Italia 2023. Day 11 - Bari

Not much an entry because I didn't do much. I went for an early walk to buy myself a focaccia with tomato slices at the bakery kiosk, had a leisurely breakfast, and hung around my comfortable apartment in Villa Susanna until it wass time to say goodbye to my gracious hostess around 11 am. "What?" you might as well ask. The fact is that tonight I am taking the ferry across the Adriatic Sea to go from Bari (Italy) to Durrës (Albania), but not until 11 pm, and I thought that waiting forever in the cold dark at the ferry terminal entitled me to a last bit of comfort.

I took the train to Bari at 1 pm and was there by 2 pm, which allowed me ample time to walk through the city. Bari is a very chic city, and it being Saturday there were many well dressed people simply strolling through the elegant business district (for once I was conscious that my travel outfit could very well match those of the homeless). The city has a small medieval core, which has been lovingly restored, and a very nice promenade by the seashore. Outside of that, however, there was very little to do or see, so I slowly worked my way to the ferry terminal, where first you have to take the shuttle from the terminal to the ticket office, which is about 2 km away, get your ticket, and then take the same shuttle back to the ferry terminal to sit forever at the waiting area. Actually, even though the ferry departs at 11 pm the crew started the boarding process at 7 pm, so now I am on board and pretty soon I will be in bed (yes, with the memory of being a pretzel in the overnight trip from Milano Centrale to Brindisi fresh in my mind this time I booked a cabin :)

I am excited to land in Albania tomorrow morning, although I have zero knowledge about the country, its people, and its language. From what I see in the ferry they use the Cyrillic alphabet so I will have to use all my senses to navigate through it. The photos I have seen are of a pretty mountainous country, and I would like to take a tour into the country, but tomorrow is December 31, so I am not sure the travel agencies will be running tourist tours at all. 

I have bought a pre-paid SIM, so I should be able to stay connected through WhatsApp. Then again, if it doesn't work it may be three or four days before anyone hears from me. I guess that is why we call it adventure travel!