11:00
Bari, Italy
The overnight train ride from Milan to Bari was one of my less favorite experiences. Up until now I've been fine with the overnight trains--sure, I may not be getting completely uninterrupted sleep, but just being horizontal is usually nice. I've also always had either a middle or a top bunk up until now. The middle bunk, while not terrible, I didn't like as much as the top--the top was nice because it gave you more room--and you are right there with the luggage storage, so you don't have to sleep on top of your bags. This time I was looking forward to a bottom bunk because both top and middle bunks it is difficult to sit. I figured the bottom bunk would be nicer for that. Unfortunately, we happened to get bottom bunks in one of the cars where the middle bunk can fold up and turn the bottom bunk into seats for all three people. Normally that wouldn't seem to matter when in bunk format, but somehow the contraption that allows for the seats takes up literally more than half the bottom bunk! And I'm not a small person. So that was one of my least favorite overnights.
Bari, however, is an interesting little town. You can tell that this town's entire history has always been centered around it's ability as a port.
There's a castle here called Castello Normano-Svevo which had a moat and everything! The moat, however, is now grassy and has what appeared to be modern art at various places--including a cage filled with tires.
Those statues you see behind me in that picture are giant heads, one wearing a helmet, one wearing a gas mask, and one wearing goggles. The helmet, gas mask, and goggles all appear to be made out of WWII stuff (pots, shell casings, etc.) Unfortunately the interior of the castle was closed for the day so I was unable to go inside.
The more interesting of the places in Bari had to be the Basilica di San Nicola.
This was essentially a big church where they have a tomb containing the remains of Saint Nicholas (father Christmas). They happened to be having some kind of chanting ceremony that I got a little video of.
I had read in the Eurail book that we can get free dormitories on the superfast ferry from Italy to Greece, but when we checked at the ticket counter at the ferry station they said there are no dormitories on that particular ferry. We had the option of the free (€7 taxes) "air seats" which are called thus because they are like the kind of seat you find in an aircraft. And that was first class--so the seats were fairly comfy and big. Or we could pay for €190 for a cabin (like on a cruise ship). We settled for the air seats. And since it was mostly empty I was able to find a whole row to stretch out on and sleep. I don't envy the kids we met in Greece--since they had the second class Eurail tickets, they were only able to have deck seats--which meant outside--and they came from Ancona which was a 22 hour ride, not 14 hours like we had from Bari (supposedly the boat from Ancona had dormitories our first class Eurail tickets would've provided for us). All in all, it was actually a pretty pleasant night--plus there were showers available, so that was nice.
I'm now in Greece (on a train from Patras to Athens) and it's almost a full day later than I started this post. I had to stop half way through a sentence a couple paragraphs ago for some reason or another. While waiting for the train to Athens we stopped at a diner and I ordered the "snack".
It was real tasty except for the octopus and what looked like sardine bruchetta. My stomach's not up for that yet. The coast line and Adriatic Sea are beautiful as they zip by. Sadly I'm cramped on a full train and unable to take pictures to show you. Once we get settled in Greece I promise you more photos :)
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Location:Bari, Italy
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