ROME!!!

My last night in Macedonia was amazing... We went out to a great restaurant and then to the park to meet all of Sneska's friends who have become like my friends now too. They all signed a cute stuffed duck for me, a memento of my time in Skopje. Snkeska and some other friends walked me to the station and saw me off on the train to Thessaloniki... We blew each other kisses as the train rolled away... I have always wanted to do that! I sat in a car with a very friendly girl who spoke very good English, and I am so thankful for her. She didn't seem to mind answering my questios and explaining things to me when I didn't know what was going on. Like, when we got to Greece, they took my passport!!! I mean, I know that they have to check passports during border crossings, but nobody ever told me anything about my passport being in the hands of a Macedonian border agent... I mean, I know I am a little overprotective of my passport, but that was just a little sketchy. Luckily for me, my co-traveler explained that after a few minutes we had to go to the ticket window to claim our passports back. As they called the names, I fought the urge to bite my nails, and waited anxiously for my passport to be returned to my hands. Finally, they called me up, and, relieved, and tired from the long night on the train, I went back to sleep in my compartment.

In Thessaloniki, I took a bus from the train station to the bus station, and, then, about an hour later, boarded my bus to Igoumenitso. (Try saying this five times fast). During the time I had to wait, I felt compelled to learn some Greek, at least the alphabet, so that I could at least be sure what Igoumenitso looks like spelled in Greek. At last, a bus pulled into the terminal that looked like mine, but didn't have any writting on it that I could understand. I asked the guy taking tickets, but he didn't understand English at all and seemed very apathetic as to whether I was getting on the right bus or not... I asked the guy who was checking the luggage, and he grunted something incomprehensible. I asked the driver, but he ushered me onto the bus. I asked a nice looking woman with children, and she assured me that she, too, was going to Igoumenitso. I sighed, found my seat, and let my body relax. Luckily, the bus was very nice ("nice" generally means air conditioned in the Balkans) and nobody sat beside me so I had both seats to myself. So, I stretched out, dozed off and on again, and enjoyed the ride... It was really one of the most beautiful rides I have ever been on. We wound through mountains for most of the way, drove into and out of clouds, and on roads so narrow, in some places I wondered if we would be able to make the turn without falling off the mountain. I woke up from one last nap as we arrived in Igoumenitso... It is a pretty little town, with more travel agencies than anything else... In essence, there wouldn't be a town without the port there. I found my way to the port, reserved my spot on the ferry and paid my port taxes, and then just waited. I watched the sunset over the water and the ferries coming and going. It is just amazing how enourmous those things are... When a ferry pulled into port, the huge 16 wheeler trucks would line up and drive right in... Most ferries had at least 10 big trucks, plus all the passengers who bring their cars on board... They are just huge!! So, finally my ferry arrived, and I climbed on board. I stood on deck watching the lights of Igoumenitso get farther and farther away until finally they were just the distant impression of a twinkle. Now I was ready for some sleep. I started walking around looking for a good place to crash for the night. My best bet was a room full of chairs in rows like on a bus or plane. I walked through the room, but could not locate an empty one. Then I looked through the restaurants and dining rooms for comfortable couches to lay on... These were all taken as well as most of the floor space... There were just people everywhere... on couches, on the floor, some in sleeping bags, some with blow up floats to sleep on on the floor). >I tiptoed my way through the crowd, trying not to step on or drop my luggage on nyone. I went out to the swimming pool area on deck thinking it might be nice to sleep under the stars on a pool chair... These were full as well. There were even people sleeping out here on the cold, steel, floor. Just when I thought I was running out of options, this very handsome Greek security guard asked me if I needed a place to sleep (I think, anyways... He said something in Greek first). After we had established English as the best language for useful communication, he explained that he would show me a good place to sleep for the night. He lead me down a hall where there were actual rooms for sleeping... There were people asleep lining the hallways anywhere there was some space between the doors to the rooms. I had already walked through these corridors to no avail earlier, but I followed on. We turned a corner, and voila, there was the perfect spot... Tons of people around, so I was safe, but a nice place in the hallway where I could stretch out. And it was on the carpet too... This is a little piece of luxury, it seemed, to get to sleep on carpet, instead of cold, hard floor. I was so happy, that I laid down, put my passport and money under my shirt, and passed out until the morning.

Bari is a great little town. I had some time to kill before my train to Rome so I walked around for a while, saw some ancient churches that are now just a part of the modern landscape, walked through the downtown area... it was just beautiful. Many of the streets were only for pedestrians, and there was every type of shop you could ever want. There were trendy clothing stores, quaint locally owned shops, upscale splurges, just everything. Every few blocks I would look up to see some amazing architecture that would be the center of everything in any town in the states, but here, just fit into the landscape. There was a park and a university near the train station, so I got some fruit and crackers, and sat there and watched people pass. A woman tried to talk to me, but could not speak English. She asked me if I could speak Russian, German, French, Spanish, or Polish, and I had to reply no to each one, explaining "only English." (I really must learn another language!) I think it is only Americans that are unilingual.

So, I caught my bus to Rome, and arrived that night. The area around the train station was really sketchy, but there was some security nearby and I clutched my valuables and marched through the craziness, hopefully looking like I knew where I was going. My hostel was close to the station, and wasn't too hard to find, but I was relieved to get there.

It was amazing to sleep in an actual bed last night, and the shower was one of the most amazing showers of my life (after two days with none). So, now I am off to explore Rome... Wish me luck!!