FRIDAY, JUNE 14
We pretty much hate flying. It is so difficult with our bags, both the fear of being “overweight” and the transport to and from airports. Okay, but we always seem to be lucky and in good hands.
Our Airbnb host drove us to the bus stop in Piraeus where we caught the Athens airport bus. And then a person waiting at the bus stop flagged the airport bus for us. We didn’t know the bus had to be flagged. It would have passed us. And then (yes, more) the bus driver of this public bus, helped us get our bags inside and told us we could pay at the airport. Kindness follows us.
LEAVING GREECE
We were sorry to leave Greece. We loved it, and would have been happy to stay another week or month or year!
We made it in plenty of time to the airport, and that was good because we had to pack a third, cheap, empty bag that we bought the day before for that very purpose. The weight limit on Volotea Airlines is low, but divided by three bags, it all worked out. We ate lunch. Expensive in the airport, of course. But Italian!!!!
BACK ON ITALIAN SOIL
The flight to Bari was just over an hour. Italy, or at least Bari, looked so different than Greece. As we landed, I could see golden grasses and a multitude of flowers.
The air was hot and and smelled sweet like honeysuckle when we exited the plane. So nice to be back in Italy.
The train ride from the airport to downtown Bari, where we had a room, was about 25 minutes. We ran from the baggage claim to catch the train.
This was our first time dragging our bags in steaming hot weather, 35C, and we ended up walking a lot on narrow sidewalks and across cobbled streets. Not a pretty sight. I was sweating like a pig.
CHLOE’S FIRST DIVE HOTEL
After about 25 minutes, we found the hotel but for some odd reason, our room wasn’t in the hotel. We walked another 20 minutes to another address, only to learn that we were down the street.
The hotel manager guided us to our room, his young daughter tagging along, and though busy with cars, they both walked in the street. I was nervous about the little girl, but she seemed used to it.
This would be Chloe’s first experience of what can generously be termed “a dump.” The room was filthy. Stains on the walls, dirty floor. The air heavy and stale with the smell of cigarette smoke. The bedspread was tattered, literally, and we both worried about bed bugs. Cigarette ashes stuck to the bottom of the garbage can. The bathroom smelled of an open sewer. Neighbors on one side came in late and partied; on the other, argued continuously.
It happens.
HAPPINESS IS ITALIAN FOOD
But dinner…yum…at Restaurante Terranima. This is just one reason why it is always nice to return to Italy. I had a pasta with pumpkin cream sauce. How do the Italians do it? We felt like we had come home to a familiar place. So happy to be with Italians again.
