From sea to rails

As I already wrote I was convinced to take the ferry from Durrës to Bari because one could sleep there on deck and the sky and stars in the Adria nights should be magnificent. Indeed it was - for the first 30 minutes. Then the captain ordered everybody below the deck because of a thunderstorm and heavy sea. The passengers without cabins like me were seated in a restaurant to sleep there on the floor. What a night: The ferry is such a big vessel but when a wave crashed into the side walls the whole ship was vibrating like a big drum. It was impossible to sleep because the rocking motion of the ship kicked the passengers around and some kids were screaming for fear.

Tired people in the morning after the storm.

Welcome to Bari

The ferry.

Music for the ferry by Brian Ferry ;-): Don't Stop The Dance

The plan was to stay a day in Bari and to meet Roberta and Fulvio who live there. Unfortunately it was the day after a holiday and everything, yes, really everything was closed. It was the high tourist season and the gentle lady in the tourist office tried a lot but could find a single place to stay. Very strange to walk through the empty streets of a city that is full of people but not even the McDonald's is open. I got the advice to better take the next train instead staying there because it could be that all trains were overbooked the next day. But like a few months before the people of the Italian railway tricked me again. They said that all trains to Milan were overbooked. Only first class seats for the train leaving in half an hour were available and that I had to pay a seat reservation fee. OK, I payed it and could enjoy a long ride along the scenic Adriatic coast of Italy in an almost empty train. It was by the way my first ride in a first class coach ever.
There were only 4 persons on the coach so that I left my booked place to sit on a table. When the conductor appeared he got angry that I was sitting on the wrong place. To my luck I could not understand much and he could not speak English. He must have been so ridiculous that the others in the coach were laughing about him that he left the coach ashamed and never bothered us again.

In the evening I reached one of my favorite railway stations: Milano Centrale Its architecture is quite unique. It is a massive building and appears as being too large if you stay outside. But from inside it appears light and bright. Here are three impressions: