Last night we took a ferry from Bari, Italy to Durrës, Albania. It was slightly stressful at first, due to heading towards the wrong port while hauling our increasingly heavy luggage. Then, realizing it was about another 18 minute walk we shlepped over to find that the check-in desk was not at the dock. We had to take a shuttle bus to another location, check in, and then take said shuttle bus back to the dock and board. Not after going through passport control where the guy very nicely stamped my passport right next to the only other stamp on my new passport, right on page one, which is a first. They always seem to flip through the passport and pick a page at random. I always wondered if it was arbitrary or if they had a specific page they are supposed to aim for.
The fun continued on board where we had to get the cabin key with a clump of about 20 other people. I know a line would be more efficient, but that’s not what some places do so I had to make sure I wasn’t elbowed by one of spry old-ladies. But this ain’t my first rodeo, so got the key and we got our cabin. It was a simple bunk with a bathroom. Clean and to the point. Pretty much crashed right away with my alarm set.
I was awoken the next morning with an announcement that the we had to return our key to the room. It was about 6 when I heard this and was very surprised to see land. I guess were were about an hour early, which was surprising considering we left about 20 minutes late.
We disembark, get in another clump and go through passport control where they sadly didn’t stamp my passport.
All in all, the trip was alright. Beds were comfortable enough and it’s nice to have a long haul trip that one can relax and actually sleep.
Marina's Food, travel, and interesting bathrooms 