Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Mediterranean Odyssey - Christmas 2012/13
Christmas! A year has gone by already and I can't stay here for the anniversary of that dreadful day so I have to get as far away as possible. After my August travels another escape is needed and this time it needs to be much more involved than last time.
Since childhood the town of Brindisi in southern Italy has always had a hypnotic call for me and I have always dreamed of catching a ferry from there and ending up somewhere in Greece. So I started to check the ferry companies but all of their web sites were terrible, very hard to navigate and my patience isn't what it once was. After several attempts to find a good one that worked properly, I noticed that every boat seemed to be going to a place called Durres - where's that I wondered. A quick Wiki check and there it was......!
Since childhood the town of Brindisi in southern Italy has always had a hypnotic call for me and I have always dreamed of catching a ferry from there and ending up somewhere in Greece. So I started to check the ferry companies but all of their web sites were terrible, very hard to navigate and my patience isn't what it once was. After several attempts to find a good one that worked properly, I noticed that every boat seemed to be going to a place called Durres - where's that I wondered. A quick Wiki check and there it was......!
Albania, now that's exactly what I was looking for. I don't want, well I cannot, erase the memories of my wife because they are wonderful things to have but they nevertheless remain a source of torment. It's something that is impossible to understand or explain but you have to find a way to deal with the it. I think that is why things in your life have to change and in addition why new memories are so important. So unusual places are paramount and somewhere extreme was needed for a certain day in January.
So, Albania was to be a destination but I couldn't stay there for two weeks so I had to find somewhere else to go, somewhere near. Montenegro? No, after hours of fruitless investigating my enthusiasm for the place began to wane; it was clearly difficult and expensive so I noticed or remembered that Ryannair flew to Malta quite cheaply. So why not start in Malta and work Eastwards. So began my own little Odyssey.
Stage One - Malta
Wow, this is some strange place. Nobody checking passports and everyone from the plane seemed to disappear. Wandered outside and there is a bus marked Valletta and the strangeness continued for I was the only person from the plane to catch that bus and it waited some 20 minutes before leaving. I discovered later that most people don't stay in Valletta, they go instead to Sliema where there is more life. Well, what the hell, I'll have the capital to myself.
And the quirkyness continued. English Arriva buses driving on the left and everyone understanding English but then talking to their neighbour in a strange Arabic sounding language. And bars run by Italians selling Italian coffee who talk to you in perfect English. Catholic churches where the mass is said in the local Arabic sounding language, which really was very odd. The place is such a mixture; it doesn't seem to know what it is.
And the quirkyness continued. English Arriva buses driving on the left and everyone understanding English but then talking to their neighbour in a strange Arabic sounding language. And bars run by Italians selling Italian coffee who talk to you in perfect English. Catholic churches where the mass is said in the local Arabic sounding language, which really was very odd. The place is such a mixture; it doesn't seem to know what it is.
And walking round in the evening, I have never been to a place with seemingly so many levels as Valletta. Stairs everywhere both up and down, steep streets in every direction, bridges to other streets and after dark when everyone had disappeared I rounded a corner and there was a hundred people queueing up for something. What was it they were waiting for? Of course with all these different levels to negotiate they had build an enormous glass-fronted lift going up at least 100 metres. But going where? I was still getting my bearings but it seemed to be going to where I had just come from, the garden near my hotel. And on later investigation that's exactly where it were - to a garden overlooking the port......
And overall Malta its very pleasant, with loads of history because of the Knights of St John fighting the Turks during the famous siege in 1565, this mixture of English and Arab and Italian, cute little boat trips all around the harbours and inlets, and I'm pleased I stayed in Valletta; Sliema where everyone seems to go could be anywhere on the planet with it's bars and shops whereas the capital is rich in history and the people are nice and friendly.
Stage Two - Sicily
Stage Two - Sicily
Early morning (06:00) ferry to Sicilia, and any lingering doubts about the whereabouts of the car hire place were soon dispelled when I noticed the shed at the end of the pier and without really trying I somehow got to the desk first. Not a bad thing to happen as half the boat had elected to rent a car and when I left there were a dozen people waiting. The roads were at bit strange at first but I was enjoying my cheap little Fiat Panda and I had time for a quick detour to Nola. A quaint little town with a nice church but I failed to see what all the fuss was about until I popped in for a coffee and tried one of the chocolate croissants. Wow.
After that Syracuse soon appeared. In the evening I wandered about trying to imagine Archimedes fighting against the Romans back in 200BC ??
The hotel was very nice on the island at the end of town and easy to find. The island's called Ortygia and is charming with loads of narrow lanes and squares and loads of restaurants. The following day I decided to drive to the Valley of the Temples at Agrigento. It seemed to be quite close but the roads here are appalling, slow and bendy with lots of towns. It took 4 hours to get there and the same getting back so a very tiring day and I only had a quick coffee break in Agrigento to recover myself before starting back. I did see the Temples as I passed but didn't stop.
