It rained over night and a misty drizzle was hanging around when we got out of bed. Not that it mattered greatly because today was a transit day. A big transit day. We had a 9:45am Frecciarossa from Bologna Centrale to Bari. A journey of 6 hours 15 minutes if the train is on time. Not expecting that to happen. The good news was that it was a direct trip. No change required.
There are two photos from today's travels, so I have dropped in some other random shots from this trip.
I checked our tickets and noted interesting seat numbers so, dear reader, I thought I'd check. We had tickets 1A and 1B in Coach 1. According to the Man in Seat 61, seat 1B did not exist. I went to a general Google search which confirmed there is no seat 1B. An interesting beginning to the day.
We were packed and ready to go by 9am and Jayne thought we should check at the Freccia desk. I just assumed there had been a change of trains with a different seat configuration. We were on the money but Jayne's decision to query the seats proved a winner. They had changed the scheduled train and our seats had been reallocated. A pity no-one had bothered to contact us. We were now in Coach 4 in seats 9A and 10B.
 |
| The cross at the end of the portico pilgrimage. |
While we were waiting to speak to a Freccia person, our platform moved from 6 to 4. No real issue - they do that all the time. Oh, and the train was now 10 minutes late. And the lift to the concourse was broken which meant lugging the suit cases down the stairs. But hey, it's a transit day.
Happily the lift from the concourse to Platform 4 was functioning and we found a place to wait. Soon after we were approached by an American woman to see if we were also on the 8803 and to ensure she was waiting at the right place.
The train arrived and Coach 4 was completely empty. I placed our bags in the overhead rack because we were so far from the end of the carriage where the main luggage store was situated. We made ourselves comfortable and then I looked around and realised we were not in the correct seats. In fact 9A and 10B were in a group of four seats and were facing each other at a diagonal. We spoke to an attendant who was in a rush and really didn't want to know, but said, basically, sit there and see what happens.
 |
| Ravenna. |
We couldn't leave until a connecting train arrived. Two men turned up and looked at us in our seats. It appeared that they were supposed to occupy both the seats we were in. They were unconcerned and sat in the aisle seats. Maybe, we were supposed to be across the aisle in the single seats where we first sat down. Who knows.
The train left Bologna 30 minutes late and that could only extend as the day progresses. Aside from that, it was an uneventful trip. Just very long. Even the Business Class seats on the Freccia get uncomfortable after a couple of hours. We arrived in Bari 51 minutes after the scheduled time.
Somewhere between Pescara and Bari, Jayne informed me that the person who wrote Volare was from Bari. To which I replied "oh, oh". I'm so funny. Jayne said she was glad I amused myself which is rich from someone who laughs at her own jokes before she delivers the punchline.
Anyway, Volare was written by Domenico Mudugno but I have linked the Dean Martin version. If you don't get my joke you need to listen to the song.
The lift on the platform to the corso worked. A good start. The one from the corso to the street was hit and miss. It was too hot and humid to stay in for long in the forlorn hope that it would kick into life. It was the stairs once again.
 |
| The Bologna twin towers with electricity cables removed. |
The rain that had been around us all day, held off long enough for us to walk the 20 minutes to our hotel, Mövenpick. Although we were hampered by people parking across the pedestrian footpath and crossing access. Clearly that is the best place to park - it's a thing in Bari it seems.
 |
| Ignorant cogliona. |
We can see a glimpse of the old city from our balcony, but the rest of the view is not worth reporting. More importantly, we discovered there is no Aldi, so wine will be sourced from COOP. There are worse things. Wine, chips and chocolate acquired, we were on a roll.
 |
| The bell tower of the Cathedral. |
Our welcome drinks were, well, most welcome. We opted for a local red wine, a Primitivo. The lady who served us was most generous with the pour and unlike the 'welcome drinks' at Accor in Australia, it was good quality wine.
Jayne found an osteria nearby, but I was unable to book online. After the welcome drinks in the bar, we walked the couple of blocks to turn up at 7pm when the restaurant opened. Ok people, we are in the south now, the real Italy, the crowds have gone home.
 |
| Sunrise in Lucca. |
Cool is not being the first at the door, is it? Ok. We were not cool. They were still setting up and tossed us a couple of menus to peruse while our table was sorted. This place was highly rated, and yet, there seemed to be some sort of apartheid system - some people walked straight into the second room. Not us, nor the Americans at the other table and not the Germans who spoke Italian. The United Nations were in the first room.
Whatever. The food was excellent. I had roasted octopus (cheers Gary if you're reading this) and Jayne had a delectable seafood pasta dish that would be enough for both of us any week night. The wine was Negroamaro, a tad sweet for us and I'm not sure it will be purchased again anytime soon (aside from the bottle in the stash at the hotel).
We were both grateful to see the bed after a long day, although as transit days go, once again, it was pretty smooth.
Alla prossima
