I can hardly believe we've been in Italy for only a week! This past week has been one of the craziest, most frustrating, and exciting weeks since we've been in Europe; it feels like we've been here so much longer than we have, but we still have so much more to see and so many more places to go!
Turns out that our couch surfing host in Athens happened to be the best one I think we will have the chance to meet--but I hope not. He was a late twenty-something-year-old born and raised in Piraeus, Athens, and he worked at a shipping company; at least that's what I thought he meant haha, but it sounded more like "sipping." After getting off work, he picked us up at the metro station and took us one by one back to his apartment only a few kilometers away, but the already heavy traffic was even more so with the coming holiday and it made the ride a bit longer... not that I minded! He had come on his motor bike so our only option was us to take separate rides, and I did not want mine to end! It was so nice after a long day of walking with my heavy backpack to get to sit down and see all the cafes and restaurants pass by as the wind blew through my hair.
Our CS host lived in a much nicer part of Piraeus than we had seen. It was right next to a harbor full of expensive yachts and a few sailboats and in close vicinity to lots of cute shops and restaurants. So that evening he took us to one of his favorite places where we had some of the best Greek food we've ever tasted! It was served tapas style, so we ordered a bunch of dishes and shared them all. That's one thing I've noticed about Greek culture. Meals are always shared and people don't mind mixing germs. No one has a meal to themselves. I noticed it first when we were in Santorini and the couch surfer's wife served us some yogurt, telling us to dig in with the forks we'd already used. It feels like you're just part of the family when you eat that way I think. Anyway, after eating dinner and feeling completely stuffed, we walked around the harbor which was all lit up in the night sky and then went to a bar before heading back to the apartment.
The next day, we all slept in which felt so marvelous after our long ferry ride the night before, and then our CS host graciously took us to the bus station using his parent's car and ensured we had gotten our bus ticket and were settled in before he left us at the station. It was super busy due to Easter coming up, which I found out the Orthodox celebrate a week after the Protestants and Catholics. We took a bus through the countryside and mountains to Patras, the western port of Greece from where we would take a ferry to Italy.
By the time we got to the bus station in Patras, we thought we had just enough time to walk down to the port and get on our ferry, BUT we ended up walking to the wrong end of the port and having to take a taxi to the other end where our actual ferry was. And of course the taxi driver wanted to take us round in circles to add to the meter, so by the time we actually got to the port and picked up our tickets, we were minutes away from missing our ferry! What a heart attack that was...humph! But thank heavens we made it.
Thankfully, due to my eye mask and ear plugs (and borrowing Colton's sleeping bag) I slept pretty good on the floor of the ferry. About midnight or so a ton of passengers got on the boat and came in boisterously disturbing those of us who were sound asleep, so I was determined not to let them steal my precious few hours and I shut my eyes until they all shut up! I found out the next morning that I apparently was the only one to do so... most people got up to let people sit down... and people probably didn't think to highly of me. Oh well. I don't really care. Sleep is not something to be interrupted :)
Once in Bari, we literally had no plan, and with it being Easter morning we were really lucky that we were able to find a bed and breakfast when we did and in the historic part of town. It was just newly renovated, and we were the first to stay in the room; the towels and linens were still in the bag from the store! Everything was kind of dead during the day, so we wandered around and then ate a restaurant that was one of the few open and had our first pizzas in Italy. They're definitely not as hearty as I expected, but they're not bad. Later that night, it seemed we were in just the right spot, because at about eight or nine o' clock, all the locals came out to the bars and restaurants at the piazza in the historic district.
The next day, we checked out of the b&b since it was only available for a night, and we walked around the city trying to find wifi so we could figure out a plan. But luck was not on our side that day. The city was a ghost town due to the celebration of Easter on Monday as well. We wandered around for a couple hours and after no luck found a McDonald's with wifi, but you had to have a phone to be able to receive the password, so it was no use. Later, randomly we found an internet spot, which was like finding water in a desert! So we quickly found a hotel online and walked the rest of the way to it.
