  Well, Ia is where those pictures come from; it is just amazing.  I found myself getting lost trying to look over the cliff at the maze of streets and staircases bordering each house built into the cliff side.  I loved this place and I was so sad to have only a little time here.  Elena and I grabbed a bite to eat looking over the water from high above and darted out to get back to the ship. 

We are returning to Santorini next week and Ia will be my first stop.  I will make sure my camera is charged and ready for a full day.  I am already excited for that day and that I get to go exploring again!  Wish I was seeing all of this with each of you!

Tripp