Day 117 - 29th August, Saturday - Dubrovnik to Bari.

We were packing up to get going and had a couple more visitors to ‘Bee’s Book Exchange’, and have ended up with about 5 new books which should get us through the ferry crossings ok.
Spent the morning visiting the beautiful old town of Dubrovnik which made a really nice end to our two week tour of the country. Definitely coming back some day. Had lunch near the ferry port and that’s when the irritations began…
Firstly my meal was stone cold and had to be sent back (which I hate doing), then the children on the table of Italians in the back room started screaming at each other and their parents, who just ignored them, so they started running around… we paid and left.
We were guided into one of 7 lanes to board the ferry and then walked over to the supermarket to spend the last of our Croatian Kunas (and take advantage of their aircon). We returned to board an hour later and discovered that all 7 lanes converged into 2 with no supervision whatsoever… with 80% of the traffic being Italians, you can imagine what happened. I could visibly see steam coming out of Ants ears by the time we reached the boat – only to be told that no passengers are allowed to be in the vehicle when it drives onto the boat, only the driver. Everyone else must walk on board (through the same garage deck entrance I might add!?) So the dockside was chaos, kids, buggys, prams and passengers everywhere. We eventually got on board and found each other again, then spent until sundown out on the deck reading. Next we decided to go into the canteen for something to eat; got a tray each of food and wandered the restaurant seating area for a table. All of them were filled with people.. not eating, but playing cards, sleeping or reading. Eventually we found a table with three chairs, no people, but someone’s belongings spread on the chairs. I moved all the items onto 2 of the chairs and sat on the third. Ant pulled another chair from another table for himself and then disappeared to get some drinks. Whilst he was gone, the owners of the bags returned, a mid thirties couple and an old man. The younger guy started on me first, hollering something or other in my face, before leaning over my dinner plate and slamming his tray down opposite Ants empty seat. His girlfriend then sat down opposite me and the old man decided it was his turn to have a go. When the girlfriend realised I wasn’t going anywhere, she shushed her old man and pushed him away from me. Ant returned with the drinks and sat down. All went silent whilst we ate. I am now thankful I don’t speak Italian – the guy would have got more than the pitiful glare I gave him and I would probably have been injured. Instead, I kept my cool, ate my food, apologised for the situation and explained that we would be gone once we’d finished eating. When we did leave, I got a lowered head and hands-on-heart gesture from the guy and an offer of the table, but not the chairs, from the woman. Bloody Italians, can stick their table where they talk from.

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.

Day 116 - 28th August, Friday - Dubrovnik.

I had absolutely nothing left to read, so we arranged all our books in a pile outside the van with a sign that read ‘English Book Swap’ and disappeared off to the beach. When we came back for lunch someone had taken a Dan Brown and not left us anything in return…. So, still determined to believe there was an honest person in the camp with books to exchange, I revised my sign slightly and went back to the beach.

By the time we came back at tea time, we had two fantasy books (about the Beast of Gor!?) and a Patricia Cornwell. Not bad for a first sweep. (…Oh not forgetting of course the religious Italian Zen book Ant had allowed earlier!! lol)

Evening entertainment came in the form of the hotel next door’s cabaret coming in over the loud speakers followed by some noisy Italian hippies who were sat in a ring of candles chatting behind us until the early hours.

Day 115 - 27th August, Thursday. Dubrovnik.

Thankfully the guards simply waved us through the border check points at both ends. But when we got to Dubrovnik to buy the ferry ticket, we discovered it doesn’t go direct to Igoumenitsa as the map suggested, and that, much to our annoyance, we have to go back to Italy to get to Greece. Grrr. So we bought a place on Saturday’s evening ferry bound for Bari (The Marko Polo) and headed into Dubrovnik town to find the ‘Solitudo’ campsite. Close to the beach, full of all nationalities, (including plenty of mad Aussies) and a free wifi zone at reception.

Day 114 – 26th August, Wednesday. Makarska South through Bosnia!

We decided to head off today and find another coastal camping area to do yet more snorkelling since the water is so calm and crystal without a strand of seaweed in sight. We consulted the map and discovered that there is a stretch of Bosnian road to go through before we get to Dubrovnik, where we hope to board a ferry to Igoumenitsa in Greece. Fingers crossed we have all the necessary paperwork to get us through the border and out the other side.