We ended up paying double what I had found online because someone *cough *cough didn't think it would be reliable to book on lastminute.com, but you live and you learn. With the city being basically shut down and it being cold and windy, we decided to just spend the day in our room watching Italian TV and planning more of our trip. We went out to dinner at a pub restaurant and had to guess what we were ordering because everything was in Italian and the waiter didn't speak English. We were literally the only people in the place and what we got was way less than what we payed for. It was definitely an experience! We ended up stopping at the only super market open that day run by some Indians that don't celebrate Easter and bought a bag of cookies which compensated for still not full stomachs.
Day 3 in Bari we decided to try to hitch hike to Naples, which sort of ended up being a complete fail. Apparently we should have done some more research because hitch hiking on the highway in Italy is ILLEGAL. Thankfully, the cabinieri only told us to walk to the nearest exit and didn't fine us for our felony ha. Ironically, on our way to the exit a guy finally picked us up, but he wasn't going that far, so he dropped us off at the airport so we could figure out what to do next. By the time we figured out there are no flights from Bari to Naples and then decided to take a bus to the train station to see if we could catch a train instead of trying to hitchhike any further, it was too late. The buses were no longer running to Naples and we missed the last train. So, we were stuck in Bari for yet another night.
At that point we were super discouraged and decided the easiest thing to do would be to go back to our hotel not too far away and use the wifi we had used the day before instead of wandering yet again trying to find a cafe with internet. So we sat outside the hotel to get on the computer and found that our password had expired. I went in to the hotel to ask for the new password, but I wanted to look like I was coming from my room to ask instead of just off the street, so I went up the elevator and then came back down. And on my way down the elevator (I was already weary of them breaking down earlier since they seemed kind of janky) I got stuck on the first floor and had to ring the alarm to get out! When the door finally was pried open, three guys were standing there wanting to make sure I was ok. It was quite comical. So I asked for the password and long story short, ended up booking the hotel on a website for a week AFTER I needed it and can't get my money back. But we stayed in that money trap city once again for another night and bought a bus ticket out first thing in the morning.
The drive to Naples was really beautiful through the Italian countryside. It's much more green and lush than Greece, and of course full of vineyards. Once we finally made it to Naples, we were so relieved! We had our first hostel experience, and a great one at that. It was a cute little place at the top floor of this building within walking distance of everything. So after settling in, we went walking down to the port and got some gelato. We happened to be there during the America's cup sailing race, so lots of people were at the port watching the race take place. It was very windy and cold that day, so the waves were extra high which made it interesting to watch the boats racing across the stormy water.
We walked some more and found a book store where we bought some books in English and then headed back to the hostel to do some laundry and hang out for the rest of the day since it ended up raining the whole time.
The next day we took a ferry to Capri, about an hour off the coast. It was a beautiful island with lots of expensive shops and hotels. I enjoyed the nature on the island, but I think it's a little overrated and touristy than some of the other islands might be. That night we decided to go out and have some tasty pasta since we were getting sick of pizza, so we ate at a little joint close to the hostel.
The next day rained all day, and we decided to go to Pompeii and walk around the ruins. There were quite a few people there despite the rain, and even though it wasn't perfect walking weather, I kind of enjoyed it. The city was a lot bigger than I expected it to be so it took several hours to walk around it all. After a while it all kind of looked the same to me though so I was ready to see something new. We hopped on the metro and went to Sorrento, where we stopped and ate some pizza and pasta while we read more of our books :) It was a good way to get out of the cold rain for a bit.
Sorrento was a cute little coastal town that also had a lot of shops and hotels, but with the rain and the pretty trees and flowers, I was taken by the town's charm. We stopped and had gelato at this shop that had probably close to 30 flavors, it was a bit hard to choose which ones I wanted!
The next day, yesterday, we took our first train to Rome!!! After checking into our hostel, we ROMEed around the city ;) and saw some of the historic buildings all lit up at night. It was sort of surreal. We walked down to a piazza across the river where there are lots of small streets with bars and restaurants.
Today we walked around the Roman forum and the Colloseum, went into a few churches, walked the Spanish steps, and threw coins into the Trevi fountian. It was a day full of walking, but I have enjoyed taking in the beautiful scenery, both in architecture and in nature. Rome is so different than I thought it would be; so much cleaner and prettier. There's actually a lot of trees and gardens/parks. And even though there are lots of tourists, the traffic isn't too bad and it's not unreasonable to walk everywhere you go. I quite like it here and am looking forward to exploring more of the city in the next few days before we head up to Siena and Tuscay. I'm really enjoying the beauty of Italy.
