What Day Is It?

My day began by trying to take a shower on a moving ferry. If you've ever tried doing this, you realize how challenging it can be. We didn't get into the Bari, Italy port until 11:30am (about 2 hours later than scheduled). The ride was relatively smooth. Some metal bars in the cabin kept squealing loudly on and off throughout the night, so sleep was not the best. Once in the port I had the challenge of figuring out how to get into town and find the magic bus to Napoli. There's only one, so I didn't want to miss it.

To get to town from the port you have to take a taxi that costs E20 to get to the train station. Talk about a rip off! I would have never made it there by walking though. The information people outside the train station said the bus for Napoli would be leaving at 12:15pm (that's what I heard anyway) from the other side of the train station. When I got to the other side there was no ticket office to be seen and a string of empty busses. On the way back down the sidewalk I noticed a guy in one of the busses. Though he spoke no English, he seemed very kind and happy to try and help me figure out which bus I needed. He asked around to some people on the street for where the bus left and where to get a ticket. He offered to let me lock my roller bag in the bus while we went to get the ticket. Once I had everything taken care of I noticed the bus didn't leave until 12:50pm which gave me a chance to get some lunch before the 3.5 hour ride. My new friend pointed me to a very close and delicious cafe near the bus stop. I never got his name, but there's no way I would have made it to Napoli without his help.

I think lack of sleep on the ferry caught up to me because I had a terrible time staying awake on the bus ride to Napoli. I did get to see some lovely Italian countryside with rolling green hills dotted with olive trees and grape vines. There were stone and plastered houses in various stages of progress and disrepair. A few lone barns stood empty amidst the farmed land. Later on we passed through the mountains where signs warning of snow flashed at us. Some of the higher hills were covered in a light snow, but not much. Mostly we saw rain. On the other side it was sunny and looked more welcoming.

[The bridge is blurry, but the architecture is awesome!]
I noticed early on the stark contrast between Greece and Italy. Most of the landscape in Greece was of the cooler color palate with gray or tan stone and a little greenery here and there. Though the people were welcoming and hospitable, the land was dull, imposing and stoic like rocks. The history of the land exuded wisdom, but did not make you feel overly welcomed. In Italy the color palate is much warmer. Browns, vibrant greens and cream tones richly invite you to relax and wander about. Most of the people here keep to themselves and tend not to speak as much English as in Greece. Perhaps since they have the Latin alphabet instead of Greek letters, they feel less of a need to be accommodating to other nationalities. Those I have asked for help have readily assisted me, but there's always someone who is having a bad day no matter where you travel or reside.

Once in Napoli at the main transit station, I procured my CampaniaArteCard which gives me 3 days worth of free access to most transit in Napoli and 2 free entrances to historical/cultural sites. I boarded the metro and got off at the 2nd stop as planned. Unfortunately the roads here go in random directions and change names every 1 block for the small ones and every 4 blocks for the large ones. Navigating is a real challenge. None of the streets I was looking for appeared and I ended up walking into a theater to ask for help. They spoke no English, but they saw the telephone number and called. The hostel is Aussie owned so fluent English is no problem. I wrote down the directions and headed out. Apparently I was a good 300m NW of where I needed to be to even start using the directions they gave me. When I finally did make it to the hostel I had 102 steps (give or take 5) waiting for me to get to the 3rd floor. It was worth it though for a comfy bed, free internet and helpful people.

There was apparently no need to go out for dinner as someone was cooking and made enough for everyone here (about 7 people) to be filled up. We had salad and calamari in squid ink cooked pasta. I'd seen it on the Food Network, so knew it was safe to try. Surprisingly it was very mild and quite tasty! And we all had black mouths which made for fun conversation.

Bon Voyage

This morning I decided to skip the additional trip down to Sparta and Mystras and to forge ahead to Italy. Greece has been nice, but I think I'm ready to move on to something different now. Sparta is also challenging to get to and there are no easy connections to Patra where I will take a ferry to Italy. The more I looked at the very few things to see in Sparta and Mystras, it felt like I could use my time and energy better in another place.

I checked with the owners where I was staying who informed me the bus would pick me up at the end of the street and take me back to Korinthos where I could then head to Loutraki and pick up another bus to Patra. Since I had already been though Korinthos, I had an idea of what to expect and how to get my ticket to the next place. Getting to Loutraki was relatively easy and the bus station was right next to the drop off point. When I went inside and asked for a ticket to Patra, the lady told me I was in the wrong place and had to be at the Corinth Canal to get that bus. A guy, who I soon found out was the next bus driver, said he could tell me where to get off.

