Better late than never

Phew!  A little over a year later and I finally have published my posts from my Albanian adventure.  My time there will always be special to me.  I will never be the diver I was before I went again, I will be a stronger, smarter better diver!  I learned so much and have endeavored to carry it forward with me on every dive regardless of the purpose.  Both traveling alone and diving without my partner Eric taught me many valuable things about myself and I came out stronger in the end.  Scientific diving is amazing and I have even had some contract work in the past year.  Since returning home I have also graduated from WWU with my B.Sc. in biology with a marine emphasis and in my personal life I got engaged.  Life is top notch right now as we seek employment somewhere sunny and warm.  Now that the big hurdle of posting two intensive weeks of travel and learning has been accomplished I will attempt to post some of the adventures I have had since then.

Day 24 Japan!

Friendly faces in foreign places!

I woke up as we were approaching Japan and was happy to have secured a window seat.  Though I didn’t recognize anything it was nice just the watch the world go by until we landed.  After a quick stop in customs I again located baggage storage then found my friend Brittany!  She has been in Tokyo studying abroad for many months now and it was wonderful to see her again.  Additionally hugs from friends are amazing, especially after nearly a month. 

That is a lot of cucumbers.

Brittany had secured a train pass for me and we decided to head in to the town of Narita, which is right next to the airport, rather than the hour ride to Tokyo.  One think I did not expect in Japan was the weather, it was easily in the 90’s and very humid.  After negotiating the train we arrived in Narita and began exploring.  In the heat we started the late morning by sitting in the shade and enjoying a frosty adult beverage that tasted like lemonade but had the alcohol content of beer while discussing the days plan.  Our main destination was Naritasan Shinshoji Temple a Buddhist temple complex, it was first founded in 940 to commemorate a victory and an end to a rebellion.  It was quite for about 700 years until 1603 and from that point on it has been a more popular destination.  My favorite building was a pagoda from 1712, amazing! There is also a large park area and we wandered around the woods for quite a while.  Right at the edge of the park is a little restaurant and we had a beer in the shade, then headed to the koi pond back in the park. Obviously the koi are fed regularly because as soon as we approached them came from all over the pond to where we were in swarmed all over each other along with a couple of hopeful turtles.  We hadn’t purchased any fish food and disappointed them all by only taking their pictures and enjoying the view.  Brittany and I spent a good 3 hours wandering around and marveling at all the sites before we decided to head back in to town.  Though we had snacked a bit, and did some window shopping, we felt that lunch was in order.   

One must take the classic tourist photo.

Sadly for us we were not at normal lunch time and almost all the restaurants were closed until dinner.  We also were determined to get sushi, so we wandered, a lot.  Hot and hungry we pounced on an ice cream shop we found, nothing like green tea ice cream in Japan.  After our reprise we continued our search, though it was fruitless we did have street cart food. We found a takyoyaki stand, they are a ball of wheat dough with pieces of octopus inside, cooked in a cast iron pan that was a round mold for each individual piece cooked, it is then covered in several sauces and eaten by spearing with a toothpick.  Though I don’t eat octopus normally, I made an excepting for this most likely once in a lifetime opportunity and was glad I did.  Takiyaki is delicious!  We wandered a bit and headed back to the train station, of course the train station a few blocks away had an earlier train back to the airport so we headed there.  In that station was a baked goods shop, much like a doughnut shop.  I randomly picked out a few baked goods to eat later as we waited for our train.  Back at the airport we located the showers, Brittany waited for me as a had the best $10 shower ever in a private room larger than some bedrooms I have had, with more sinks than I knew what to do with and a glorious high pressure hot water shower.  

 

Stunning colors!

 A shower and clean clothes made me feel like a new woman.  Sadly it was a new woman who had to say goodbye to my dear friend and head back though security and customs.  We hugged and parted ways.  Happily customs took much less time than the line indicated and I was through with some time to spare.  I made it my mission to get sushi in Japan and I succeeded even if it was airport sushi.  I bustled the opposite way of my gate to find the advertised sushi restaurant, where I was quickly seated and soon filling my belly and meeting a personal goal.  I cut it close and reached my gate in time to get in the boarding line.  After reaching the front the said I had a message and asked me to step aside.  I looked over and there was my checked bag.  Oddly all then wanted was for me to allow an employee to dig out one of my two dive lights and remove the batteries.  When I told him there was another he said it was fine, had me store the removed batteries in another pocket of the bag, rechecked my bag and a proceeded with boarding.  I must have been tired because the minute the plane left the gate I was asleep no matter how hard I fought.  I had wanted to watch out my window and enjoy every second of Japan that I could but I woke up far out over the ocean in time for dinner.  My brain time sense was scrambled, Austria and Albania are in the same time zone but Japan is nine hours ahead of Austria, and Seattle is sixteen hours behind Japan. 

