My Amazing Azamara Adriatic Journey – Part 3

It was day 4 of my ‘Amazing Azamara Adriatic Journey’ and we had arrived at Croatia’s most popular tourist destination of Dubrovnik. Our ship was just anchored outside the bay of Dubrovnik which meant we were just a few minutes tender ride into the heart of the historical centre. Dubrovnik also know as the ‘Pearl of the Adriatic’ was beautiful and picturesque, this medieval town was full of character with the marbled paved squares, monasteries and fountains were just a few of the antiquities still standing just as they were a thousand years ago.

Surrounding the old town are the famous city walls that date back to the 13th century, I was feeling energetic and decided to walk the city walls, the cost for this was 120 Croatian Kuna (approx. £15). I have never took so many pictures as the views were fantastic from the City Walls, the walk is just over 2 kilometers and takes just over an hour to go around, please note this is not ideal for the less mobile as there is many steps and inclines. Also do not make the same mistake as myself and do the walk in the middle of the day in mid-summer as it was 35 degrees,  best to visit the walls during the early morning or the late afternoon.

After my walk and heavily perspirating it was time to cool down and have a well deserved drink, there was hundreds upon hundreds of bars, cafes and restaurants lining the main and narrow cobbled streets. Dubrovnik was very busy with lots of tourists, a lot of them were students of different nationalities that have come to see the filming locations of the famous TV series of ‘Game of Thrones’, with many shops packed and selling merchandise of the hit TV show.

Back on board the ship, and after cooling down in the pool, that evening was the’White Night Party’ which is held at least once on every cruise (weather permitting). The ‘White Night Party’ is held outside in the pool area which is transformed with colourful décor and linen-draped tables with a fabulous buffet feast and boutique wines on the house. The resident live band kicked in after dinner, where you can dance into the night, with the beautiful backdrop of Dubrovnik we started our journey to Durres, Albania.

The next morning we arrived into the port of Durres, Albania, I was looking forward to visiting this port as I did not know what to expect. Unfortunately it was a let down, the years of communist regime wall still evident and tourism is still in it’s infancy, it seemed that the town and port were not expecting a cruise ship to come in. There were no locals trying to sell you anything, there was no stalls or market outside the dock selling souvenirs or local crafts like you find in other ports or destinations. I did mange to get as far to see the remains of an old Roman Amphitheatre which is one of the largest in the Balkans and dates back the 2nd Century. Overall I only stayed ashore in Durres for an hour as this was not a lot to offer, maybe in 10 or 15 years things will be different!

Next stop Venice and my overall opinion of Azamara.