Bari, Italy

It turns out the Superfast I ferry was about a year old, spacious and elegant. Our cabin actually had four bunks in it. We contemplated renting out the other two to make some money, but in the end, we kept it for ourselves. Craig was disappointed that there was no balcony, just a small outside window. The ferry was full. There were Italian student groups, American tour groups who had been diverted because of flight cancellations and regular travelers like us. The trip passed quickly. Mostly because we made some new friends, a couple from Australia and their friends from the U.S.A. We spent an enjoyable evening in the restaurant together. A good time was had by all. It was so nice to be able to go to sleep in a comfortable bunk at the end of the day. We slept soundly and when we awoke in the morning, we were a mere hour away from Bari.Bari is a medium sized city that is a transportation centre. It is not really a tourist destination. We would not be staying here, however we are unable to get a ferry to Dubrovnik until the evening of April 24th (Lynda's birthday.) As a result, it has been trial by fire in terms of communication. We have been fumbling our way through the Italian language. Our funniest experience was at the post office. We decided that we should lighten our packs and send some of our winter clothes home. It took all morning for us to get a box and find out about postage rates. Back at the hotel, we crammed as much into the box as we could and headed back to mail it. It took the clerk forty-five minutes to process our package, mainly because of the language barrier. They had to clarify the contents in Italian, determine a value for insurance purposes and accept the fact that we had no address so we were using the pension as a return address. Finally, they accepted the package and we stumbled out of there in a daze. It will be a miracle if we ever see those clothes again.
In the seven months we have been away, we have only had about ten incidents of rain. Throughout Turkey and the Greek islands, the weather has been sunny and warm. The day we sent home our jackets and boots, it started to rain. On our way out for dinner, Lynda lasted about ten minutes. As soon as we saw a sporting goods store, she was in there buying a wind breaker/rain jacket. Craig is made of heartier stock and is much more optimistic. We will see how wise a decision we made, as we travel through Croatia and back into Italy.
There are a few things to do and see in Bari. The old town is a maze of streets and alleyways. According to the Lonely Planet, there are 120 shrines and 40 churches in this small area alone. Craig was amused by the "Infamous Column." It dates back to the 13th century and was where debtors and people who had declared bankruptcy were put to shame. Bari is also the site of the Basilica di San Nicola, one of the south's first Norman churches. It is an important pilgrimage site, as evidenced by the number of tour buses parked around it. Apparently, it was built to house the relics of St. Nicholas (yes, Father Christmas.) We aren't sure of the whole story, but the relics were stolen from Turkey in 1087 by a local fisherman. We also went inside the 11th century Romanesque cathedral. Both the Basilica and the cathedral have very interesting crypts. We aren't religious people, yet you can't help but feel peace and serenity in both places.
For months we have been looking forward to an Italian dining experience. We were disappointed in Bari. There are coffee houses on every corner, but restaurants are more difficult to find. Primarily because Italians don't go out for dinner until at least 8:00 pm. For us, it is way too late to eat. In Turkey and Greece the locals eat late, but at least the restaurants were open and we could get served. In Bari, nothing was open and we spent hours walking around looking for somewhere to eat. Clearly, we are going to have to change our eating patterns before we return to Italy.We were anxious to continue our travels and happily went to the port on Saturday evening. There were a number of ferries leaving that night: Dubrovnik, Montenegro and Albania. The line-up to clear immigration was huge and it moved slowly. We were amongst one of the first groups to board our ship. It was like a 1970s BC ferry that missed out on ever being upgraded. Since we had not purchased a cabin, we were lucky enough to secure a booth. We divided the journey into two four hour shifts and took turns sleeping. We arrived in Dubrovnik at 8:00 am on Sunday morning feeling quite refreshed and are now safely tucked away in a "Sobe" on the hill above the old town.

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