A Dude on Bike: From Barcelona to Tehran: Day 30

Day 30: My last day in Italy; From Taranto to Brindisi in Italy

May 29, 2012; Distance covered today: 62 Km; Total: 2067 Km

My Alarm clock woke me up at 7 am. I packed and left at 8:20 without having breakfast. I Stopped at a bar and had a cappuccino with two small cakes. At nine, I was on my route, a highway to Brindisi. At 12:20, I was there!! Again, I was surprised to be so fast! I wanted to get there and get the ticket to Greece—that was all I was thinking about.

I went to the tourist office and found out that there is no ferry to Greece tonight. But, the staff told me that there was a hostel in the town. I was in two minds about leaving for Bari and take a ferry there or staying in Brindisi, rest, and catch up with some blog stuff. But… I would waste a day and a half doing so. The ferry would leave at 7 tomorrow.

I was so hungry, so I decided to eat first. I think better when my stomach does not remind me all the time that I had cycled 60 km in 3 hours without breakfast. So pizzeria it was again—two big pieces. They were not very good.

I took the train at 2:10 and got to Bari at 3:30. I rushed to the port and got the ticket for 60 Euros. Well… some thoughts in retrospect. I paid about 8 Euros for the train ticket, the hostel would cost me 17 Euros, but the ferry from Brindisi would cost me only 35 Euros. Now. I guess financially, I didn’t make a good decision. But I saved one day. But when I was loading and unloading the bike on the train, I hurt my knee. It is in pain now. So should I have stayed in Brindisi or not, I don’t know.

Before I got on the ferry, I had some time so I went to buy some fruit. On my way back, in a corner of a small park on the street, I saw a lady playing with a duck. I stopped and watched her for a few seconds. Then she brought it to me and I held it. That was a beginning of a long conversation.

She was very friendly Romanian lady. When she found out about my trip, she suggested me to go to Romania.

My Romanian Friend

Then I went to the port to take the ferry. At the passport control, a policewoman asked me if it was OK to take a picture with me. I said, “yes, if YOU let me take a picture with you”. We agreed and we took pictures and wished each other well.

My Italian Friend, Stella

On the ferry, I had some time to write these notes. And as I was doing it, I realized that many of the passengers are actually Turkish truck drivers. I started a conversation with one of them and asked him about ferries to Turkey from Greece. He assured me that there are ferries from Greece to Izmir.

We talked for long about Turkey and Greece. He offered me to take me to turkey for free on his truck. When I told him about my passion and all, he said that I should go from the north and he would pick me up later on in two weeks or so. Anyways, he and his friends are very friendly and I practiced my Azeri language for the first time in a long time. The only problem: I have to sit with them and they are chain smokers. I am suffocating.