Tuesday, May 10, 2022
Departure from Patras and destination Ioannina. There I will find Alexander who is waiting for me to host me in his house so that we can leave in the morning for historic Dubrovnik. Alexander and I had met through facebook through groups of travelers and we decided to do this trip to the Balkans.
The weather is summer, the sun is shining above my head and sunglasses are a must. So summery that my motorcycle jacket causes discomfort from the unbearable heat. But nothing predicted what I experienced when on the long straight at SEA Philippiadas I saw the lightning in front of me and within a few minutes the rain was falling in torrents. Until I reached Ioannina, the only thing that saved me was the waterproof jacket of the machine. Arriving in Ioannina I stopped at a gas station to avoid the rain. After a while I found Alexander at his house where I spent the night. The rain by that time had not stopped.
(a rest stop just before the rain starts)
Wednesday, May 11, 2022
Morning awakening and departure from Alexander's house. We made an attempt to put on an intercom but my ear hurt and after a while I took it off. We were speeding towards the border with Albania to pass through the Kakavia border post.
We pass the check without any problem with our IDs from both sides. The important document you must have with you is the green card for your vehicle, without it you are considered uninsured. It is issued free of charge by your insurer. We didn't have any problems with the border guards, they were all cooperative.
Entering Albania the landscape changes mainly from the driving behavior. Speed limits are strictly enforced and vehicle lights must always be on by law. The traffic police have too many roadblocks, so many roadblocks I have never seen cumulatively in my entire life.
We stopped for coffee and gas and then entered Sidirokastro to have a look. The national currency of Albania is the Lek but they also accept Euros. From there, we continued to cross the entire length of Albania with the aim of reaching Kotor, where our overnight destination would be.
The Albanian countryside in spring is lush green. Right and left of the country roads you will see stalls with seasonal fruits and donkeys with the traditional cart, in Albania due to economic circumstances they still use them. Heavy police presence until you get out of the border.
We continued to the border with Montenegro where we passed the border control again without any problems until we arrived and stopped in Budva.
Budva is the oldest seaside tourist town of Montenegro and by extension the Adriatic.
We leave Budva and head to Kotor which is essentially a natural harbor surrounded by a wall rebuilt by the Serene Republic of Venice. We park the machines outside the gate of the castle where inside there are accommodation rooms and dining areas.
Searching inside the castle after about half an hour we found the room we had booked from Greece.
We had arrived in the evening and so we fell asleep almost immediately since we were also tired from the journey. The next day we wandered around the town of Kotor and up the castle walls. The weather is incredibly summery!
Thursday, May 12, 2022
After we finished wandering around Kotor, I hopped on the bikes and headed for Croatia. There we would find the host in the house in which we had booked a room for three nights. I think three nights is too much for the city of Dubrovnik, two is fine.
We found the room near the city center and there we were greeted by Antonio, a very friendly Croatian who I can say looked like a Greek. So he greeted us with a smile and treated us to welcome beer on the terrace of the room which had a certain view of the Adriatic. We had three whole days ahead of us to get around Dubrovnik. The national currency of Croatia is Kuna and there are several places where you can exchange, I suggest you exchange outside the castle.
The west gate of the Dubrovnik castle.
The attraction of course is the castle of Dubrovnik. Popular tourist center with visitors from all over the world. Dubrovnik's Old Town has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979.
The old town of Dubrovnik from above.
Dubrovnik gained a lot of popularity when it became even more famous through the filming of the series Game Of Thrones. Every year the city is drowned by the suffocating world that overwhelms it and Unesco has spoken of reducing the number of visitors who walk on the walls surrounding the castle with the aim of protecting them.
In the cloister of the Franciscan monastery is the old pharmacy. It is the third oldest pharmacy in the world and is considered the oldest pharmacy still in operation today. It was founded in 1317 to meet the needs of the monastery, however over time the pharmacy opened its doors to all citizens. For seven hundred years the pharmacy has been serving the citizens of Dubrovnik and even today you can find various treatments for ailments inside.
With many stone goblets, medical books and historical laboratory equipment now on display in the monastery museum, the pharmacy still holds vivid memories of bygone eras. A veritable treasure trove of 15th century artefacts can be found inside the pharmacy. The monastery museum is really worth a visit.
We wandered quite a bit throughout the days we had available inside the castle. Its alleys really steal the show and transport you to the period of the knights and the Middle Ages. The evenings are magical with the lighting outlining the stone walls and nightshades perfuming the surroundings.
Friday, May 13
We are looking for a beach to swim since the weather is warm. After the morning bike ride we found a beach and sat almost all afternoon. In the evening again wandering around the old town only this time we sat in an Irish pub with live music a guitarist-singer.
Drunken Irish looking for weed. Some see their countryman singing and playing the guitar from outside the shop. Someone else stumbles and some glasses break. In my attempt to take a selfie, an Irish woman enters the shot to take this photo as well, we start talking. She had come there with her brother, her brother's wife and some other family friends, about six people. They cruised on a sailboat and got drunk on beers in the evenings. We all became a group in the end.
To be honest, I don't remember their names, all I remember is that we agreed to go together to Revelin, the most famous club in the city, which is among the 100 best clubs in the world. I can't say that I was particularly impressed by the music. Again for some strange reason his visitors and especially the girls were also looking for grass.
Sunday, May 15.
At eight in the morning Croatian time we started for the long way back to Greece. The weather was good and we stopped in between to Montenegro. About half way to our surprise, we are stopped by the police at a roadblock. Until then, no one had stopped us.
- Good morning!
- Good morning policeman!
- Where are you coming from?
- We come from Greece, we vacationed in Croatia.
- Did you have any problems along the way, did anyone bother you?
- Not all good.
- Have a safe return and take care on the road.
They didn't even search us.
The ride continued very nicely. This time we passed through all the border stations without any problems. We were about to reach Ioannina when it suddenly became cloudy and started to rain again. In a radius of 20 kilometers it was raining and the rain wouldn't stop. We had reached Ioannina and Alexandros suggested I stay there to avoid the rain. I knew that when I left for Patras the weather would improve, and it did! At 22:30 Greek time I was crossing the Charilaos Trikoupis bridge. Fourteen hours of driving with the engine with some intermediate stops for gas and numbing.
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