En route to Greece

We said goodbye to Ostello Dante yesterday, but I think we took a lasting reminder with us in the form of bedbugs. Emma in particular has a number of large bites, Basil and I both have a couple of them. We found a spider in our bed as we were leaving and hopefully that's all we've got. I've read that bedbugs are pretty bad and sometimes hard to get rid of. At least the bites are not bothering us.

Other than that, I can say that we all enjoyed our stay there. Walking up to it, even I was rather dubious, but it proved to be very homey and so nice to be able to spread out. The living room area was spread with large Middle Eastern pillows and wall hangings, there was a large cafeteria-style dining room and a huge gameroom with foosball and an area with toys for Basil to play, not to mention the park on one side and the grocery store on the other. All in all it was very convenient. We briefly considered staying a little longer, but as it would have meant cutting something else out, we decided to press on. We took the train into Ancona on Sunday morning. I had hoped we could visit a Catholic church in the morning (no Orthodox churches in Ravenna!) but there were none close enough for us to walk, and we left on the early side.


I am now writing from the ship en route to Greece. I have never been on such a luxury rig before. It is extremely comfortable here. We were upgraded to a 4-bunk cabin from a 2-bed one, because of the kids. The room is small, but certainly enough for us. There is a pool onboard with saltwater and a few options for meals. The cost of things is exorbitant -- I'm paying ten dollars US for an hour on the computer and our dinner last night cost 75 US for 3 orders of potatoes, 2 chicken, 1 pork, a plate of tzatziki, a salad, and 2 desserts, all taken cafeteria style. We saved over some extra chicken and the tzatziki and one dessert which I will have for lunch while the rest share a gyro. Money goes way too fast here, of course, but we have been fairly conscientious and careful about not over-spending.

Our trip on the train from Ravenna to Ancona, where we caught the boat, was much better than the ride from Rome to Ravenna. It seems by leaving earlier in the day we missed the ''Hades Express''. It was still hot, but not THAT hot. Also, handling the stairs up and down was easier, partly because it was the first of the day, and partly because we knew what to expect. You basically have to go down one level below the street to come back up on the proper track line. In the major cities they are apt to have an escalator for this journey, but in the smaller towns it is just stairs. I guess handicapped people just can't ride the trains here in the smaller towns.

After transferring in Rimini, we sat near a very nice student from America who Grandma, in particular, really enjoyed talking to. She was travelling around to spend a few weeks at various farms throughout Italy, studying food and cultivation. Her goal was to write a gluten-free Italian cookbook. Interesting thesis, in the land of the Great Carb! It was very refreshing to talk with someone who spoke our language, though!

I slept for 12 hours last night and could have stayed in bed even longer. I guess the exhaustion caught up with me. But this morning we are all feeling pretty good. Emma has made some friends here. Smiles and play are universal languages, too. It is a very international travel experience and the announcements are given in Greek, Italian, German, English, and French.

The sea around us stretches as far as you can see, a beautiful deep blue. I am not seasick, thank God, as I am prone to it.

One thing I did not mention before is that live musicians come around periodically in Italy. While we were eating dinner, and even on the subway, men came around with accordians, singing and playing, then passing a hat around for a tip. It was actually very charming. We also had people selling whatever they could carry coming around to our tables at dinner one night. This surprised me as we were not in a tourist area. It was a great experience in Italy, but I am looking forward to getting onto ''Greek soil'' as our friend Maria says.


Macrina singing off from the Aegean Blue, in a nicely air-conditioned ship.