Hello everyone and greetings from Orikum, Albania - a very curious place, with a super bad ass flag.
If you had to look on a map to figure out where Albania is, no judgement, I did too. I never imagined I would be spending a bunch of weeks here…but here we are.
We checked in at Sarande Port with the help of this lovely person we found through the Navily app. The whole check in/check out process is serious business in this neck of the woods, and you must employ a local agent if you want to get it right (thank you Jelja).
We spent one night at the Sarande Marina - less ‘marina’ more ‘jagged and terrifying concrete wharf that also serves as the queue for the tourists boarding the ferry to Corfu’ - good morning strange people staring at me drinking my coffee in my nightie.
We then sailed north to Orikum. The overnight sail from Sarande to Orikum featured rain, 40 knt winds, and lots of swell (ok, seriously, Universe, are you trying to tell me something????). After another wet, bumpy, uncomfortable voyage we enjoyed a meal out and beers with Jose (thank you again, truly), said mirupafshim the next morning, and got excited about staying put for a hot minute.
Orikum, Albania - home until the end of November - our new normal.
Normal - a word that has become as foreign to me as the local bus schedule and Albanian customs for waste disposal.
This country is such a curiosity. It surprises me every day.
It inhabits people who have an extraordinary and unexpected capacity for kindness. You observe it in the patience they have for each other driving their narrow, windy roads. No horn honking, no road rage. Honest to god we saw one dude stop his car to have a chat with his friend on the side of the road for at least 5 minutes. He created a huge line up of cars behind him. No one was fussed. They just waited. Patient. Quiet. Could you imagine that in Alberta? Or anywhere in North America????
They are not homophobic. I was waiting outside of the market with the dogs while Ron picked up some groceries. This particular market was next to a high school, and it was letting out for the day. The number of same-sex teenagers (boys and girls) I saw holding hands, hugging, casually draping arms over each other’s shoulders, was beautiful. There was no stigma. No fear. Just kids, friends, unapologetically and publicly showing affection for each other.
They don’t finish their construction projects, they throw their garbage everywhere, but drive really (really) nice cars. The area is a strange tapestry of squalor and 2024 Mercedes GLC Coupes. The buildings are half-done. The beautiful 5-star hotels are situated next to rubble and rubbish. The large number of Porsches, and 7 series BMWs, and high-end Teslas, and RS Audis that drive on the roads which also serve as feeding (and pooping) paths for the wild goats is alarming.
The interiors of the restaurants are modern, well-appointed, and eat-off-the-floor-clean but the outsides scream landfill and poverty.
It is so very very strange.
The young people are freakin' wonderful. The local teenage kids not only know how to talk with adults but seem to want to spend time with adults. A few Orikum kids have adopted Ron as their fishing buddy and come by every day to see if they might together finally snag one of the grey mullets that allude them.
The landscape reminds me of the Okanagan, if it were next to the sea.
The cuisine is a mixture of Greek and French and Italian.
It is a study in contradictions. For now, it is home. It is our new normal.
In pursuit of happiness and normalcy we make friends with the other cruisers in the marina. We enjoy dinners out, group card games and way too many beverages (so very different from life in YYC, lol). I spend afternoons baking and cooking (and feeding our neighbours because I make too much). We venture into town. We ride our e-bikes. We walk the dogs. I do Pilates. Ron fishes. We do chores. I clean. Ron fixes stuff. Music is playing at all times. We have kitchen dance parties. I love (love) waking up to What’sApp messages from friends (the 6/8-hour time difference is a thing). We sight-see. We watch movies and stay on top of our beloved Flames (also, W.T.F? - top of their division? at least a point in every game? even a shoot out win over Pittsburg? Go Flames Go!!!!)
And every night before bed we close up the boat and begin our mosquito hunting expedition. Ron, fly swatter in hand, does the hunting (necessary because my unbelievably terrible hand-eye coordination seems to extend beyond sports - I miss every single time). I follow behind cleaning up all the dead bodies.
Our new normal.
I miss my friends, and my boys, and my girlfriends that are actually family. I miss pretty manicured fingernails and wearing outfits. I miss the comforts of the predictable and what I have been used to my whole life.
That said, I don’t miss the cold (snow in Calgary already? Seriously?) I don’t miss secular employment. I don’t miss setting an alarm to wake up in the morning.
I oscillate between longing for what I had before and loving what I have now.
It doesn’t feel normal yet, and maybe it never will. But it is not boring, and it is amazing to be this far out of one’s comfort zone, in a position to experience what life looks like beyond ‘normal’.
So, we press on. Unsure where this all leads. Open to the possibilities.
Maybe there is more to life than ‘normal’?
Until the next time, may you have fair winds and following seas.
Charity xo
Donations to Triton: not suggesting this happened, but if Ron were to be so drunk that he fell off the dock into the sea (fully clothed with glasses, phone/wallet in pocket, etc) but got rescued by his amused wife, would that count as a donation? Maybe a temporary one? I think the count is still net 3.
Some pics from the last 2 weeks:
What going for a 'car ride' looks like now.
View from our slip at the Orikum Marina...reminds me of the Okanagan.
Lovely wine tasting and meal out at Kantina & Ferma Dukat with our new friends Mark and Hailey. Yes, that is a terrifying taxadermied creature next to me - we became friends over the course of the evening.
Vlore, Albania
One of the many fresh fruit and vegetable markets. Vlore, Albania.
Ron sharing his fishing knowledge with the local teens.
An afternoon trek to Tragjas. About 4 km from Orikum. Narrow lanes lined by olive and pomegranate trees. This very cute little girl followed us the entire way there. The conversation over a beer (local brand Elbar - delicious) was very much "no Charity, you cannot take her on the boat".
Hello - it’s me again - your favourite sailing dog Zooey
The good news: this new place Albania has gelato.
The bad news: apparently until I stop eating the delicious side walk raisins (a.k.a. goat poops) I have zero chance of getting any gelato. Tucker says I am ruining it for both of us.
It is a tough choice.
Love Zooey and Tucker
