“Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open?” Rumi Quote

What do you do when you retire during a pandemic and you love to travel? Well, we just sat into our car and headed to Rosslare in early August to get a ferry to Spain and took it from there, returning home in December after four months, four ferries and nine countries (Spain, Italy, Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Slovenia, Italy again, France). We enjoyed it all but here are some of the highlights – a baker’s dozen of them.

Our Highlights (in no particular order)

1. Hydra Island, Greece

2 Meteora Monasteries, Central Greece

Mesmerizing, astonishing…….just some of the words to describe Meteora, an area in Greece that we had never heard of until we got there. Monasteries perched precariously high on pinnacles of rock in a strange other-worldly landscape.

3 Grotto del Poesia, Puglia, Italy

The Grotto del Poesia which tranlates as the Poetry Cave is a natural pool surrounded by rugged limestone cliffs with caves and a tunnel to the open sea. The whole Salento region of Puglia is really beautiful with warm, shallow seas and wonderful coastal walking. Its very popular in summer but at the end of Sept/early Oct, the weather was glorious, the crowds were absent and we stayed in a vineyard with bikes available to cycle to the sea or the trattoria.

4 Thermal Pools, Permet, Albania

Soaking in a natural thermal pool after a hike in Central Albania in November – heaven! The medieval stone bridge over the blue-green river has been used since the days of the Ottomans by people wanting to bathe in the healing sulphur-rich waters. The southern coast of Albania is called ‘The Albanian Riviera‘ with white sand beaches and turquoise waters. Beautiful but November was very much off season here.

5 Elafonisos Island, Peloponnese, Greece

We fell in love with Elafonisos, a small island off the coat of the Peloponnese in Greece….it was like living in a holiday brochure with the whole spectrum of blues and greens in the sea and sky

6 Tirana, Albania

A bright buzzy capital city of parks, wide streets, bunkers and cafes where the inhabitants drink more coffee than anywhere else in the world, where the old soviet-style buildings weren’t torn down but brightly painted(studies showed that the bright cheery colours lifted the mood of the city after the repression of the Howha era)

7 Driving along the coast in Montenegro

A bright buzzy capital city of parks, wide streets, bunkers and cafes where the inhabitants drink more coffee than anywhere else in the world, where the old soviet-style buildings weren’t torn down but brightly painted(studies showed that the bright cheery colours lifted the mood of the city after the repression of the Howha era)

8 Parador Siguenza, Spain,

Who doesn’t want to stay in a palace – even if its just for one night? The Spanish Pardores are luxury hotels in castles, palaces, convents, monasteries and other historic buildings throughout Spain. They are run by the government and the revenue generated goes towards the upkeep and preservation of the buildings. They are also surprising affordable and well worth a visit.

9 The History of Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik – a city of fairytale castles, churches, cobbled streets, red roofs and the set for Game of Thrones. It’s beautiful, touristy and expensive(relatively speaking) but the reason that it is on this list is the poignancy of its relatively recent history in the Balkan conflict of the 1990’s – we saw where a Serbian shell had hit the side of the house that we stayed in, how the stout medieval walls were built to withstand attack from the sea, not aerial bombardment, we walked in the windswept hills overlooking the city where so many defenders of Dubrovnik camped and fought and died.

10 Camping in Galicia, Spain

Stunning scenery, great food, fabulous well-marked coastal trails, lots of campsites, friendly fishing villages ….and relaxation. That was our experience of Gorgeous Galicia.

11 Hiking near Mont Roig del Camp, Catalonia, Spain

It was still hot in the region around Mont Roig in early September but hiking in the early mornings was perfect with the smell of wild thyme and sage and church bells ringing out from the mountain villages.

12 Delphi, Greece

We visited many wonderful ancient sites but Delphi was the most spectacular, maybe it was its location high on Mount Parnassos in Central Greece or the air of history and mystery with moody mists blowing on the breeze from the Gulf of Corinth. Although the oracle was silent, the cypress trees seemed to whisper Life is good.

13 Mont Blanc Tunnel, France Italy Border

Driving through the twelve kilometres of the Mount Blanc Tunnel for the first time was a real experience. On the Italian side, there was sunshine, blue skies and colour but we exited into a black and white world of a winter wonderland in France.

Of course there were some lowlights but very few

Lowlights

1 The Guzzler breaks down in Rosslare on the First Day

We were SO excited to be finally leaving home. But that first morning in the queue to get on the ferry in Rosslare we ran into difficulty – our car (aka the Guzzler) failed to start. We had a flat battery but thanks to some hefty bikers from Cork who gave us a push, we managed to get onboard. But not a great start! But the Guzzler held good and brought us all the way home with (little!) mishap.

2 Refused entry into Montenegro

Much to our astonishment, we were refused entry into Montenegro – at first – and told to go back to Albania. But after perseverance, much loitering around around the border and finding a printer to print out some car documents, we were allowed in. But it was a sobering experience when we had expected to be welcomed with open arms – or at least with civility.

3 The Rain in Greece

We don’t mind a bit of rain – we even enjoy it sometimes – but the volume of rain we got during our first nine days in Greece in early October took us by surprise. At times, it was a deluge of biblical proportions. And there were thunder and lightening storms that went on for hours, often one storm rolling into the next. Not what we expected in Greece!!!!!!

It was so difficult to pick out highlights as we had such a great trip – I could easily add another dozen different highlights. So now as the end of 2021 approaches, we wish everyone a happy, peaceful New Year and only good things in 2022. Thanks for reading and remember…. the world is such a beautiful place even in a pandemic.

Til next time….xx

“Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone for others. Unfold your own myth” Rumi