Day 13 - On the Road to Bari

Climbing up to Spello

Saturday, October 17 -- Day 13 -- On the Road Again

We had such a great time in Umbria, we seriously considered staying on and skipping Croatia, but decided to go on as planned. It’s a long drive from Assisi to Bari! Stopped at Spello, just a few km down the road. Really steep, really quaint, glad we saw it, but glad we decided to go on. Think we’ve pretty much seen Umbria.

The first couple of hours were over the mountains. There is no main highway and Charlie lost confidence in his navigator, certain that we were heading the wrong way. (Minor roads aren’t very well marked.) We stopped to ask a worker alongside the road, and he confirmed we were on the right one. You know how being together 24/7 can get to you? Well this was the day. It’s a beautiful drive, just starting to look like fall, with a little color. Had a picnic along the way. Ran into some rain, off and on all day. We hit the Adriatic coast at which point its super highway all the way, but it’s long, especially in the rain. Arriving in Bari was tense, though we found the car return without problem. But then the trouble began. We knew they’d be closed on Saturday evening, but we were told to park the car and leave the key in a lock box. The plan was to walk from there to the ferry. But there was no lock box and no place to leave the car. So much for the plan. We had to drive to the airport, for which we did not have directions, and it was poorly marked. By the time we got there we were nervous about making it back in time for the ferry. (We were off 2 hrs. in our calculations. 22:00 is not 8:00 but 10:00.) Then we had to take a cab back to the port. Tempers, tempers! Of course we had plenty of time to spare and then the ferry was delayed so we had to hang around for hours. Picture a Greyhound Terminal, filled with truckers! By now we’re asking ourselves why we didn’t fly when we learned we’d have to give up one car and get another in Croatia. Funny how plans have a life of their own. Once underway, its hard to shift gears. We had talked ferry, so ferry is what we did. I said we’d do better next time, but Charlie said “What next time?” Know he’ll feel better in a day or two.

By the time we board and get to our room (not the QE2, think train berth) it’s past midnight. Good thing we’re in separate berths. I’m sure things will look better in the daylight.

7,863 -- except for Spello, we were in the car all day