Info on Catania and Durres (Albania)??

[timandnancy]

Visiting the above ports while on the Sirena in August. Do I need an excursion?? Is there enough to see right in the towns? Thanks for any help!!

[Twiga]

I was in Albania on the Nautica in 2014. We took the Oceania tour called "Berat: City of a Thousand Windows." I really enjoyed the tour. It was the most unusual tour of our trip. What a great day we had! It was like nothing we’ve ever seen. We docked in the port of Durres.

 

Here is a report I emailed home while on the ship and posted shortly thereafter:

 

Our tour was called “Berat: City of One Thousand Windows.” We were warned by the Cruise Director and in the Currents that in Albania the quality of the bus and guides might not be up to the standards we’ve had so far. But it was the exact opposite was true. Our guide, Ervin, spoke terrific English and was extremely knowledgeable about the tour and world politics in general. The coach was the same as all of the others we’ve been on, huge and with A/C, and the driver was great.

 

Albania is a happy and sad, good and bad place. The guide was very happy that the communists were thrown out in the late 1990’s, but sad that the country is still in extreme disrepair. There are partially finished buildings everywhere. There are building skeletons everywhere. They are crumbling and unlikely to be completed. The guide said that a lot of people cannot get mortgages, so they build the first and second stories of their houses, and then leave the third story unfinished so that the kids can someday complete it and move in.

 

The road to Berat was very narrow and under constant construction. It was a 50 mile drive that took two hours. Once outside Durres, there was barely enough room on the road for one bus to pass another. The guide said the roads were narrow so that, in the past, invaders could not get quickly to the main cities. There are various world organizations that have given Albania money to improve the roads, but there is still corruption and the money does not all get to the road repair. About every 1/2 mile or so there is roadwork on the side of the road that requires the bus to slow down to a crawl. But the slow speed gave us time to really see the area.

 

There were lots of small fields, farmed by people using hand scythes. We saw many donkey carts for carrying farm tools and crops. Along the way to and from Berat we saw lots of donkeys pulling carts and lots of people selling produce along the road.

 

There was a lot of trash stacked up, especially around bridges. The guide said that the people are used to having the government do everything for them, so it is hard for some people to change. That is why there is so much trash, the government used to pick it up, but no longer.

 

The guide, however, was very bright and hopeful for the future of the country. He explained the history. He said that there has been much war in Albania, corruption, communism, and now a socialist government, that it will take a long time for the country to improve.

 

We stopped at a winery called Cobo. It is a small family winery. We had a nice tour and then tasted wine. It was very good. In fact, it was our favorite wine of all the wine we had tasted previously in Italy and France. We bought some and enjoyed it on the ship. I wish we had bought more. The family was very proud of the winery.

 

Then, we drove on to a 13th century fort/castle high in the mountains. Most of the fort is ruins, but there is a church inside that is now the Onufri Museum that has the most spectacular religious icons that are carved of walnut wood and then covered in gold and paint. The original frescoed ceilings were still visible and gorgeous.

 

We then had lunch at a restaurant across from the fort. It was a typical Albanian meal and was fantastic! First, we had chicken rice soup, then a spanakopita-type appetizer with zucchini, then steak and a marvelous flat meatball of beef that was the tastiest ever! We had local wine with lunch and a dessert of a spice cake. We were really impressed.

 

Next, we drove down the mountain to the Osumi river and Berat to see the one thousand windows. The houses are terraced on the mountain and all look similar, giving the impression of thousands of windows. It was really pretty.

 

There were many brightly-colored houses. The guide said that houses during the communist era were all gray, but after the communists were thrown out, people began painting their houses bright colors. We saw some very nice houses and many sad, not so nice, houses.

 

It is really hard to describe what we saw. As I said at the beginning, we saw a lot of good and a lot of not so good. But, if there are enough people like Ervin, the country may recover and make something of itself in the future. I sure hope so.

 

At the end of our tour, Ervin sang the national anthem for us. When we said good-bye when we got off the bus and told him how much we enjoyed the tour, he had tears in his eyes. I certainly hope Albania can succeed. It will take a long time.

 

I hope you will take time to see the country and, perhaps, help the economy in a small way.

[Andee]

One place to look is the Ports of Call boatd.

You might also want to check the Roll Call for your sailing to see what fellow passengers are doing.

[ShopperfiendTO]

Visiting the above ports while on the Sirena in August. Do I need an excursion?? Is there enough to see right in the towns? Thanks for any help!!

 

CATANIA

 

A lot of cruisers use this port to go see Taormina, which is a picturesque village to the north that has a Roman ampitheater with views into the sea.

 

If you haven't been to Taormina, you might want to see if you want to go there instead as it is a popular excursion.

 

However, there is enough to do in Catania for the day if you like leisurely strolling and taking in the city. It has great baroque architecture and its downtown area has lots of cobblestone pathways, including the roads, but you should know that the buildings and city generally is on the sooty side (this is sometimes taken for dirty). There is a huge seminary a bit of a distance from the main square where a guided tour takes 1 hour 45 minutes!:eek:

 

We took a hop-on-hop-off bus from just outside the port area and felt it was a good value (I think it was 7-10 euros per person) except for the waiting of the bus to just leave the port... it seems to wait until it has a minimum number before starting the route so the start was unpleasant but the rest was OK.

 

Apparently Catania is known for its cannoli and we had a great time at a cafe just north of the main square enjoying a delicious cannoli and cafe latte. :p

 

Alternatively, if you've done Taormina and think that Catania is too urban-rugged for you, you could go to Siracusa at the southern tip but you would need to arrange private excursion/driver there because there are not good public transportation offerings for day trips there, at least none that we could find on the internet.

[timandnancy]

Thanks for the help!! Twiga, what about the port of Albania?? Can I entertain myself there for the day, without any excursions?

[Twiga]

Hi, Tim and Nancy! (I'm Nancy, too!) There didn't look like much to see in the port. It was very industrial. There was a small area that looked interesting. If you wanted to have a short visit, and then return to the ship for a massage or reading by the pool, that would be a good choice. You may need a taxi, shuttle or tour to get into the city of Durres. If you want to see Durres, there is an Oceania excursion that sounds interesting. I recall our cruise mates said the city tour took about two hours.

 

Since I enjoy seeing new places, and Albania isn't on the list of places most people choose for their vacation, I felt like the excursion to Berat was a good opportunity to see a completely different country.

 

Whatever you decide to do, please get off the ship and explore! The people love Americans and are very friendly. If you happen to take the tour that goes to Cobo winery, please have a taste of the Berati white wine for me! You will love it.

[timandnancy]

I would just like to say thank you for all the information everyone gave me. Thanks! Tim