The plan to get from Rome to Greece was relatively simple. Leave Lucas' place in the morning, catch an 11:15 train to Bari on the southeast coast of Italy that would arrive at about 16:00 giving me 4 hours to get my ferry ticket and relax. To be honest, I had been looking forward to the journey for a while just to have some free time to catch up on my blog, write some post cards and finish a book.
Unfortunately for me, that plan fell through right after step 1. The guy at the ticket window told me that the train at 11:15 was supposedly full, which I didnt really believe at all because there just couldn't be that many people that had to get to Bari on a Monday morning, so I had to get a ticket for a 2:45 train that would only leave me an hour to get from the Bari train station to the port, get my ticket, check in and board. He did tell me that if I just went to the platform of the 11:15 train that there may be a chance they would let me on that train. I really didn't want to risk it so I sat and waited for the platform number to appear on the large display board of departures. Waiting for the number to show up resembled watching paint dry and became especially frustrating when all of the numbers came up for the trains leaving before and after it. After what seemed like days it was 11:15 and then the entire line cleared and there was no longer a departure to Bari. Well, isn't that just inconvenient. I found out later that the train was cancelled due to an unnamed 'catastrophe' on another line...what luck! Now that I had 3 hours to kill and nowhere to go, I pumped out about 12 postcards that i had been collecting along the way to Rome and then boarded my train.
After about 10 minutes on the train the Italian ticket man came around to punch little holes in our tickets confirming that we paid for the train. He marked mine and then started to ramble something to me in Italian that I couldn't understand at all. The only thing I really got out of it was that I had to get off the train at a certain stop he wrote down. I started to get a bit worried since I was going to be pressed for time anyways and I wanted to know what was going on so I went searching the cars for a bilingual Italiano. Turns out that the aforementioned catastrophe had closed a part of the direct line from Rome to Bari so we would have to get off the current train, then get on a coach to another train station to catch the final leg of the journey. This would've been all fine and dandy if it weren't for that 8pm deadline I was trying to catch. All I could do was sit on the bus and stare at my watch as it passed the 6:45 mark when our entire journey was supposed to be over. Naturally, I though my awful luck had followed me yet again and I would have to find a cheap hotel in Bari for the night and catch a ferry the next night. It wasn't even so much the money that concerned me just that I would have practically 2 less days in Athens! Suddenly I started to wish I wouldve just flown. We ended up getting into Bari train station at 7:45 where I sprinted off of the train to a taxi and mustered up my best Italian "Porto Maritima..PRONTO!"
The taxi driver seemed to really enjoy my sense of urgency and delighted in almost hitting about 3 people and getting us killed a few seperate times on the way to the port but, needless to say, I greatly appreciated his efforts. I ended up arriving at the port at about 7:55 where I grabbed my things, threw 20 Euros at the taxi driver, which I was convinced was robbery for a 7 mintue ride but I didn't have the time to argue, and then sprinted into the ticket office. I immediately started pleaded for a ticket to the boat because I knew it was still sitting at the dock. Right as the lady was telling me it was impossible for her to issue me a ticket so late, a group of 4 ran into the door and started yelling for tickets as well. It quickly became apparent that they were also on my train and stuck in the same dire situation. The ticket lady didn't really give us the time of day until the new group's Italian cab driver rushed in and started making a racket in Italian. I have absolutely no idea what he told the woman at the window; all I know is that, whatever he said, it worked and she issued us all last minute tickets onto the ferry set to leave in less than a mintue! In a Titanic-esque fashion, we all sprinted towards the ferry dock. The ferry captain didn't seem to care much that passengers still weren't on board - the 4 of us litterly jumped onto the ship as it disembarked.
Nothing like a minor crisis to bring some random strangers together. We were all relieved beyond belief just to be on that boat and not have to spend a night in Bari. One of the of the people was a girl who turned out to be from Manitowoc, WI and was having a bit of a Eurotrip. In another small world incidence, it turns out she had been staying with Julian at a mutual friend's house in Rome. The other two were a wonderfully nice older couple from Australia who were spending 3.5 months travelling the world. They had started in Singapore, India and were now in Europe before heading to Canada and the US. In fits of mutual excitement that we all made it on the boat, we all had a few drinks, relaxed and shared a bit of our personal backgrounds. It wasnt until I started to get tired from the day of travelling that I realized I only had a deck ticket instead of a cabin and would have to sleep on the floor for the evening. All things considered, it really wasn't so bad...I was just content that I had made it on the boat and I was so tired that I actually got a great nights rest!
After being rudely awakened by a crew member at 6:30AM I headed onto the deck to be greeted by some absolutely lovely views of the Greek Islands. Of course, arriving in the Greek port of Patras didn't mark the end of my journey; I still had to hop on a train to Athens. It figures that, just like the train from Rome to Bari, the train from Patras to Athens also involved a partial bus journey that made a 2 hour ride into a 4 hour spectacle. Honestly, what are the chances that the two trains I needed to get from Rome to Athens were spontaneously under construction?? It was quite a relief to arrive at Hostel Zeus, reunite with guys and get ready to enjoy 5 lazy days in Greece :)
Well, I doubt the lot of you have made it to the end of this so I will cut it off for now haha :) More about the days I spent in Greece and my ridiculous trip home from Athens in the next few days! Happy Mifflin to everyone and see you all in like 30 days
Cheers,
Patrick
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