Wandering Southampton, and welcoming the Emerald Princess to port.

It was a gorgeous day here in Southampton yesterday. High of 25C (77F) with sunshine and a few clouds. Exactly what they forecast. 

We went and did some exploring around town, and some pre-cruise shopping. Ended up spending about about £40 ($73 CAD, $53 USD) on clothes.

Arrived in Southampton

When we left off in our last blog post, we were sitting in the premium lounge at Rome airport waiting for our scheduled 12:45pm flight to Amsterdam.

And then I started getting notifications from KLM that our flight was delayed. First to 1:15pm and then to 1:45pm.

Goodbye Albania, hello Italy!

Writing this from the Premier Lounge at Rome Airport (FCO).

We left Berat at about 10:30am Monday morning and did the longer drive up through the mountains on the old road towards Albania's capital city of Tirana.

We're going on vacation!

Well, our time here in Albania is just about up. And we're ready to move on. It's been a good visit, but we won't do it at this time of year again. Spring or fall are the best times of year to be in Albania, so while I'm sure that we will return, it won't be in July!

But of course the only reason we came here was because of the dental work, so at least that is now done.

A new credit card

We haven't done very much the last two days because it's been too hot. The temperature went up to 41C (106F) both days, so we just stayed in the air conditioning and only went for a walk in the evening after the sun went down. 

So that made for lots of internet time, and we ended up signing up for a new credit card.

Doing some financial planning

We've been semi-retired since 2007 when we sold our house at the age of 45 and bought a motorhome. We didn't plan to be semi retired... that's just the way it worked out, and it's the only description I can come up with when we look back on the last 18 years!

But because we did it the way we did, there were periods of time where we didn't have a lot of money.

Another great day exploring, but man that water was COLD!

When we had been on the group tour the other day through Osumi Canyon, we had been talking to an Italian couple who had done another canyon hike just the day before... to Holta Canyon, which we had never heard of. 

It was an hour and a half drive from Berat, but that's what we have the car for! So we took off early yesterday morning to do another canyon walk. This one was self guided though... and free!

Not very good value

So, a week from today we will be boarding the Emerald Princess for our very first cruise.

The main reason we're going on this cruise is that 1) one of the stops is Greenland and 2) the price was really good.

You need a lifejacket for this hike!

Back in 2021 we did a rafting tour of the Osumi River Canyon here in Albania. It was a lot of fun with some great scenery. 

At this time of year the water levels are too low to do rafting, so instead they run guided trekking tours through the canyon. You don't need hiking boots though... you need a life jacket for this hike!

The credit card is getting a workout!

In the past week or so I've booked a whole bunch of flight tickets. Our expensive Halifax to Ottawa flights on August 28th, our fairly expensive one way flights from Ottawa to Mexico City (connecting in Toronto) on October 8th, and I just finished booking our daughter and her family tickets to Mexico City!

In case you missed it, we're going to have a house near Valle de Bravo starting in October. And we're already making plans on the best way to make use of it.

Visit to the Byllis Archeological Park. And, bought some more flight tickets!

I'll tell you about the flight tickets first. 

We've had our flight to Canada booked for quite a while because I got a super cheap deal back in March on a one way flight across the pond from Barcelona direct to Halifax, Nova Scotia on August 19th.

Dental work complete!

We walked into town and back three times yesterday. It doesn't feel like much at the time because it's only 2kms each way, but when you do it there and back three times it adds up to 12 kms (7.5 miles) throughout the day!

The first time was for my final dental appointment at 9:00am.

Scenery near Berat

I went into our Princess Cruises app this morning to check something, and the first thing that comes up is "12 Days Until Embarkation"!

Which means our time here in Albania is going by quickly! We fly to Southampton on the 29th, which is only 10 days away.

There's a festival going on this weekend!

When we were walking through the central plaza here in Berat the other day, there was a lot of activity going on.

It turns out that the Berat Friendship Festival takes place this weekend!

Just found out the cost of my dental work

Just for some background, I had my two center upper front teeth removed about twenty years ago. I think it was in 2004 or 2005. The two teeth were in bad shape. Very crooked, broken, and the dentist said they weren't worth trying to save.

They made me a removable denture that I had for probably five years. It was relatively inexpensive, but annoying. And at the time, I didn't know there were other options.

Views from the top of Shpirag Mountain

We're in the midst of a heat wave here in Berat, so getting out and doing some hiking requires a change of schedule!

