It really was a very early start, dragging our luggage to the station at dawn for a departure on Monday 9 March at 0652. The lovely red Freccossaria was spot on time and we relaxed in our posh seats in Business Class! There’s a national strike in Italy today, hoping it won’t affect our journey but so far, so good as we cross the lagoon. Arrived in Bari on time at 1431, lovely comfortable, relaxing ride speeding along the Adriatic coast. Lunchtime snacks were reasonably priced and not bad at all, there was some complimentary coffee and light pastries as well. Caught up with some sketching and sorting out photos whilst watching the world go by. After a quick recce of options at Bari Centrale to get to the Port (bus or taxi) €15 in a cab seemed the obvious choice. We bought a few provisions for the boat and set off.
The taxi driver dropped us at the check-in desk for a quick, easy transaction with the Interrail discount & cabin reservation. There was a couple of hours to wait so we sat outside a friendly cafe for a light bite awaiting boarding. There was quite a long walk across the quay to board the boat and climb several decks to reach our very well-appointed 2-berth cabin. Explored the ship and settled in the bar for a Greek beer – the crew are all very friendly and helpful. So far we have failed on learning even a few basic words in Greek! Set sail on time at 1930. The crossing was calm and comfortable with bars to relax in, a comfortable night’s sleep and plenty of space on deck to watch as we passed the Greek islands to reach Patras at 1300.
There are no buses at the port so we took the €10 taxi to Patras Railway Station where you can book the replacement bus service to Kiato for a train. It’s an OAP fare €25 for two of us and we sat on the railway platform to wait for the bus! The bus replacement from Patras to Kiato is all very well organised, it’s been in place for so many years. There were some interesting rock formations before reaching Kiato where we transferred to a train.
The train from Kiato crossed the Corinth Canal – blinked and we missed it as it’s so narrow! For the last half hour into Athens the train became really busy with commuters and we weren’t sure how to decide where to get off. We’re getting a bit more used to reading station names and people are generally most helpful and kind. It seems there’s only one main railway station and, with help from the locals we disembarded – next challenge was finding our apartment.
We decided to try haggling for a taxi rather than take the metro or walk and were pleasantly surprised to be offered a fixed price of €10. Our driver clearly didn’t know where the street was but was determined to overcome Google maps route-finding, busy traffic, one way systems, roadworks and the language barrier to get us there. After a couple of false turns we persuaded him we’d walk the last 50 metres. Got the keycode, up 5 floors in an ancient lift and another flight of stairs got us here – a rooftop apartment with a view of the Acropolis from a huge private balcony!
Total journey time 36 hours: Monday, 0652 Venice – Bari by train. Ferry departs Bari 1930 arrives Patras Friday, 1300. Bus/train Patras to Athens, arrive 1700.