If you have ever ridden an Amtrak from Boston to New York, you just hop on a sit down. If you want some quiet, you get on the quiet car. If you want to risk sitting next to a family of five on their first trip to the big apple, you sit down anywhere else.
Now, Alyssia and I board the train to Bari at the Caserta station after a long day of crappy weather and sitting in the dirty Naples train station. We are a little ferklempt, to use a term fo my mother's. We get on the train and find two seats together and plop down. Then the Italian hands and words begin flying from the people who seats we have taken. Oh we have reservations! There is assigned seating on this train! You can see the Italians rolling their eyes.
Finally we waddled through three carts to reach our appropriate seats begin to watch One Tree Hill for the next four hours. Everything seems safe, normal, and excitement of a new city is creeping upon us. Then we get to Bari, at 9pm, not too late for Italy. That's when our luck begins to turn, in a bad way. We tried getting directions to bus number four and eventually a bus driver grabbed us and put us on his bus. He pointed where to get off and we waited for the next bus. Did I mention it was raining?
We climb aboard the bus, where negative 10 people speak English and try to look for our stop on the dark. Finally we had to get off and wandered across a trashy Piazza to a pizzeria. They said we had long passed our destination and tried to call us a cab. Heads up travelers, cabs in Bari don't like to work late and will not come get you. So the señorita from the pizza place loads us into her teeny car and drives us there. Now, we might think this move was questionable, but walking down the streets with my camera and iPad in the dark and the rain didn't seem like a good option.
Finally we get to the hostel, or so we thought. The hostel is actually down a winding, poorly lit road behind a sports complex. A guy there who we asked directions from also offered to drive us. No thanks pal, I do not make friends with Italian men. Thank god we got there and the beds and showers were good. We had one roommate who looked like an African queen, I named her lawfunda.
My advice, do not go to Bari. While the castles are cool and the port is lovely to look at, there is nothing to do when it rains. Our beach plans were shattered and I shed a small tear inside. However, the gelato by the main theatre is amazing!!
I will post about Florence tomorrow! (Firenze and I are in love by the way, and I have been here only 22 hours!)
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