We were up at 6:30am and out the door before 8am. We did the forty minute drive over to the parking area for the hike up to the top of Shpirag Mountain.

Making plans for next week

Yesterday morning before it got too hot we walked up to the Castle Park Hotel. It's only 3 kms away, but the last half is uphill and we were quite sweaty by the time we got there!

On the way up, we noticed that the circus is in town!

Berat at night

Funny story the other day. We were looking to buy a bottle of raki... the local hooch that everybody in Albania makes from either plums or grapes. 

You can buy commercially made raki, but it's not as good as the local stuff. Usually you can buy the local stuff at a local market, but we haven't been able to find any yet.

Cabo San Lucas: Local Tips For The Most Memorable Experience

Are you planning on heading to Cabo San Lucas soon, and are wondering how to have the most memorable trip possible?

One of the most popular destinations in all of Mexico, there’s tons to see and do in Cabo - not to mention with lots of resorts and great restaurants to enjoy. However sometimes following just a few basic local tips can make your experience not only much smoother and cheaper, but also overall more memorable too!

In this guide we’ll explore how you can have the most memorable trip in Cabo San Lucas, by exploring some of our best tips based on our experience. This includes how to choose the right season for a visit, getting around Cabo as well as how you can avoid the crowds.

It's a real shame

The other evening when we were sitting in the waiting room at the dentist office, they had a TV and the news was on. Of course we didn't understand what they were saying, however we could see the pictures and video of some problems happening in the village of Theth.

We have been to Theth twice. The first time was in November of 2022 with friends David and Mirsie.

Dentist update

We relaxed most of the day yesterday, however we did go out in the afternoon to do some grocery shopping. We will be eating out a little bit while we're here, but we'll also be doing some cooking at home.

First stop was a fruits and veggies store...

Albania... our 5th visit in 5 years

We first came to Albania in April 2021 during Covid. It was one of the few countries at the time that was still open to visitors, and we got a rental car and spent three months here slowly exploring a country about the size of the state of Vermont.

And we loved it!

Welcome to Albania!

Our flight wasn't scheduled to leave Bologna until 4:30pm, so we had some time to go back into the city to have another look around.

And, we had to find a stationary shop with a printer because when I checked in for our flight, it said "one or more passengers on this booking needs to have a printed boarding pass".

Mamma Mia... Eating Pizza Pie in Bologna, Italy!

It was an early start to the day when we got up at 5:00am, which is almost silly o'clock except for the fact that at least it was light out in northern England at that time!

On the road by 5:30am and headed out for the hour and a half drive to Edinburgh Airport.

On our way to Italy!

We said goodbye to Elaine, Zed, and the doggies. They were such easy dogs to look after and we'll miss them.

Before we left, we had a quick look at their campervan. It's a white cargo van that they had converted to a camper van, and the company that did it did a really nice job!

Nice day trip out to Richmond and the Easby Abbey

Our new friends Greg and Kerri came and met us where we are housesitting, and we all piled into one car along with the dogs and went for a drive inland to the town of Richmond.

Richmond is a market town and has a big open central square as well as an abbey ruins located two kms down river from the town.

Day trip to Whitby, North Yorkshire, and met some new friends!

A bit of an overcast blustery day... it sure didn't feel like early July! But, we wanted to get out, so we took the dogs and hopped in the car for a drive over to the seaside town of Whitby.

First though, we said goodbye to Helen and Tony. Always fun times with them, and we look forward to the next time! 

Beautiful day for a hike up Roseberry Topping

Funny name for a place... Roseberry Topping. 

We set off with Helen and Tony and the three dogs. Only a 25 minute drive to the parking area. It's paid parking, because it's quite a popular spot.

Who says that cruising is expensive?

Well, of course cruising can be expensive. But if you do it the Kevin and Ruth way, it can be very reasonable!

We received some good news yesterday regarding our cruise!

Visitors!

Monday was the last day of the hot spell. We ended up not doing anything that day... it was cooler to stay in the house, and really too hot to take the dogs for a walk of any length, although we did get them out for decent local walks in the morning and evening when things were cooler.

Yesterday, we had two sets of friends visit!

June Expenses - slightly over budget

We had a budget of $3,200 CAD for the month of June, and we ended up spending $3,600 CAD ($2,650 USD).

We started the month in Spain, and flew to Edinburgh, Scotland where we rented a car and toured around. Then drove down to northern England where we ended the month.