After spending the final night in Corfu, it was time to set sail (okay, okay, take the ferry - not as idyllic) to Albania and the port of Saranda that I could wistfully glance at from the shores of Corfu.
We had bought our tickets from an office by the port the previous day. They had told us the terminal was about 200 meters from the office, not a walk at all! Hauling our luggage in the early morning heat, we came to realize it wasn't quite the 200 meters they had told us. Fortunately for Mom though, she had left half of her clothes in the closet at the hotel, so hers was a little lighter 😂
We followed other tourists with luggage, and they were also just dragging along. Finally, after maybe a kilometer or so, we came up to what looked like a bigger terminal, and went to ask ticket counter for directions. They showed us which way to go, about a 200- meter- trek again.
Well, it wasn't another kilometer, but it wasn't 200 meters either... We did finally end up on the other side of the harbor, with a big building for security, passport control etc. Apparently this was the area where the ferries to Italy and Albania left. In hindsight, taking a taxi might've been an option, but again, Mom was soldiering on!
After checking for our tickets and passports, we took a seat in the lobby, and bought a couple of bottles of water from the small Duty-Free store. We were told to be there 45 minutes before the departure, but we were well ahead. People just kept coming in, and finally it was packed full. However, this little fella' didn't mind anyone, just continued snoozing without a care. The waiting room was nice and air-conditioned, so I don't blame him!
At some point, the crowd started moving towards the door, and we got up also to get decent seats. However, it eventually came about that they were there for another ferry, that left an hour before ours. I went to ask one of the officials, and he checked for me that our ferry wasn't boarding yet, and that they would call us when it was ready. So we could just sit down and continue to wait. Well, unfortunately, our previous seats were already taken, so we just queued until we hit a few seats that were left empty.
When the waiting room emptied out, we just minded our time, chilling, when we noticed a couple of hurried-looking officers come in the room. They asked us which ferry we were taking, and as we told them, they told us to hurry along, as our ferry had also already docked and was open for passengers. so, we went for our ferry, which was much less crowded than the previous one had been, but saw familiar faces that had disappeared with the earlier crowd. I hope they didn't recognize us...
We went inside from the car/loading door and left our luggage there, next to the wall, then climbed up the stairs to the upper deck. The places next to the bar under the shade were already taken, but we took a seat anyway. Unfortunately there wasn't anything worthwhile to eat at the bar, just some chocolate bars, soft drinks/soda and hard alcohol. When we set out, it eventually got too hot, so we decided to go to the upper deck, where we could at least get a better breeze.
As hindsight is always 20/20, we should've maybe picked up the seats on the sides of the boat. They were still shaded, but got a little more of the breeze. Well, the upper deck had the best views, but once we got out from the shelter of Corfu, the wind picked up and tossed us about quite a bit. I'm so glad we took the old-fashioned ferry, and not the catamaran-thingy, which would have been faster, but... I would've tossed up my breakfast for sure. The ferry trip takes about an 1 hr and 20 minutes, whereas the catamaran probably takes ca. 30 minutes.
Oh, and the Corfu time was same as in Finland, EST, but going East to Albania, it was CET, Central European time. A little confusing, but oh well...
I did take a few pictures with my phone's camera, but as the sun was mirroring everything on the screen, I wasn't able to see exactly what I took pictures of, just aiming and hoping to catch something. All I can say is that the sky was clear, and there were apparently nice cloud formations in the sky...
Upon arrival to the Saranda terminal, we were greeted by calmer waters, and after passport check, a bunch of taxi drivers. Luckily they weren't that pushy, and took 'no" for an answer. I knew that our hotel was close enough, along the beach boulevard, and after about a 15-minute walk, we had arrived!
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