Aug 13, 2012 - Pogradec - Brindisi

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May 29, 2012 - Gallipoli day trip!

I slept in....a total of 12 hours!!!! Just could not make my body move!!! Showered, breakfast and headed to the train Stazione for a ticket on the Ferravio Sud Est train to Gallipoli! I met a very nice couple, Christina and Steven, from Vancouver! The treno departenze at 11:56....later than expected but slept through the earlier one. Well, it actually worked out perfectly because christina and I spoke the whole way about yoga, balance, excercising and the trip. I gave them some suggestions on places to visit, which I think they are going to...

May 28, 2012 - Lecce

I arrived yesterday around 530pm and decided to walk to my hotel.....luggage in tow , of course! Handy dandy google maps guided me, only after I thought I could do it on my own!......not so! Approached some very scary sketchy areas... Always near the trena Stazione! I walked with a purpose and gave the impressione of " I am woman, hear me roar!!!" after a trek, which I always justify by an excellent workout, I arrive at my palace!!! Literally! It used to be a synogue years ago, Then a palace, now an exquisite B&B!!! My room is amazing! 20ft...

Mar 17, 2012 - Day 1 - We arrive and eat 2 dinners

It's unbelievable how smooth our travels went. Plane left on time. Transferred in Munich. Arrived in Bari.  No problems with luggage or even our car rental. I kept waiting for something to go wrong but maybe that's not the kind of trip we are going to have. We seem to be on course to have a wonderful time. And it only got better. My mother is our driver and I am the guide. We got to the hotel without even fighting- kinda scary! The Palace Bari is perfect. A quaint little hotel, more than comfortable. When we check in we meet Mimma at the...

Mar 8, 2012 - Brindisi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlor%C3%AB Overnight ferry 11pm to 7am... 3-8 Lucky us we just fell into the right location (& Hotel Torino which also has free WiFi, YES!:) to be able to walk to every place with info re: onward travel via ferry. Very helpful tour agency folks (3 different places before we get to the right one selling tickets to Albania). Overnight ferry (leaving at 11pm) but 'free shuttle just a few blocks away so we can go to ferry @ 7pm, hotel lets us leave bags until then. Just lucky because being the cheap travelers we...

Mar 8, 2012 - Brindisi to Vlora, Albania

Lucky us we just fell into the right location (& Hotel Torino which also has free WiFi, YES!) to be able to walk to every place with info re: onward travel via ferry. Very helpful tour agency folks (3 different places before we get to the right one selling tickets to Albania). Overnight ferry (leaving at 11pm) but 'free shuttle just a few blocks away so we can go to ferry @ 7pm, hotel lets us leave bags until then. Just lucky because being the cheap travelers we are, when we got here last night we missed seeing a hostel sign - it was...

Mar 7, 2012 - Brindisi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brindisi Still in Croton: Another travel day...after a trip to the Post Office where, after an hour of waiting and attempting to understand/be understood, Mari sent off her package (they could not guarantee it would arrive - suggesting she find UPS). Bon & I decided to wait on our small parcel - mostly LPs we're done with. Then the hike to train station and an afternoon switching trains 3 times and a bus link between stations to boot. The Italian countryside is hugely agricultural in this Eastern...

Nov 20, 2010 - Hello Italy (Again)

Brrrrr, Bari. 17 degrees? How do you expect me to cope with that? A jumper? Goodness me. Italy, for the third time, Bari for the third time. At least we knew where the supermarket was. Feels good to be back in Italy. When nowhere is home (well, for a year anyway), then somewhere you've been to three times starts to feel very familiar, and that's very welcome. I'm going to ask you a favour now. Is anyone still reading this? We're feeling a bit lonely over here so how about you guys send us a message and tell us what you're up to. Remember,...

Oct 28, 2010 - Back to Bari

[***WARNING*** There now follows an update related to the ferry crossing between Italy and Greece which some readers may find tedious and uninteresting. "But how will we tell it from your other entries, Angela?" you cry. Bog off.] Between April and October most of the companies doing the Greek crossing offer a ticket option called "Camping On Board". This means exactly what it says on the tin; if you are in a motorhome (or in your car for that matter) you get to camp on board in your vehicle, just by buying the cheapest ticket. We hit the...

Oct 25, 2010 - Puglia - Heel of Italy

After the mad dash up the foot o' the boot, we bedded down for a couple of nights in a town called Monopoli. On first sight, in the dark, Puglia was looking promising. We had several articles from the travel sections of papers in the travel journal, and were looking forward to spending a while travelling down the heel, looking at all these interesting places. The landscape is very distictively different from other areas of Italy that we'd been to. Still very agricultural and rural, with the ubiquitous olive groves, but it was beautifully...

Oct 13, 2010 - Goodbye Balkans

We checked in at 9pm, for the 11pm sailing. Once we started boarding, it didn’t go as quickly as expected; in fact it was the slowest boarding we’d had. It became clear as we neared the front of the line that the border guards were being extremely thorough when it came to the checks they were performing. We thought they were targeting specific nationalities when they went over the Bosnians and the Irish with a toothpick, but when they went for the guy from Liechtenstein in front of us, we knew we were for it to. However, (and if Nick’s...

Aug 22, 2010 - Bari, Italy

Sunday, August 22 - Bari, Italy - Today we are in Bari, a sweet little city with a small town feel. There is a new part to Bari and there is an old town. It’s Sunday so not much is open, but enough in the touristy areas to get a feel for it. The people are friendly and warm. This is the home of St. Nicolas, his remains housed in the beautiful Basilica di San Nicola. So if you’re feeling Christmassy, this is the place to be. OK, so it doesn’t have the snow or reindeer that you’d expect, but the Basilica di San Nicola does house the bones of...