Finally back to Greece!

Sarande

But first we had our last days in Albania. We had no plan other than we had to check out from Sarande. We went there first before we hoist the sail again and sail south to the national park on the border to Greece. Our plan there was to visit the Ali Pasha Castle and they said we could anchor outside and take the dinghy in. But it was very shallow so we could`nt go there. So we tried to find another spot instead.

Right on the border to Greece there is a beautiful area with beaches and an island. We were not sure if the island was in Greece or in Albania (and we could`nt cross the border) but we realized it was in Albania, and took the dinghy over from the bay way anchored. A beautiful place, specially in the morning. But not a sandy beach so we only had a swim before we went back to the boat.

In this bay we stayed for two nights. We were alone in the morning and in the evening, but at daytime it was a lot of tourists coming in charterboats from Sarande. Not that crowdy but we decided the second day to go back to Sarande.

Clear water and the temperature around 28 degrees in the water. I had my first swim here after a couple of weeks without because of my knee.

So we went back to Sarande and anchored in the bay. A lot of pirate boats going in and out but it was quiet in the night.

In the evening we went ashore to eat dinner and rent a car for the next day

Chicken with white saus and mushroom, very good!!

Butrint National Park

In the morning we picked up the car and went to Butrint National Park. Here is a big lake and to cross this lake you have to take this ferry…

The ticket costs 5 EUR, and you could also pay for a guide if you wanted. We wanted to walk around for ourselves.

Butrint is considered to be one of the most important archaeological sites in Albania. Butrint was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1992 and became a National Park in 2000. Inhabited since prehistoric times, Butrint has been the site of a Greek colony, a Roman city and bishopric. You can read more about Butrint here:

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/570/

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Butrint, from the 5th century, had a bishop and the Great Basilica was the bishop`s church. It was constructed in the early 6th century AD, at the same time as the Baptistery. The original basilica would have had three aisles separated by colonnades of columns and capitals reused from earlier buildings, some of these can still be seen inside. The floor was paved with mosaic, which was created by the same craftsmen who made the Baptistery mosaic, and there was a polygonal apse.

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The Lion gate takes it name from the relief depicting a lion devouring the head of a bull positioned above the entrance. The lion relief was not part of the original wall, but was placed here in the 5th century AD, in order to reduce the size of the gate and make it easier to defend. The relief is from a temple building and may date from as early as the 6th century BC.

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From the top of the hill you have an amazing view. You can also see Ali Pasha Castle as we wanted to visit.

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The entrance to the park. I will suggest to come here in the morning, it is less crowded and not that warm.

They had 69 rules in the park:

1. Serve the visitor wholeheartedly
2. The other 68 don`t matter

After Butrint we had a stop in Ksamil. From beeing alone in the boat for a long periode it was too crowdy and noisy to be too long on the beach here.

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On the way back to Sarande I remember it was a viewpoint I wanted to hike to when we checked in to Albania. Now we found out that it was possible to drive up there.

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An amazing view both to Sarande/Ksamil and up in the mountains.

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It would be an amazing place to have a dinner in the evening, maybe with some music, but I understood that this is not a success

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In the evening we went out for dinner

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In the morning we left Albania. We checked out in the evening, but then we had to leave the bay before 8 in the morning. It was a little bit of wind so we hoisted the gennaker and sailed southwest to Corfu.

Corfu, Greece

It took a while to check in at Corfu so we decided to stay in the marina for the night, even if we realised it would be a rolly night. We had a walk around the old town.

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We had to stop for an ice cream

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I bought a new dress and are ready for dinner in the old town

A nice little restaurant and we had our first greek meal in Greece. We have now checked in to Greece for 3 months and are ready to explore!

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In the morning we had to do some grosery shopping. Compare to Norway we are familar to find all kind of food in one supermarket, but here it is small super markets and then you need to find a bakery to buy bread, a butcher to buy meet and there is huge markets with fruits and vegetables.

We needed to find a butcher to buy some dinner. It is not possible for us to go to a restaurant every day, so we have to prepare dinner aboard some days (most of the days). We found the butcher and we also found a huge farmers market and we had to buy some here.

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After shopping we sailed north on Corfu. The weather forcast said it should be wind from north so we had to find a protected bay. This bay was not that protected, but it was very nice and quiet and nice temperature in the water.

After a night in this bay we continue north. It was strong wind from north, and we went out in open sea, so it was a rough sail (specially for me). This is the northern part of Corfu.

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Erikoussa

North of Corfu there is three islands, the Diapontian islands, and we wanted to visit them. We started with Erikoussa. The island is not that big, only 4,5 square kilometers.

We decided to stay in the marina for a night, it was cheap, only 29 EUR. You could pay 10 EUR extra for water and electricity. The harbourmaster, George, and his colleague was very friendly. Close to the marina there is a beautiful beach.

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It is a small church right up from the marina and we wanted to go up there to have a nice photo.

On the way up to the church, and look north, amazing..

In 2001 the island of Erikoussa had 498 inhabitants.

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Yes, we walked up to the church, and I took a photo. But we were there a bit late so it was shadow on the church, so I decided to go back the next day.

In the morning the next day we head for a hike around the island. As the island is only 4,5 sq.km it should not be that long…

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On the first hill you will find a mill and a nice view of the bay.

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We went further up in the hill and it was a lot to see

They did an amazing stonework years ago

On the way down from the hill to the beach

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Astor had to take a swim

You have to walk along the beach to find the path again

There is no sign on the aroundtrip, only a few greek…

and now and then we were not sure if we were on the right way…

But then it opens up again

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On the way we met Phil from UK. He lives in Paxos and he joined us on the rest of the hike.

And the road some places….

On the next hill, amazing view to the mainland of Greece/Albania

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And to the west to Othonoi were we are going next.

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this aroundtrip was 9,5 km and I was really tired at the end. We invited Phil for a beer in the sailboat before we went to restaurant Erikoussa to have lunch together.

Photo of a photo… not that big island, but very nice to walk around. Have good shoes, enough of water and food. There is nothing to buy on the aroundtrip.

And right before we left the island we went up the church again to have the sun on the church!

A really beautiful place and a good marina in northerly winds. If you want to relaxe you can stay here for many days!

Next week we will continue to Othonoi and then further back to Corfu, before heading south.