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The ferry from Patras to Bari was very posh and even a large proportion of the deck was under cover (well, it was a little bit like a greenhouse). We slept on some chairs/lifejacket containers nd got a brilliant nights sleep. We got ready and left the ferry when it docked, escaping through the HGV section and accidentally missing out a police check. We got a bus to the train station which I’m sure we were supposed to pay for but the opportunity didn’t seem to arise.
We then realised that one of the three trains we were going to catch today didn’t actually stop at Pompei because it only stops at weekends. So Wez consulted the ever knowledgeable train staff and planned an alternative route.
On the train we met two women, both called laura (26,27) who had seen us on the ferry and were going to the same place. THey asked to borrow our timetable and maps because they had managed to lose theirs! It then turned out that they both do Computer Science (although I wasn’t clear if they were still studying) or working in the department) and they had followedalmost exactly the same route as us in almost exactly the same time frame, they’d just taken a different ferry at one point.
It also turned out that they were going to the same place as us, Pompei. We agreed to travel together for a while and eventually got to Napoli, near to Pompei and the birth place of pizza! We met two spanish lads whom the women had met before and they joined the group. We left our luggage at the station for an incredibly expensive €3.80 (but there were armed guards protecting it).
We had decided to have a look around Napoli and travel to the hostel in Pompei in the evening. Napoli is well known as a high crime area, especially at night, but we stuck together as a group. Napoli is a dirty, rundown and bustling city. In fact, if you had shown me scenes from Napoli and Ljubljana and asked me which was in the “Eastern Block” I would definitely have chosen Napoli. The driving is the worst I’ve seen so far and the parking is hilarious! There was a man selling cameras and camcorders on a stall on the street which were very obviously stolen. We saw children running down the street with a display board full of jewellery and stray dogs everywhere. Nobody, not even Police stop at zebra crossings.
We caught the 21:50 train from Napoli to Pompei and got a room in the hostel for the six of us. We;ve just sat outside and eaten a meal consisting of food bought from supermarkets. Wez and I only had bread rolls and cheese slices but the women had vegetables and the lads had proper cheese! I was suprised to learn that shoplifting is very common in Spain.
Everyone else has gone for a quick walk into the city but I’m in the hostel and going to have a shower. Tomorrow is Pompei, then it’s off to Rome.