Turns out that our couch surfing host in Athens happened to be the best one I think we will have the chance to meet--but I hope not. He was a late twenty-something-year-old born and raised in Piraeus, Athens, and he worked at a shipping company; at least that's what I thought he meant haha, but it sounded more like "sipping." After getting off work, he picked us up at the metro station and took us one by one back to his apartment only a few kilometers away, but the already heavy traffic was even more so with the coming holiday and it made the ride a bit longer... not that I minded! He had come on his motor bike so our only option was us to take separate rides, and I did not want mine to end! It was so nice after a long day of walking with my heavy backpack to get to sit down and see all the cafes and restaurants pass by as the wind blew through my hair.
Our CS host lived in a much nicer part of Piraeus than we had seen. It was right next to a harbor full of expensive yachts and a few sailboats and in close vicinity to lots of cute shops and restaurants. So that evening he took us to one of his favorite places where we had some of the best Greek food we've ever tasted! It was served tapas style, so we ordered a bunch of dishes and shared them all. That's one thing I've noticed about Greek culture. Meals are always shared and people don't mind mixing germs. No one has a meal to themselves. I noticed it first when we were in Santorini and the couch surfer's wife served us some yogurt, telling us to dig in with the forks we'd already used. It feels like you're just part of the family when you eat that way I think. Anyway, after eating dinner and feeling completely stuffed, we walked around the harbor which was all lit up in the night sky and then went to a bar before heading back to the apartment.
The next day, we all slept in which felt so marvelous after our long ferry ride the night before, and then our CS host graciously took us to the bus station using his parent's car and ensured we had gotten our bus ticket and were settled in before he left us at the station. It was super busy due to Easter coming up, which I found out the Orthodox celebrate a week after the Protestants and Catholics. We took a bus through the countryside and mountains to Patras, the western port of Greece from where we would take a ferry to Italy.
By the time we got to the bus station in Patras, we thought we had just enough time to walk down to the port and get on our ferry, BUT we ended up walking to the wrong end of the port and having to take a taxi to the other end where our actual ferry was. And of course the taxi driver wanted to take us round in circles to add to the meter, so by the time we actually got to the port and picked up our tickets, we were minutes away from missing our ferry! What a heart attack that was...humph! But thank heavens we made it.
Thankfully, due to my eye mask and ear plugs (and borrowing Colton's sleeping bag) I slept pretty good on the floor of the ferry. About midnight or so a ton of passengers got on the boat and came in boisterously disturbing those of us who were sound asleep, so I was determined not to let them steal my precious few hours and I shut my eyes until they all shut up! I found out the next morning that I apparently was the only one to do so... most people got up to let people sit down... and people probably didn't think to highly of me. Oh well. I don't really care. Sleep is not something to be interrupted :)
Once in Bari, we literally had no plan, and with it being Easter morning we were really lucky that we were able to find a bed and breakfast when we did and in the historic part of town. It was just newly renovated, and we were the first to stay in the room; the towels and linens were still in the bag from the store! Everything was kind of dead during the day, so we wandered around and then ate a restaurant that was one of the few open and had our first pizzas in Italy. They're definitely not as hearty as I expected, but they're not bad. Later that night, it seemed we were in just the right spot, because at about eight or nine o' clock, all the locals came out to the bars and restaurants at the piazza in the historic district.
The next day, we checked out of the b&b since it was only available for a night, and we walked around the city trying to find wifi so we could figure out a plan. But luck was not on our side that day. The city was a ghost town due to the celebration of Easter on Monday as well. We wandered around for a couple hours and after no luck found a McDonald's with wifi, but you had to have a phone to be able to receive the password, so it was no use. Later, randomly we found an internet spot, which was like finding water in a desert! So we quickly found a hotel online and walked the rest of the way to it.
We ended up paying double what I had found online because someone *cough *cough didn't think it would be reliable to book on lastminute.com, but you live and you learn. With the city being basically shut down and it being cold and windy, we decided to just spend the day in our room watching Italian TV and planning more of our trip. We went out to dinner at a pub restaurant and had to guess what we were ordering because everything was in Italian and the waiter didn't speak English. We were literally the only people in the place and what we got was way less than what we payed for. It was definitely an experience! We ended up stopping at the only super market open that day run by some Indians that don't celebrate Easter and bought a bag of cookies which compensated for still not full stomachs.