Breath taking.

 So technically I landed home before I even took off.  My flight left Japan about 6:00 pm and I landed at 10:30 am the same day in Seatac.

Home sweet home.

Day 23 Albania to Austria

Really guys, "Do the CAT"?

After assuring myself that sleeping right next to the gate would wake me up without need for an alarm I managed to sleep through about half the plane boarding before I woke up and joined the line.  A brief hour and a half flight later I was released into Austria!  

Awe inspiring.

 The Vienna airport is near the city and a train, called the CAT (City-Airport transfer), provides a 15 minute nonstop route into downtown Vienna.  After customs, and wandering for a while until I located short-term luggage storage, and negotiating with the ticket machine I headed in to the city.  I admit it I headed out into the city and spied a Starbucks, after finding out they had wifi I got a latte and did some checking in with folks.  Fully caffeinated I felt ready to explore.  Vienna is a truly breathtaking city, so much history!  The flight landed early so by the time I got into Vienna proper it was only about 8:30 in the morning and the city was just waking up, people were readying their shops for the day, restaurants were putting out the sidewalk seating, and the streets were fairly empty.  It was nice to watch the city wake up. 

Even the graffiti is cool.

I wandered around for a good 4 hours amazed by everything I saw.  I didn’t do any research, had no idea what is in Vienna and had no must see or do items on my list, it was a day free of expectations or planning.  One thing that really impressed me was the amount of bike lanes and how respected they are.  So many people biking everywhere was really heartening to see.  Also there were bikes all over available to rent, a great idea for such a heavily tourism based area of the city.  Though I thought about renting a bike I decided to continue my aimless wandering on foot.  As a Dr. Who fan I’m not sure how anyone in Vienna gets any sleep with so many weeping angels everywhere.   I got myself good and lost wandering wherever my feet took me.  Eventually I bought some kind of meat patty from a deli, which the nice woman put on a roll with delicious mustard.  Before the day was out I had also enjoyed a schnitzel from a stand as is only proper in Vienna. 

All hail the sun!

When I felt suitably lost and in need of relocating the train station I started asking people for directions, everyone was so kind and polite.  I started getting slightly worried about my plan until I turned a corner and recognized art over a bridge from earlier in the day, I was mere blocks from the train station.  I retraced my steps from earlier seeing the city awake where it had been asleep earlier, it was nice to see some streets in two very different ways.  Eventually I had to make my return to the airport, reclaim my luggage and board my flight for Tokyo!

I couldn't resist the guy on the bike.

There's no reason to get a big head about it.

 

Day 22 Saranda back to Tirana

Happy bus is cheerful to get you to your destination.

Today I woke to my last day in Albania.  I’m not ready to leave but am at the same time very ready to be home.  The day started with a long leisurely breakfast with Alma and the girls, with lots of laughing and chatting, and a bee that fell in honey, got saved and was carefully watched as he cleaned his wings until he could fly again.  I then headed down to Hotel Mucobega for my last swim in the Ionian, I swam, drank espresso, drank up the sun, chatted with folks, read and sadly eventually said my goodbyes.  I garnered some candied orange and watermelon rinds from Erjoni’s and returned to my room to finish my packing.  The bus didn’t leave until 2:00 but as it was my chance to get to Tirana I wasn’t going to chance it so Alma, the girls, and I headed out at 1:00.  They got me situated, helped me get my ticket and we hugged our goodbyes.  This really was a bus, a tour bus with a big happy sun painted on the side.  Many of us chatted waiting for the bus to load and I met a guy named Dom from Sicily.  He was charming and funny and when we boarded we sat near each other and continued chatting.  He is in his 50’s and has been traveling his whole life, he speaks 6 languages and had absolutely hilarious stories form every continent.  He was a great distraction from the fact that the weather was in the 90’s and the AC on the bus didn’t function.  We did stop a bit up the road from Cold Water and drank, filled our water bottles, washed our faces and chilled out for a few before returning to another few hours in the hot bus.  We stopped for lunch at a little roadside place, I had a quick bowl of rice with meat gravy before we headed out again, it was a whopping $1.  After more napping and ignoring the heat, any stops picking up more and more people until the bus was nearly full we started letting people off as well and shortly thereafter we were at the last stop.  Time to grab my luggage and find a cab.  Dom offered to let me hang out at his hostel for a while but I decided to head straight for the airport, thinking I may be able to check my baggage and catch a nap.  I found a cab easily enough, negotiated a price and shortly thereafter arrived at the airport.  There would be no baggage checking as the check in counter wouldn’t open until 2 hours before my flight, so 2:30 am.  I curled up on a bench with my baggage, set an alarm and napped until I could check in, after which I went through security and customs and promptly went back to sleep.

