The Reluctant Sailor

  We sailed into Croatia just over a week ago.  Our port of entry was Cavtat, a beautiful town with shops, cafes and beaches dotting the coast line. On our journey to Croatia, I took the opportunity to do some googling  to learn about this country. I knew very little  about this country other than it used to be part of Yugoslavia. I did learn that there was a nasty war in the early 90’s that resulted in the Young Yugoslavian Army bombing parts of Croatia, including the Old City in Dubrovnik and even parts of Cavtat, which we encountered when we sailed to this little beach that had hotels, once high- end resorts catering to tourist from around the world, that are now shelled out concrete frames.     Aside from its history, which dates back to the prehistoric period and does include being part of the Roman Empire (You know I had to add that fact- no worries, I won’t go all Ancient Roman on you!), Croatia is a country rich in culture, traditions and superstitions. I am particularly fascin

  We made a decision to make a stop in Albania to give us an opportunity to get on land for a few days and break the monotony of sailing and motoring  for 48 hours.  If you are like me, you are thinking ALBANIA??? It definitely was not on my “must see “ list.   Saranda was the town that was our port of entry.  What I noticed first is it sits directly across from Corfu, Greece, which I definitely have heard of since I watched the BBC show of an English family who settled there during the 1930s.  Loved that show! Ferries transport tourists and locals back and forth from Saranda and Corfu multiple times a day.  Italy is also close and  brings vacationing Italians to the shores of Albania each year. Infact, Europeans love Albania.  Germans, French, Norwegians, along with the Greeks and Italians flock to this hidden gem to enjoy its beaches, restaurants, and nightlife. It’s estimated that 1 million tourists come to Albania to vacation each year.  The population of Albania is about 3 million

We left Marmaris at 6 am on Sunday.  As the sun rose, I reflected on my brief stay in this picturesque vacation spot referred to by Europeans as the Turkish Riviera.  Lovely beaches, endless sunny hot days and friendly people.  The one thing that really struck me about the people were the Turkish men and the terms that used to refer to me by.  They had no problem calling Fred by his first name but when the men spoke to me, they referred to me as  “lady”.  It was strange to hear,“Hey lady can I get you something?” or “ Thank you lady” ! One poor older Turkish man (aka Ali Freeze) who came to our boat to help fix our refrigerator and  had  next to no  English words in his repertoire, including the word lady,  called me ``mother'' ! I guess being called a lady is better then being referred to as a mother any day of the week -if you know what I mean! Our goal the first leg of our  trek was to Croatia was to sail 24 hour to get to the tip of Greece, then head up to Montenegro where