The next day I was supposed to see the Roman Amphitheatre and after all of the driving yesterday I decided to walk there. A big mistake because I couldn't find it and it's way out of town, although judging from the pictures it's not such a great sight.
After that Syracuse soon appeared. In the evening I wandered about trying to imagine Archimedes fighting against the Romans back in 200BC ??
The hotel was very nice on the island at the end of town and easy to find. The island's called Ortygia and is charming with loads of narrow lanes and squares and loads of restaurants. The following day I decided to drive to the Valley of the Temples at Agrigento. It seemed to be quite close but the roads here are appalling, slow and bendy with lots of towns. It took 4 hours to get there and the same getting back so a very tiring day and I only had a quick coffee break in Agrigento to recover myself before starting back. I did see the Temples as I passed but didn't stop.
The next day I was supposed to see the Roman Amphitheatre and after all of the driving yesterday I decided to walk there. A big mistake because I couldn't find it and it's way out of town, although judging from the pictures it's not such a great sight.
Stage Three - Italy
After just three days in Syracuse, on December 31st in fact, I began the long trip to Lecce in the boot of Italy via an overnight stop at a hilltop town - Altomonte - commended by Simona'a Calabrian friend. I passed Etna during the morning and very impressive it is too with a long plume of smoke trailing for miles. And everywhere else seems fairly flat until this enormous mountain appears. So on past that pretty spot that Rocio had told me about - Taormina - but no time to stop because I had a ferry to catch. Or maybe not, as when I arrived in Messina there were plenty of boats tied up but somehow not one that looked like a car ferry. Pulling up confused in mid-dock I saw a very marine bloke with big whickers and a red face heading inmy direction. Before he could ask me the obvious question I couldn't understand, I shouted out "A Italia" in my best Italian/Spanish...
It seemed to work for he made me know (somehow) that there was not another ferry for a couple of hours, so I parked up and headed for the ticket office The place was empty but I knew the price was about 35E so without delay I headed for the man behind the glass window. After telling me it was 35E or similar he gave me a ticket saying 65E. But why does it say 65? Oh, don't worry about that he assured me and taking my card charged me 35E. Well, this is Italy I told myself.
And a couple or three hours later and a short ferry trip I was in Italy proper. The boot of Italy is big and it took me all afternoon and evening before I got near the place. A last stop for food in a filling station, because I had the idea that later on everywhere would be closed, I and I was befriended by the waitress who wished me happy new year with a kiss, or is my memory playing tricks on me? Did she know that she reminded me of Alex? Perhaps not.
Altomonte is very nice and I had a huge palace to myself although most of it was off limits. Complications because the owners of Italian B&B's usualy live elsewhere and leave a phone number to ring. So at close to 11 I'm wandering around the small hilly town looking for a phone box. I was getting a bit tired and anxious by now and the guy in a bar preparing for his party seemed to take pity on me and although they had no phone pointed out that there was one in the car park outside. Relief there then. And tucked up in bed before midnight ignoring the celebrations, I wasn't really too upset when the little bar right below my room that I assumed seemed looked very dead was far from it with a noisy New Year party until 4 o'clock.And a couple or three hours later and a short ferry trip I was in Italy proper. The boot of Italy is big and it took me all afternoon and evening before I got near the place. A last stop for food in a filling station, because I had the idea that later on everywhere would be closed, I and I was befriended by the waitress who wished me happy new year with a kiss, or is my memory playing tricks on me? Did she know that she reminded me of Alex? Perhaps not.
Off to Leece then on the 1st of the year and of course the roads are very quiet. Good job I stopped last night for petrol as there's none available today (except for the refinery at Taranto). Lecce seems a nice place with lanes and several bookshops although my attempts to cash a Travellers Cheque, to top up my cash, were proved futile.
Stage Four - Albania
Dumped the car in Bari after the short drive from Lecce and walked down to the port. Italian procedures caught me out again, even though I had asked at the Information desk if I needed to do anything else. Well, yes you do. After finally reaching the head of the queue and handing over my ticket for inspection he guy told me I needed a Boarding Pass and pointed to the front door of the terminal.
At this point, after hanging around there for a couple of hours, I did get a tiny bit anxious I must admit for I hadn't seen anywhere that would suit the job. But there waiting patiently outside the Terminal door was a minibus and I don't know how but I guessed it was going to take me to the right place. A short drive to the other side of the port......and there was a bright new building with people just waiting and eager to provide the missing paperwork. Why it's miles from the boat Terminal don't ask. So back in the minibus and now at least there's no queue of bored Albanians only a copper asking me why I was going to Albania. I had to think for a second and as he was pushed for time he suggested that maybe I wa going Shopping. Yeh, thats the reason....
It's an overnight ferry 2300 something to 0700ish and I had a couchette seat in the TV lounge.
