garyandpearl

Nov 10/25

Last night we had our first bit of stormy weather on this voyage. Lightening lit up the skies and the waves lulled us to sleep. We were unsure if we would even go ashore this morning as the rain continued, but we took a chance and took a tender boat (lifeboat) to the city of Sarande.

Sarande is located on the Albanian Riviera and reminded us of Waikiki with its beautiful promenade and lush tropical plants. This formerly communist country is now democratic and tourism is its main source of income. They are in the process of candidating to become a member of the EU, but for now they have their own currency called the Lek which is worth 1 European penny.

The rain stopped as we arrived, and we spent a few hours exploring the area. While still onboard, we were warned to beware of slippery tiles.

Gary found a lovely indoor ocean-view cafe and we enjoyed some espresso, (tea for me), a freshly baked chocolate croissant, and pistachio gelato. All four items came to about $8 Canadian which was the price of one coffee yesterday in Dubrovnik.

My goal today was to find a post office to buy stamps so that I could mail some postcards back to Canada. When we finally found the post office, the grumpy lady behind the desk told me that I could not use a credit card nor Euros, but I needed to pay in their local currency. “Exchange money!” she forcefully suggested!

I chose not to, so perhaps I will be more successful in Greece tomorrow.

As we were getting ready to head back to our ship, the lightening and thunder resumed and it started to rain again. We were grateful for a few dry hours to explore.

We had noticed that the ocean water was a different colour than our previous stops. I found out that we are no longer in the Adriatic Sea, but we are in the Ionian Sea. Perhaps that is why. Gary thinks not. 😊

There is a chocolate buffet for dessert tonight on the Lido deck! I’ll give it a try!