I didn't sleep well, so I woke up late, tired, and in no mood to go explore. Instead I stayed home working on the computer, went for a walk along the seafront, did a bit of shopping and at 6:30 pm (yes, in the evening) I left for the train station and my overnight train tip to the other end of Italy. I was going to Brindisi, which is in the heel of the Italian boot.
In a pattern that is now all too familiar I was excited about an overnight train trip, but unwisely I didn't take a bunk bed and had to travel sitting in a regular train seat (comfortable to a certain extent but still a seat). The short runs from Cogoleto to Genoa, and Genoa to Milan were not a big deal, but the long stretch from Milan to Brindisi pretty soon lost its appeal. A pity, really, because the line follows the southern edge of the Po River valley all the way to the coast of the Adriatic, passing through towns whose names evoke delicious specialties, such as Parma, Modena, and Bologne.
By midnight I had dog napped while the train wagon filled with people, and pretty soon the inside temperature rose to uncomfortable levels. I tossed and turned in my double sit, trying to find the perfect position twisted like a pretzel. I should have put more attention when Monica was trying to teach us some of her weird yoga postures.
But all tortures eventually come to an end, and I stepped out of the Brindisi station under the 9 am radiant sun. I was going to walk 40 minutes to my B&B, but with the heat, the weight of the backpack, and my aching left foot that short walk turned into a Calvary. Finally I arrived at Villa Susanna, which is in a very nice part of town and looks like a perfect villa. Susanna herself was there to greet me and didn't mind at all that I was checking in at 10:30 am. I am lord of an apartment that has three bedrooms and know I will be very happy for the next couple of days.
But to be a good tourist you have to suffer, so my hurting foot notwithstanding I asked Susanna for the best way to get to the historic center of town. I was thinking I would take a bus, just so I would not have to walk 40 minutes back to the train station. "Oh, no", she told me, "you need to take the motobarca" across the bay". Quite simply, because the original fortified city was located on the tip of a peninsula, folks from the residential part of the city jump on the boat bus whenever they have to go to uptown. Fine with me :)
The stop of the motobarca is not far from Villa Susanna, the pilot and his assistant are super-helpful to the tourist, and you can still buy your tickets with one euro and ten centesimos using coins! Admittedly it is a short crossing, which just gives you time enough to admire the Monument to the Mariner, which resembles an immense rudder (at least 30 meters tall), and on top of which is the statue of the Holy Virgin Mary, which has traditionally blessed outgoing mariners and welcome in coming ships.
Once in town I admired the one column (the other one lies in pieces) that marked the end of the Via Apia since Roman times. Brindisi was the point of departure to Greece, Egypt, and the eastern Mediterranean, so it was a very strategic city even before the Roman Republic came into being. The archaeology museum is loaded with Corinthian and Minoan pottery, although the few archaeologic sites I saw were Roman.
I did my share as a tourist but came back home by mid-afternoon. I owe myself a good meal and an early retreat to bed. Tomorrow I will cast my net farther afield and will visit Lecce.
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