Day 21 A day in Greece

Passenger ferry to Corfu, Greece.

Corfu, Greece!

Today I got up early, ate a solitary breakfast, and headed to town to catch the ferry to Corfu for the day.  There was no way I was going to come so close to Greece, to watch it every day from my balcony, and not visit. I had reserved my tickets the day before  which was a good call since the morning passenger ferry was full.  There are two ferries a day from each location, one morning and one afternoon, mornings are passenger ferries, a fast 30 minute hydrofoil across the water and afternoons are slower 1 ½ hour car ferries.  I met a nice couple on the ferry, she was Finish I believe and he was an Australian, they were just finishing up their travels and headed to the airport in Corfu.  We had a fun chat about diving and were in Greece before we knew it. I passed through customs rather quickly and was off to explore.  The day was hot from the start and finding the ticket office to purchase my return ticket was a bit challenging at first I got it sorted out and headed the ¼ mile into Corfu township proper, to the historical district. 

Fish pedicure.

I picked a road at random and started exploring, I wasn’t too worried as there were maps everywhere and it was pretty apparent that I would notice when I left the old town area as the architecture would change significantly. The roads, alleys, buildings, all of it was breathtaking, history was nearly tangible.  All the old buildings are shops and initially I was not into shopping but the more I walked the more enticed I was.  It was also very apparent when a cruise ship arrived as the streets would get much fuller, then later in the day the crowds would drop or increase as the change overs occurred on the three cruise ships that docked that day. 

Most refreshing beer ever!

 I was a bit overwhelmed with all the shops, sights and cruise ship passengers, quite a change from Albania.  I spotted the fish foot baths that Effie had told me about, where the fish nibble the dead skin off of your feet. I figured what the heck and got myself a fish foot bath, initially it tickled but after I got used to it, it was rather soothing and I got to sit and watch the world go by out of the hot sun and with my feet in a cool bath.  After my fish pedicure I walked and walked, did some shopping, ate a great Greek lunch of moussaka with a delicious Greek ice cold beer, and admired the architecture.   

Architecture.

All too soon my time was over and I headed back to the ferry to be sure to get my ride home, I gathered my goodies, nice Greek salts and soaps for gifts, a purse, earrings and sandals for myself and headed to the docks.  It was a nice leisurely ride back to Albania.  I have learned to cue like an Albanian, form a crowd and then go for it, no lines or nicely waiting or you will wait forever, you have to be proactive. So I knew to wait near the front and make a beeline for the boat as soon as we were able.  I managed to secure a glorious spot on a bench on the top deck right at the front of the ferry where I could watch the island of Corfu and hills of Albania pass by on our way.  It was a nice restful time, we were overtaken and passed by a cruise ship and it really advertised out size differences.  It was also really fun to watch the Albanian families interact on their way home, I had seen many of the same families that morning on the way over.  After passing through customs I headed home, grabbing some honey baked goods on the way from the patisserie. I dropped off my stuff and went for one last evening on the waterfront.  Limoni was crowded at this more proper European dinnertime, about 9:30, happily the waiters recognized me and one of them got me a table outside fairly quickly.   

Apparently a dangerous marina.

 I enjoyed a Bera Tirana and a huge bowl of mussels steamed in white wine and garlic for the equivalent of $7 for all of it.  After I finished my waiter brought over this delicious lemon sorbet they have sometimes.  It was a really great experience for my last time there.  I made my goodbyes and wandered the waterfront for as long as I could stay awake before heading for my last night in Albania.  Alma earlier in the day had suggested that I breakfast with her and the girls and I happily agreed, she also really wanted to drive me to the bus station and make sure I got settled and I couldn’t say no to that offer either.  I packed some and fell asleep the sleep of the exhausted. 

Goodbye Corfu!

Hello Saranda!

Day 20 A Historical Perspective

Wildlife at Butrint

This morning we wished Leslie a fond farewell as she headed to the ferry to Corfu and eventually her flight back to the UK where she is studying.  Then the remaining students along with Dr. Begley, Lee, and the new student who arrived yesterday Katie, all headed to Butrint National Park.

Tile work at Burtint.

