Barion

... shouldn't have taken the first agent's word for it. Seemed to be ships sailing at all hours - must surely have been one with space on it overnight? Definitely the only way to do this route.However, we get by: but I wouldn't recommend Ventourist line: cheap, for sure; but tacky -very, very tacky!Another night in an anonymous port.

... Cross. But that wouldn't have made for quite as snappy of a title. Besides, the Atlantic City is the only legitimate version of the game.

NB2: for all you Americans out there, did you know that Reading Railroad is pronounced "REDding"? I had no idea. Sorta takes the snap out of the title after all.

NB3: there is a really annoying, bratty kid on this train. Italian is my favorite language to hear ...

... Dan got a map of Pompeii and we saw like 1/16 of the ruin! I was dissapointed we couldn't see more but Enzo did say that it would take 2 days to see all of the ruin. The bus ride from Pompeii to Bari was a few hours, we stop for a snack/lunch/toilet break after a few hours. Dan and I had a calzone and a drink, we bought some onion pretzels, pepsi and paprika italian pringles for munchies on the ferry.
We made the ferry on time ...

... the coastal resorts in August - the idea of travelling somewhere quiet and undiscovered was very appealing.
We passed very few cars on the journey to Matera, which was actually rather refreshing having spent last summer trying to get away from the over-crowded tourist resorts.

As the road headed up to the mountains, we passed ancient hilltop towns and villages clinging to rocky limestone plateaus. Often seeming more Greek ...

... 15 hour boat ride.

We boarded the ferry and set off. Of course on our grocery run we bought some beer and wine, so we began the drinking on the top deck. After a while we had quite the crew: the Australian couple, the 3 Spokane guys, and then 4 Irish lads. We stayed up late drinking and talking under the stars...it was pretty cool.

Then we went to bed. On this ferry ...

This is where Pietro, an old Italian guy, jumped into Bruce and navigated us to the trulli. He saved us from a traffic jam in the narrow streets of Puglia.

Pete was also called Pietro while in Italy. :-)

Trullo comes from the Greek word, "tholos" – meaning “dome”. See the pictures of the wee houses.

We found the Belvedere pub here too - also the name of our local in Aus – meaning “beautiful view”. It was beautiful.

... over the ocean would have been superb. We took the Superfast Ferry from Bari Italy to Petras Greece. It was an 18 hour journey but a comfortable boat and nice clean cabins for sleeping. The downside was the abundance of smokers on the ship and that the non- smoking areas were small and right in the middle of the smoking sections! It ...

... to sleep on the actual deck...yep, outside, on the second level of the ferry. After an hour of trying, we moved inside because of being cold and noise. Thankfully, we were able to find a slice in between a row of chairs that Layton could squeeze into sideways. Jana was able to slip under a row of chairs that made a "fort" for her for the night. We actually slept better than we thought we would, but very thankful to have found a place to rest our heads. BARI...well ...

... Masses of pasta followed, then a whole pan-friend monkfish. All wonderful food, but mostly non-familiar to our kids, and in total enough to have fed five big guys after a long day of biking, rather than two adults and three semi-picky and tired kids after a long day of inactivity on the train. The final bill with tip was well over 200 euros. Looks like sandwiches and pizza for the next few days. (Jack)

... asiaan eli oksentamiseen. Siskon kanssa nauroimme, et mita ihmiset sit tekevat, jos on jo filmirulla pussissa ja tulee paha olo.. =P hopero juttu, mut me nyt vain nauretaan mille tahansa jos ollaan tarpeeksi vasyneita. Kolmen tunnin paasta sitten saavuimme Bariin, herttaiseen satamakaupunkiin Italiassa. Elamani nopeimman laukkujen vastaanoton (HETI astuttuamme laukkuhihnalle edessamme rullasivat meidan laukkumme, jahuu) jalkeen korottelimme bussilla ...