Sunday 8th May 2022 – Superfast XI, Somewhere between Greece and Italy

 

The ferry for Ancona left at 17:30 (in theory) and we had to be there at 15:30. That gave us a good part of the day to do something else. We said a fond farewell to Manolis and Toula and said that we would return soon – a promise that we would very much like to keep.
The Patras Archaeological Museum has like, it seems, most of Greece’s museums, has been given a huge makeover. It is spacious, well presented and well labelled. Unlike most Greek museums, this one has a very large proportion of Roman exhibits, as Patras was an important town in Roman times and many finds from that period have been found in the area. We spent more time in the museum than anticipated and that left little time to have the last big Greek lunch that we had planned. We decided to head for the port and then find somewhere to eat. The port office (where we had to collect the tickets) was very poorly signed and we ended up overshooting it. It took a long time to get the tickets and by then it was time to go through the security gates into the port itself ready for boarding. After a check of our garage, bathroom and wardrobe for stowaways, we drove through the gates and had absolutely no idea where to go. There were no instructions, nobody to direct us and no signs. It is not surprising that we ended up in a queue for the Bari ferry and were then told that we were in the wrong place! We finally got on board and were delighted to find that we had a view out onto the sea. Camping on Board allows you to stay in your motorhome during the 22 hour crossing. We had a very late lunch in the van and then walked up to the main decks of the ship to watch our departure from Patras. I decided to try to find out what we would be able to see from the van when we worked up in the morning. I went to reception and spoke to the woman there and the conversation went like this: Me: “Where will we be at 7 or 8 in the morning?”. Woman: “Why? Have you fallen out with your wife?”. Me: “No, we have a motorhome and are Camping on Board and would like to know what we will see from our window when we open the blinds in the morning”. Woman: “Sea”. I think that this woman will go far in her career in customer relations.

Photos: A group of Lithuanian cyclists joined us for last night and were setting off this morning; An 11^th century BC libation vessel (or feeding bottle) with three legs, the body of a duck and the head of a horse – most unusual, probably unique; The Patras museum had some very good mosaics – this one is of the dance of the three graces and dates to the 2^nd or 3^rd century BC.