It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, located 20 km south of Saranda.  Butrint is amazing, it has been a township through the ages, there is been evidence that people lived in the Butrint area from about 100,000 BC (the middle Paleolithic). It saw a lot of change over that ages, through Hellenistic, Roman, late Roman, Medieval, Venetian, and Ottoman times and has been passed around with control going to many different interests over the years, much like the rest of Albania.  We spent a number of hours exploring, taking in the sites, enjoying the heat, and admiring all of the different times represented in the ruins as we explored.   It was really centering and gave a great perspective to be somewhere that has been inhabited by humans in one form or another for such a long period of time. 

Long time Butrint inhabitant.

We returned to Saranda for lunch and then Effie, Dave, Cameron and I headed to our second UNESCO World Heritage Site for the day, Gjirokastra a town from the Ottoman times with a gorgeous castle at the top of the hillside. The castle began about the 12th century AD and saw a lot of work in the early 1800’s and in the 1930’s King Zog of Albania expanded the prison facilities. We spent our afternoon exploring the castle, it was very open and amazing. We were free to explore anything unlocked and to walk all over. Up on the top level is an American spy plane that was shot down during the cold war, it is weathered and old these days but clearly illustrates a different time in history.  Scattered throughout the land in Albania are small cement domes, pillboxes or bunkers, shelters for when the Americans attacked. Albania was communist until the late 1990’s and between 1945 and 1990, 700,000 bunkers were built, one for every four people in Albania.  It is not surprising that they are still a very visable part of Albanian history.   Today there really isn’t any liability in Albania so be careful because it’s your own fault if you get hurt.  Because of this we were able to hang out of open window ledges high up in the castle walls, to peer at bunches of bats roosting on the ceilings above huge drop offs, to explore unlit tunnels by the light of Cameron’s flashlight and our camera flashes. 

American spy plane.

I have to give Dave credit here for allowing me to cling on to his backpack for the first 10 meters or so, I have a fear of spiders and there were quite a few in these dark, unexplored tunnels.  I stuck to the back of the group and after I stopped clinging to Dave I walked down the middle of the path and tried to be my bravest me.  While we explored huge rain clouds rolled in and we could actually see the wall of rain headed our way.  We ignored it and continued exploring outside all splitting up, walking the top of the exterior wall, poking around sunken rooms, taking pictures of insects and having a grand time.  The sky opened up on us and we all scattered for cover reaching the same covered walkway about the same time.  

Effie explores.

We decided this was a perfect time to visit the military museum inside, it was mostly focused on the communist times and was very informative about daily life in the area through history.   We wandered through the town after the rain let up, found our cab driver and headed home, everyone napped in the car, tuckered out after our exciting day.  After dinner everyone else packed and went to bed early, they had a 15 hour bus ride ahead of them that would begin at 4:30 am.  I set my alarm for their departure and wandered bleary eyed in my pajamas down to wish everyone safe travels and say my goodbyes before falling back into bed.

Time to head inside to explore.

The town of Gjirokastra.

Day 19 Relaxation and fireworks!

Today I slept later than I have so far in this journey.  I woke up nursing a headaches and headed to breakfast, Leslie was up and chatting with Alma, apparently the guys ate and went back to bed I took their lead, ate and returned to me room to snooze as well.  After a bit more sleep we all motivated enough to decide a lazy day on the beach was called for.  I headed to the beach and made it I bit before everyone else, it was so nice just to lay about, drink espresso and read a book.  We rested away the afternoon doing just this, hanging out being lazy on the gorgeous beach one last time together.  After our relaxing day we grabbed everyone else we could and headed in to town for one last crepe and a final round of bumper cars. I left early for some waterfront wandering and ended up having a rocket salad and bruschetta at Limoni so I had a dessert crepe, banana, nutella and almonds, delicious. We had to go to the “free diving” shop in town that we thought had closed but in reality had moved a few doors down.  It was quite an amalgamation of snorkeling gear, spear fishing goods, fishing supplies, kitsch and nick-knacks.  Cameron even managed to find a few fireworks, which he purchased as it is the Fourth of July and no one here was planning a celebration. Bumper cars are ridiculous fun at any age and we had one last go one them as a group, we laughed quite a bit while ramming into each other.  We wandered the boardwalk for a bit, everyone else got gelato, then Effie, Dave, and I did a little shopping.  We then headed back home to set off our fireworks.  After gathering Alma, the girls, and everyone form the program Cameron lit off the two fireworks he purchased, they were a little lack luster but we all had fun and joked about it being the fourth, Ada told us they were crap fireworks and we agreed. Regardless we all had a good laugh and what really was a memorable fourth away from home.  After I returned to my room I was able to video chat with Eric for a bit, and he was having a BBQ, so I got to say hello to and catch up with a bunch of friends I was starting to miss pretty intently.  I knew I was starting to get homesick when I kept thinking I was recognizing people on the street that were in no way actually in Albania.

Fireworks!