0628 Italy

Hi - no photos today. I left my USB cable back at the apartment and it isn't like I can just dash back there to get it. I will make up for it next time.

Well - Italy! Annette and I caught the bus to the port, Gruz (groozsh) around 8:00 pm on Tuesday night and arrived in plenty of time to sit and wait. The ferry boat was HUGE like a cruise ship. We went thru passport checks and entered the ship thru the huge lower door where the cars and trucks drive thru to park for the voyage. We went up to the reception desk and it was just like a cruise ship, except not as fancy. There were restaurants and a duty free shop.

Some of the tickets they sell are deck tickets: these were people who only pay for the ride over and sleep on blankets in the hallways and common areas. There were a lot of backpackers and families with little children. One little child was even sitting on a potty chair as we passed.

We got our cabin key and were please to find a nice clean cabin with bunk beds and a little half bath. The beds were comfortable and we were asleep before the ship even left port.

We awoke to a beautiful day and a nice buffet breakfast in one of the restaurants. We disembarked around 8:00 and had no clue where to go or what to do. We just expect that Italy would be laid out at our feet; we were shocked to find ourselves in an industrial port area with no tourist information booths or anything. Most of the people knew where they were going and soon we were the only people there. We headed out in one direction for a half mile or so, but it was still highway and warehousing and a wrought iron picket fence thru which we could see the city, but not get to it.

We headed back towards the pier and bought a map, but it was in Italian and we couldn't figure out what to do. Nobody could speak English! We found one woman at a desk who looked at us as if we were crazy and told us to go out and to the left. We found a gate and entered the city, finally. Of course, it was a million degrees and sunny, just like in Croatia.

The buildings were all very old and we found ourselves wandering thru peoples back yards. They were hanging out their wash and looking at us suspiciously. We just kept going and I was about ready to scream, because being lost just FREAKS ME OUT! Just as I was about to go into hysterics, we turned a corner and we were on a lovely modern downtown street, lots of shade trees and sidewalk cafes. Whew! We sat down and had a leisurely cappuccino and I relaxed. Thank goodness for Annette.

We strolled down the street which was lined with very high end stores like Armani and Louis Vuitton. We went thru a nice park and I asked a police man where we could find tourist information. He looked at me and shrugged, not understanding. I said "Turista informazione?" and he pointed down the street and said "Terminal."

We kept going in that direction and found a big bus terminal with a little information booth. They had maps sponsored by McDonald's and it was great. There was a McDonald's at the terminal and we used that as our point of reference for the rest of the day. Also to buy cold soda with ice which is very difficult to find in Dubrovnik.

We headed for Bari s (there is supposed to be an apostrophe in there) old town which looked really interesting. When we had walked around the whole thing, we finally found the entrance. We went in and the guy says "Old town closed today. Come back tomorrow." They were doing a lot of renovation - just our luck.

So back we go to the shops. We each found Italian leather sandals that actually say "Made in Italy" for a pretty good price. We saw the same shoes in another store for 5 Euros more, so we felt good about that.

We had such a weird thing happen to us. When we had gotten that first cappuccino after finding the main street, there was a "little person" talking to the owner. He was very distinctive looking with a mullet and a basketball uniform and high top sneakers. Anyhow, later in the afternoon, we were sitting exhausted on a bench near the shops and up comes this same little person. He shoves a cup with a coin in it at us and asks us something. We said "no". He says "No??" and we said no again. He stomped away in his little sneakers and said a very rude phrase to us in perfect English! We just gaped at each other and then started to laugh.

We were able to find a place to eat lunch where they seemed to understand us. Annette had a chicken sandwich and I just pointed to one in the case and it turned out to be ham and mushroom and mayonnaise. Never had that before, but it was very tasty.

However, at supper time - every place to eat was closed! That is because our supper time, 6:00, isn't Italian supper time. The restaurants don't open until 8:00. That is when we had to be back to check in at the ferry. We found a kind of a crummy place near the old area we had walked thru earlier and had a mediocre supper. I couldn't even finish my risotto, but Annette said her pasta was good. The waitress warned us to keep our bags in our laps so nobody would steal them. Not a comfortable way to eat.

We found our way back to the ferry, thanks to Annette. She has a great sense of direction. We checked in after waiting forever in huge crowd of people. We knew that we had booked the last cabin available because of the holiday, but we didn't know that we were down in the absolute lowest level of the boat. The hostess wouldn't even show us to our cabin. She stood at the top of the stairs and pointed and said "You are down there........................"

We unlocked the door and gasped. The room was about six feet wide with narrow bunk beds and teeny pillows. We just fit into the beds. We had a wash basin only - no toilet. That was down the hall. The sound of the engine was very very loud, but at least it had a nice rhythm. We managed to sleep a bit, although we did hear an alarm and a hissing noise. Annette thought maybe the room was going to fill with water; I was convinced that the engine fumes were going to kill us while we slept.

But - we survived and had another nice breakfast before the ship docked at Dubrovnik. We were so glad to be home. It isn't our "home" home, of course, but after three weeks it has become so familiar to us that we felt so happy to have returned.

Unfortunately, we had to take the bus home, shower and dress and be back down to the harbor for a field trip. But that story is for another day.

Hope you all are enjoying your summer. It can not possibly be as hot as it is here. We had a lot of lightning and a little thunder and two seconds of rain last night, but that was it and today is blazing hot again.

Take care and stay tuned for the next chapter of "Cathy and Annette Do Dubrovnik!"