Athens to Rome

Greetings from the Italian port city of Bari. I just arrived after an overnight, 14 hour ferry from Patras, Greece. I was in Athens for two days, following another overnight ferry from Samos, the Greek island just off the Turkish coastline. I havent had a minute to edit photos but hope to get some up in the next few days.

Every day is an adventure, and getting to Greece was no exception. Greece has an extensive ferry network because boats serve as the main form of transport between islands. The term "ferry" is actually a misleading term; these boats are roughly the size of smaller cruise ships! Full size semi trucks pull into the bottom levels, cars go above those, and people stay on the upper 2 or 3 decks. Quite a site!

On the way to Athens I met a retired Belgian couple (keep running into Belgians... ;) in their late 60s who introduced me to the finer points of ferry travel. They showed me how to camp out on the floor in the airline-type seat compartment... this saves a night's lodging in the expensive cabins. Many people just sleep on the floor... hey, it beats sitting in a chair all night!

Arriving into Athens was a daunting task. When planning a trip, one tends to think "OK, I'll just find my hostel, then head to the main sites, grab a bite to eat...." and so forth. Easier said than done!! When everything is in Greek, roads seem to go everywhich way, your map is in English, and you can't see more than about 3 blocks at any given time... just getting ANYWHERE becomes a challenge! I am learning the importance of blocking extra time to simply figure out how to navigate a new city.

Athens is a sprawling metropolis with cars, motorbikes, and busses clogging just about every main street with noise and pollution. It's kind of like a smaller los angeles without actual freeways. Luckily the city has an excellent underground metro system, which I had a pretty good hold of by the end of my first day. After a stressful day of errands- including figuring out how to obtain a Eurailpass and finding a Western Europe guidebook- I was able to hike up a hillside and watch the sun set over the city, and the Acropolis. Very pretty, and pictures to come.

The next day I went to the Acropolis and saw the famous sites... Ill save the rest for my pictures, which do a better job than words can. Overall a good day, and plenty of walking.

Yesterday I was to buy my rail pass, catch a train from Athens to Patras (on Greece's west coast) and take a ferry to Italy. In the end, all these things happened, thank God. But it was nothing short of a miracle that I escaped Athens. You see, there was a strike on both the local metro system and the state-wide train system... both of which I needed to accomplish my travel plans. These things seem to happen with little forwarning, and even then no one seems to know what is really going on. What ensued was me, running with all my gear, frantically trying to buy my railpass, get to the train station, catch the ONE train running that day to Patras (usually 8), and all without getting so lost or late to miss the train, and thus the connecting ferry from Patras to Italy. In the end, all I can say is this: Miracles happen, and I know this because I got from Athens to Patras, and Patras to Greece, during a rail strike. I also want to say THANK YOU to Stelios, the International ticket specialist at the OSE office on Sina 6 in Athens... if it weren't for his tremendous help and fabulous information, I wouldnt have made it.

I travelled from Athens to Italy with two San Diegans. It was nice to spend some time with Americans, especially from SoCal. The familiarity was comforting after a few days in such a big city.

I catch a train to Rome this afternoon. I'll spend a day or two there before going north to Venice. The more I travel, the more I realize there is to see. So many people have wonderful ideas and suggestions; but in the end one has to make decisions. The way I look at it is this: You do what you can with the time you have, and file the rest away to visit on subsequent trips. This mindset helps me enjoy the places I can see without feeling upset for missing those I can't.

Thanks for reading- and have a wonderful day wherever you may be...