Day 7 Elbasen, Albania to Chalkidiki, Greece.

We were woken by the sounds of traffic,lorry horns and the general noise of a large town but for some reason that I can't explain this place was different. I pulled open the shutters and the heat of the early morning sun hit me, this was going to be another hot and dusty day. I shouted Angie to come and look at the view from our balcony. Imagine building a modern clean marble clad hotel then droping it in the middle of a dusty run down town, well this was just that. We stood for a while and watched, I don't think Angie would have stayed the night if it wasn't for the fact that we arrived in the dark and she could not see what it was like. That's what I love about travelling under your own steam, you get to see real places some beautiful some less so but all interesting.
We packed the bike and went to the restaurant for breakfast. It was laid out very nicely with tall backed chairs with white linen covering the tables and chairs. As we had our bike gear on and fancied watching the world go by we asked if we could sit out the front with the other guest. The waiter however insisted that as guests of the hotel we sit inside so we did. Breakfast was interesting, I was starving but made do with a plain Omelette and a wedge of a very sour Feta like cheese. Now one of my motto's in life is to eat whenever you get chance as you don't know when the next chance will be. On this occasion however I stayed hungary! Asking for a up of English tea we were presented with a cup of hot water and a sachet of tea and lemon powder. It's Tea captain but not as we know it, we hit the road.
The route from Elbasen to Greece follows a river valley up into the mountains. The scenery was great,the sky blue and not a cloud in site. The road was a real treat bending back and forth as it followed the river. For those that are interested the new Bridgestone BT023 tyres are great, the duel compound rubber really gripping in the twisties and even with two up and all the gear they inspire confidence.
We passed through some strange sounding places like Librazhdi and Hotolishti before arriving on the shores of lake Ohrid.
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange