*trying again to make this post, had technical difficulties publishing it previously*

Hello guys, since my last update there has been quite a bit going on with me. I left Vlore, Albania on Sunday morning and headed further down the coast to Serande. I was booked there in a hostel that is part of the “I travel Balkans” network that I have been staying with quite a bit. Driving from Vlore to Serande along the Albanian coast offered some incredible views, although getting out of the city of Vlore was a 2 hour traffic nightmare:

Along the way to Serande, I came across a town with a beach and saw parking for about 2 euros right on the water, so I had to stop off and jump in the Adriatic for a few to cool off!

I arrived at the hostel in Serande in the early evening on Sunday with plans to go out busking in the evening. But there were a lot of cool people there that night, so I decided to say screw it and hang out there instead. I went down to the local store and picked up some bourbon and ice and we had a little party at the hostel. I played some tunes for them and we all hung out on the patio and enjoyed the evening. The owner was a really cool guy named Albano, and he really liked my music, so we made plans for me to come back to Serande after I visit Greece and do a big music event there in town on September 1st. He’s making an event and thinks he’ll get a good turnout, so I’m already looking forward to my first real “concert” in Europe that has any amount of advanced planning involved beyond the day before the event.

Another great thing about that hostel in Serande was meeting Elliot from Canada. Elliot is on a similar long journey as me and it turned out he was planning on heading to Greece the next day as well, so I offered him to cancel the bus and just catch a ride with me. He took me up on it, and we are now on night three of hanging out! We will part ways after we arrive in Athens since Vickie is coming in on Thursday and I already have plans with her and he wants to go to some of the Greek islands from Athens. But it’s been great having some company for the drives for the last few days, and there is a good possibility we will link back up in a week or so to explore southern Greece together after Vickie heads home.On Monday, Elliot and I headed out for our mutually decided destination of Ioannina, Greece which about a 3 hour drive from Serande. We crossed the Greek border without issue and took in some good scenery and tunes, and had some nice conversations along the way.

After arriving in Ioannina, we did a little sightseeing around the town which including seeing the walls of the old castle and taking a ferry ride out to the island that sits in the middle of the lake that Ioannina is founded on. That island has several monasteries on it, and walked the entire perimeter of it before heading back to town. In the evening, we split up and I went out busking for the evening. Unfortunately the guitar was malfunctioning again. When I looked inside, I saw that a cable was loose. I spent almost an hour trying to plug it back in, but my hand was just too big to really get to it and get it plugged in. A random guy saw me struggling with it and offered to help. He got it plugged in just enough to work, but said the connection was really messed up and told me of a shop to take it to in the morning to try to get it properly fixed. I very gently played it, and it worked for me to the tune of 25 Euros in tips, which I didn’t think was too bad in a town that size on a Monday night.

This morning when we got moving, the first order of business was to take the guitar to the shop that had been recommended to me the night before. The guy who worked there was great – he dropped everything he was doing to take a look at it. He said it really needed a whole new preamp because the connection was broken off inside. He even tried soldering it for me, but it just wouldn’t work. While he was working, I noticed another small guitar hanging on the wall and started pickin’ around in it. The price tag was 140 euro. After realizing that my guitar was basically shot and that to get a new preamp would require another shop and about 80-100 euros, I decided that enough was enough with the old guitar and that I was going to buy the new one. I left the black guitar with him and he knocked the price of the new one down to 100 Euros for me with the trade in. So now I’m back in business with a slightly higher quality guitar that I will be able to count on going forward!

After all the guitar stuff was taken care of, Elliot and I set off to see the monasteries of Meteora. These monasteries are built on giant cliffs and, along with the surrounding landscape, they are really something to see.

After wrapping up at Meteora, we made a beeline for our home for the night of Lamia. There isn’t too much here to see from a touristic standpoint other than a castle, but it puts us only 3 hours from Athens tomorrow. We plan on seeing the castle in the morning, followed by the battlefield from the movie “300” which is on the way to Athens. When we arrive in Athens, I’m hoping to link up with my English buddy Tom who I met in Croatia, who will be there for his last day before setting out for some Greek islands. Then on Thursday at noon, I will be at Athens airport to pick up my sister in law Vickie!

That’s all I have for today, talk to you guys soon!