Rounding the Bend

We are fast approaching the date when that giant, metallic, twin-turbo-jet-fueled, shimmering dot in the sky will hurl us at 500 miles an hour over billions of sea creatures and water molecules to once again make contact with American soil in that industrial paradise known as Newark....but not quite yet my friends, nor quite yet. Last we wrote we were in Albania. We did make our way to Ksamil, a beach town that shows all the signs of growing at a rapid pace, yet still quaint despite the construction. We hopped off the local bus, which also serves as the express delivery system for locals that want to send parcels to friends down the road. You simply wave the bus over at any stop (great thing is that the bus stop is anywhere that the bus passes by, just throw out your hand as it approaches and...bam!...you are at a designated bus stop) tell the driver that a buddy down the road needs this box, put it on board and let it enjoy the ride til your buddy waves down the bus and collects the package. Very effective and cuts down on the red tape of postage altogether (just wonder how fast they'd detain us back home if we tried to leave a package on a public bus. Anyways, we wandered through town and after a couple of attempts we arrived at a beautiful turqoise beach with small islands a short distance from the shore. We spent the next few hours enjoying the sun and beautiful scenery. I swam to one of the islands and ventured around a bit...apparently what I call swimming looks much more like drowning from the shore...but I made it. (it was only about 50 meters or so, not very far, but there is a point when you are about 50 feet from shore that you wonder "what kinds of incredible beasts may be below me?". Funny thing is that when I made the return crossing I was able to walk the whole way, it got about shoulder deep. The first swim was just a balderdash, don't look down sort of a deal. We then went back to Saranda via the public bus and occupied our time in town until the bus to Athens left. We spent the next ten hours cruising under the moon towards Athens, arriving at 5 a.m. or so. We caught the nearest metro to Piraeus and hoped in the first ferry to Mykonos in the Cyclades islands. Six hours later we arrived on the island and cruised out to Paradise beach, where we set up our tent and camped for the next week. We were able to spend a day on the island of Delos, which was a major spiritual center for the ancient Greeks. Great experience! The town of Mykonos was great and consisted of your typical white buildings that cling to the mountainside, seperated by a maze of passageways. Our next stop was Athens where we spent the day seeing the Acropolis and other amazing ruins. Met some great people and will spend tomorrow afternoon touring the city and in twenty four hours we will be back in Dublin (one day before the Greek airline workers go on strike!) where we will meet the family for one more week of adventures.