Day 3: To the Island of Lefkada
Entering Greece and continuing to our first destination there
GREECE 2025
9/19/20252 min read
Pharmacy and another interesting encounter
In the morning we first went to the local pharmacy and bought some medicine for Boža, which she took at breakfast. I started to pack the bike when an elderly lady came by, who greeted me in Serbian and asked me if I was from Slovenia. She told me that she was Albanian from Kosovo and had lived in Sweden for 52 years, but had then moved from Sweden to Vlorë because the climate here was so good. She asked me if I would go on vacation to Albania. When I told her that I was just passing through on my way to Greece, she said I should stay in Albania, that it was just as beautiful, if not more beautiful and cheaper than Greece.
A little bit more of traffic chaos
The weather was beautiful and sunny, it was already 25 degrees. The drive out of Vlorë was a similar experience to the day before. As soon as I reached the main road, I was able to pick up the pace again. The main roads in Albania are wide and have a good surface. Nobody really adheres to the speed limits. The police are often present on the roads to catch speeders. Boža was better today and we made good progress. I noticed an interesting habit of Albanian drivers. As soon as they notice a motorcycle behind them, they pull over to the right-hand side of the road to make room for a motorcycle to pass by. This was quite a contrast to the pushy driving style in Vlorë, where the bigger and more ruthless ones dominate the road.
Crossing the Greek border was quick as there were only a few cars ahead of us. The main roads in Greece are also wide and well-built, so you can move along quite quickly. The landscape is much greener than I had expected. There are lots of olive groves. I wondered where they get the water from. I didn't see any irrigation systems. Lots of buildings in the Greek towns and villages are well preserved.
We made a few stops and reached our destination in Lefkada at around 6 pm. Greece is already in the Eastern European time zone, one hour ahead of the Central European time zone. The hotel we stayed in was nice, with a swimming pool in the courtyard. We had a small kitchenette, but only with basic equipment to cook pasta, for example.
