Oh Italia!

Pictures: 1) with Mysterio (Anna's cat) before leaving, 2) on the ferry in the Patra port, 3) outside the train station in Bari, 4) dancing with Anna's castionettes (sp?), 5) people at the cultural dancing

What a busy couple days! On Monday Anna and I woke up, ate breakfast, then I packed and got ready to go while we chatted. I caught a cab to the bus station and took the 2 pm bus back to Patra. From there I took a “Superfast Ferry” which left at 6 pm toward Bari, Italy. The ferry was not to arrive in Bari until 9:30 am. I paid for an upgrade from ‘deck passage’ which comes free with the Euro Rail to ‘air seat’ which is like a nicer airplane seat. The upgrade was 18 euros, which it turns out I didn’t need to pay because there were so few people who wanted air seats I could have just gone in the room - no one checked to see if you had a ticket or not.

The ferry had a cafeteria area, a bar, 2 lounges, a reception desk, a couple outdoor decks and the ‘air seat’ room. This room looked a bit like a movie theatre and was kept fairly dark. It was arranged like this: 3 seats, aisle, 5 seats, aisle, 2 seats. I met some girls in there from California and we started talking. They were from a small town outside Lake Tahoe and had never even been on a plane before this trip! (They were 19, 19, and 22). They had just come from Santorini where they also stayed in Perissa, but they never left the town to see Fira or Oia and they were there for 5 days! It seemed like they were just very sheltered and scared to try things (especially the 2 sisters - the other one had really wanted to go do things). But as the 22 year old told me - “It was just so many firsts - first flight, first ferry, first train…we were just worn out and wanted to rest. It’s sort of overwhelming.” I guess. When they found out I was traveling alone they were like “whoa, you’re brave.” haha

Anyway, I talked to them a bit, then used the internet (which was SO slow on the ship), then I wrote a letter to Anna’s family (if you are reading this Anna pretend it’s a surprise when you get your mail!), and I tried to go to sleep at 11. I decided to lay down on the ground at the foot of one of the 5 seat aisles (wrapped in a sheet I’d packed). I figured this way I wouldn’t have seat gaps to lay across. This was relatively fine, except all night I was freezing - I actually woke up at one point and put on another pair of socks and a sweat shirt, but I wished I’d had a hat! Around 4 am I moved to the row of seats…it was a rather fitful night.

While we were supposed to arrive at 9:30, we actually arrived at 8:30, so at 7:30 the announcements started up. Breakfast was closed by the time I made it to the dining hall, so I had a chocolate chip muffin - that’s what you call a healthy breakfast.

The CA girls and I split a cab to the train station (they were going to Rome), and then we paid to leave our luggage there while we went to find lunch and check out the city. Around lunch time I started feeling pretty bad, and by the time we finished our pizza and got gelato (my favorite part of Italy) I felt very faint and sick. It was probably in part due to the unhealthy/sugary breakfast combined with gelato and pizza for lunch. Anyway, I didn’t feel up to walking into the city, which is a shame, so one of the girls (Kayla) and I went back to the train station while the two sisters went to some vintage shop.

We had to buy reservations (15 euros each) for the train we took because it was a high speed train. They were taking it all the way to Rome, and I was switching part way. The train was quite crowded, but it was a good, smooth train which I liked. I didn’t get to sit with the girls because of our reservations, so I didn’t see them again.

After I got off I immediately boarded a train for Naples, then from there a train to Salerno where Anna (another Anna) met me at the train station. She is hosting me Tues/Wed/Thurs nights. She walked with me back to her flat, which is very nice (I have my own double room!) and made me spaghetti with tuna and garlic (very yummy) while I put on my dance clothes. After dinner, she took me to her dance class which was (get this!) a class of cultural dances from southern Italy! How completely fortuitous!! I learned so many amazing, fun dances, and the teachers were very excited to have me there and the whole atmosphere of the class was like a big family (it reminded me of tango/salsa back home). Half way through they brought out all this food - traditional cakes, breads and cookies, wine, soda, and water. I had too much cake! Lol I also learned the Tarantula (which is one of the dances that was in my original proposal for the Phillip’s Scholarship). It was such an amazing experience, and it was free!

I’m back now, showered and exhausted, but they don’t know the code for the wi fi, so I won’t be able to post until tomorrow. Anna has class tomorrow (she’s here studying from France where she’s from), so I’ll explore Salerno on my own and check out the Amalfi coast if it’s a nice day.