Patras - Bari

Friday, June 16, 2023

After our last breakfast in Greece, we pack up and drive to Patras, which is only about an hour's drive. We arrive early and want to take a walk through the city, after all, Patras is the third largest city in all of Greece! Finding a parking spot turns out to be quite difficult, but eventually we find one outside the city and walk a bit. There is a lot going on in the city, something we haven't been used to in the past few weeks. Patras is very noisy and bustling. We have another frappé, go back to the camper van, and head to the port. There we check in and as it slowly approaches 4 PM, we head towards the ferry. We have to go through a checkpoint, get off the vehicle and open all the doors, then the vehicle is inspected for illegal passengers... Every vehicle! Even the containers at the port, which are brought onto the ship by a tractor, are inspected from the outside (especially underneath). Eventually, we are allowed onto the ship, this time unfortunately not at the railing, but in the second row, but that's okay... We find a spot on the deck, stare at the land, and watch as it slowly disappears from our sight during the journey. Eventually, we get hungry and have something to eat at the self-service restaurant, which tastes exceptionally good this time. And because it's so nice, we sit outside on the deck again. We pass by the mainland and small islands, and at some point, the weather changes, suddenly the sky turns dark gray, the wind gets stronger, and it starts to rain, which is not a problem since we are sitting under a small roof. The ship sways up and down, which I don't find too bad out there. However, as the storm gets stronger, we go downstairs. Already when going downstairs, we notice that the swaying in the bowels of the ship is much worse, you can hardly walk straight. Meanwhile, the storm is quite severe and the ship is lurching back and forth, and I gradually start feeling sick. Martin goes straight to bed, the swaying doesn't bother him. I try to stay sitting at first, and then I lie down too. The noise is terrible, the storm and the waves are tugging at the ferry, I'm terribly afraid and feel extremely sick. I stubbornly try to resist, but eventually my stomach gives up... It's a horrible night, although the storm subsides after a while, I hardly sleep at all...