Once at the Corinth Canal bus station I got a ticket at 1pm to Patra which would give me plenty of time to find a ferry company and some food before leaving Patra. My travel book mentioned an easy to find tourist office near the docks which turned out to be one of my best choices yet. They offered me easy directions to the correct ferry company, where to find food and best of all free internet! I headed down the street to get my ferry ticket and just a few blocks away found a restaurant to eat a large meal before the boat ride. I happened across a grocery store where I picked up some bread and apples for a snack on the ship tonight.

The room I booked for my overnight ferry ride is really cozy. It's a 4 bed cabin, but only one other woman about my age was in there. This has to be the most comfortable bed I've slept in yet! I ventured outside to see what it was like on deck--talk about massive wind! I was almost blown across the slippery, wet deck. The view was foggy and cloudy, but I could make out the lights along the coast of Greece. Here's to a peaceful night's sleep!

Not Quite Gilligan's Island

Far from sunny but not quite rotten, it rained all day which only compounded the travel issues of the day. I knew ahead of time there would be construction on the metro a few stops from Piraeus (the port city W of Athens where most ferries, boats and trains depart) and that I would need to take a bus to a spot further down the metro line. Frances, who I met at the hostel a few days earlier, had informed me of all this when she made the trip to Hydra with her Dad. The only thing I didn't know was that the X13 bus that kept circling past the spot where I was waiting for the bus went to where I needed to go. I ended up waiting a good 20 minutes for a bus I knew was headed in the right direction. Unfortunately I got off at the next metro stop only to find that there was still construction going on. Assuming I'd need to wait another 20 minutes for a bus, I learned from the next X13 bus driver that he was heading to Piraeus.

I finally made it to the metro stop where I was supposed to be to go one more stop into the town. Once in Piraeus I had to ask around for where the Hellenic Seaways Co. was so I could pick up my tickets. A guy directed me to a large building at Gate 7 with their name on it, but it was closed--being Sunday and all. I asked at a nearby ferry company where I should go and they said there would be a kiosk at Gate 8 on the docks. With tickets procured and a good 45 minutes before the boat left, I walked across the street for a cappuccino.
The ferry ride to Aegina Island was nice and smooth. When I got off the rain was just barely falling, but warranted an umbrella. I walked down to the nearby sight of a temple to Apollo and a very old city which had been built over multiple times throughout history. I was debating whether or not to take the bus across the island to see the Temple of Aphaia or to just wander around town for the next 3 hours in the drizzle and cold. I grabbed some lunch from a cafe which was delightfully warm and tasty. It was a pastry dough shell with ham, cheese and a thin spread of spaghetti sauce inside. When I returned to the bus kiosk, no one was there. I opted to just wander town and see some of the streets and shops. Most things were closed, but the architecture was nice. I'm sure in summer this is a sunny, bustling island. I dropped into a church and enjoyed the fresco icons painted all over the walls and ceilings. It was warm, smoke free and quiet inside.

Along the waterfront are numerous stands with pistachios for sale. Aegina Island is considered to have the best pistachios in Greece. Having had enough of the rain, I boarded my ferry back to Piraeus at 5:30pm. It was on this return trip that I discovered I had been using the men's bathroom both times on the boat. The pictures are so small and very hard to see on a moving boat. At least now I know why the guy was staring at me when I walked in on the boat ride over.

I meandered back to the metro, got my ticket and headed toward the metro car. People were making quite a commotion in Greek and it seemed like there wasn't going to be any metro from this station. Rather disappointed I inquired at the ticket booth how else I could get back to Athens. A bus runs from Piraeus to Syntagma Square in Athens, but the stop was about 10 minutes from the docks. The lady informed me which bus to take to get to the right stop to transfer back to Athens.

I missed the bus just as I was about to cross the street. After about 20 minutes another one failed to show up. I started walking and passed two of the three stops to the transfer point. Somehow after this I got horribly lost. None of the street names matched anything in my book (which I thankfully remembered to take!) but I did recognize that I was by the small marina. I happened across a street listed in my book and discovered I was a good 10-15 blocks from where I needed to be. Fortunately I found the bus stop I needed and in another half hour I was back in Athens only a short walk from the hostel.

What a long day! I still had to do laundry, pack up and figure out how to get to Korinthos the next day after checking out. Laundry went fairly smooth and I was able to wash just about everything with me for a pricey E5. I opted to skip the E2 dryer and hang things up in my room. Hopefully tomorrow's travels will be smoother.