Day 3 in Bari we decided to try to hitch hike to Naples, which sort of ended up being a complete fail. Apparently we should have done some more research because hitch hiking on the highway in Italy is ILLEGAL. Thankfully, the cabinieri only told us to walk to the nearest exit and didn't fine us for our felony ha. Ironically, on our way to the exit a guy finally picked us up, but he wasn't going that far, so he dropped us off at the airport so we could figure out what to do next. By the time we figured out there are no flights from Bari to Naples and then decided to take a bus to the train station to see if we could catch a train instead of trying to hitchhike any further, it was too late. The buses were no longer running to Naples and we missed the last train. So, we were stuck in Bari for yet another night.
At that point we were super discouraged and decided the easiest thing to do would be to go back to our hotel not too far away and use the wifi we had used the day before instead of wandering yet again trying to find a cafe with internet. So we sat outside the hotel to get on the computer and found that our password had expired. I went in to the hotel to ask for the new password, but I wanted to look like I was coming from my room to ask instead of just off the street, so I went up the elevator and then came back down. And on my way down the elevator (I was already weary of them breaking down earlier since they seemed kind of janky) I got stuck on the first floor and had to ring the alarm to get out! When the door finally was pried open, three guys were standing there wanting to make sure I was ok. It was quite comical. So I asked for the password and long story short, ended up booking the hotel on a website for a week AFTER I needed it and can't get my money back. But we stayed in that money trap city once again for another night and bought a bus ticket out first thing in the morning.
The drive to Naples was really beautiful through the Italian countryside. It's much more green and lush than Greece, and of course full of vineyards. Once we finally made it to Naples, we were so relieved! We had our first hostel experience, and a great one at that. It was a cute little place at the top floor of this building within walking distance of everything. So after settling in, we went walking down to the port and got some gelato. We happened to be there during the America's cup sailing race, so lots of people were at the port watching the race take place. It was very windy and cold that day, so the waves were extra high which made it interesting to watch the boats racing across the stormy water.
We walked some more and found a book store where we bought some books in English and then headed back to the hostel to do some laundry and hang out for the rest of the day since it ended up raining the whole time.
The next day we took a ferry to Capri, about an hour off the coast. It was a beautiful island with lots of expensive shops and hotels. I enjoyed the nature on the island, but I think it's a little overrated and touristy than some of the other islands might be. That night we decided to go out and have some tasty pasta since we were getting sick of pizza, so we ate at a little joint close to the hostel.
The next day rained all day, and we decided to go to Pompeii and walk around the ruins. There were quite a few people there despite the rain, and even though it wasn't perfect walking weather, I kind of enjoyed it. The city was a lot bigger than I expected it to be so it took several hours to walk around it all. After a while it all kind of looked the same to me though so I was ready to see something new. We hopped on the metro and went to Sorrento, where we stopped and ate some pizza and pasta while we read more of our books :) It was a good way to get out of the cold rain for a bit.
Sorrento was a cute little coastal town that also had a lot of shops and hotels, but with the rain and the pretty trees and flowers, I was taken by the town's charm. We stopped and had gelato at this shop that had probably close to 30 flavors, it was a bit hard to choose which ones I wanted!
The next day, yesterday, we took our first train to Rome!!! After checking into our hostel, we ROMEed around the city ;) and saw some of the historic buildings all lit up at night. It was sort of surreal. We walked down to a piazza across the river where there are lots of small streets with bars and restaurants.
Today we walked around the Roman forum and the Colloseum, went into a few churches, walked the Spanish steps, and threw coins into the Trevi fountian. It was a day full of walking, but I have enjoyed taking in the beautiful scenery, both in architecture and in nature. Rome is so different than I thought it would be; so much cleaner and prettier. There's actually a lot of trees and gardens/parks. And even though there are lots of tourists, the traffic isn't too bad and it's not unreasonable to walk everywhere you go. I quite like it here and am looking forward to exploring more of the city in the next few days before we head up to Siena and Tuscay. I'm really enjoying the beauty of Italy.
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