Day 118 - 30th August, Sunday - Bari to Igoumenitsa.

Finally got off the boat about 11:30pm last night (after having been subjected to over an hour of incessant screaming from the very same Italian children from the restaurant) and drove to a carpark next to the sports stadium to sleep. Woke at 6am to a car boot sale being set up around us. Went for a wander looking for fold up bikes and a UK plug adaptor – and came back with a new handbag and an Italian furniture sellers business card.
Our ferry to Greece wasn’t until 6pm, so we drove along the coast and found a resort / camping / holiday park place where they said we could park up and use the facilities for the day for a fee. Bari didn’t look like the kind of town we wanted to visit, and to be honest we had had enough of loud, badly-behaved Italians, so we paid the fee, parked up, had some lunch, and went to sit by the pool.
I wish I had continued to sit by the pool, but I got too hot and went to get in for a swim. I had read the signs, walked through the shower area, (compulsory prior to entering the pool) and got in, as soon as I launched off across the pool, I heard the lifeguards whistle and turned to look, to my horror he was motioning with his finger for me to go over to him. I felt like a naughty child and looked round, as one does, hoping he was talking to someone else, but nope… it was me alright. Turns out a swimming cap must be worn in the pool at all times. Suitably ticked off in front of the entire pool, I took the mature approach and disappeared back to the van in tears. I had had enough. I had really tried to like Italians too. I spent the day hiding out in reception on the internet trying to find a route to Cyprus. Turns out the four companies who all used to run ferries from Greece to Cyprus have had to suspend their services “due to reasons beyond our control”. This is not good, we will have to drive through Turkey afterall.