Day 12 Foggia

By the time we got home we were all physically exhausted.  Driving at night with limited lighting for over 2 1/2 hours was painful.  I felt bad because in the morning, my friend's boyfriend left out late for work.  I wish this didn't happen to us, but it did.  There's nothing we could do about it now.
My train for Rome was leaving around 5:45pm.  I would be arriving at 10:35pm and then jump on another train that would take me to Fiumicino airport at 10:45pm.  Not much of a window for time, but it had to happen.  Last year I got stuck at the train station overnight before they resumed service in the morning.  This year it was going to be different.  I had to be on it.
Me and my friend enjoyed our late breakfast.  I started to get emotional again, like I always do right before I leave any vacation.  One of the reasons was I felt I didn't have enough time with my friend.   We were having fun night before we left Lecce despite our lock out situation.  I really wished she had met me in Greece.
For lunch we decided to go big since I was going to be on a 5 hour train ride.  We were going to meet up another friend who also lives in her town, and who happens to have lived in New York for some time.  It was nice meeting her and we all had some good laughs.  We headed to Teanum Wine Bar in Foggia and I can definitely say we were pretty loud at the table.  At this point, who cares?  We wanted to be ourselves for once, and yes, we were in another country, but it didn't stop us from making memories that day.  I'm glad my friend found someone who she could relate to.

Seafood pasta!  I cleaned off my plate!  SO GOOD!!!!

Octopus

Rich chocolate cake

I ordered a pasta dish and devoured every last bite of it!  I knew I wouldn't taste food like this again for quite sometime.  For dessert we had a chocolate cake that was rich and delicious!  We had wine and ate like kings.  My friends decided we should go to the train station early just in case.  And sure enough, my world came crashing down.  In one instant.
The lady behind the ticket booth gave us the hardest time.  I had my receipt of my train ticket transaction, but not an actual ticket.  That is why we went up to her in the first place.  Right before you board your train, you have to stamp your boarding ticket in a machine.  Once you're on the train, the train conductor will come by and ask for your stamped ticket.
According to the lady behind the counter, she did not know what we were showing her, and insisted I must have gotten something else for a confirmation.  She did not recognize any information on my receipt (which was in English).  Mind you, we were in Southern Italy where they do not speak English at all (along with other languages like Spanish).  Only Italian.  Even though my friends spoke Italian to her, the lady claims she did not "see" a confirmation number, therefore, she was not able to print a ticket out for me.  I even pulled up my transaction off my email from my iphone, but she still didn't recognize anything.  We tried to persuade her to type in whatever numbers were displayed off my receipt, but she kept repeating over and over again that she did not see a confirmation.  I started to panic.
My nerves were getting to me and I had to rush to the bathroom.  I was in there a while and my friends went in to check up on me.  I was nervous about getting on the train, mostly because I knew I wouldn't be able to speak to the conductor in Italian.  I didn't want to cause a scene.  My friend asked if I had enough cash on me to purchase a ticket en route.  "They will not kick you off the train if you do not have a ticket.  You can buy one right there."  That made me feel a little bit better, but I was so nervous.  I wish I wouldn't overreact like this.  I wanted them desperately to come with me, but I knew I had to face this hurdle on my own. 
My friends waited until the train arrived.  There was some confusion at first because they made an announcement prior to its arrival that the train leaving for Rome would be coming in from another platform.  These are the things that can happen at a moment's notice.  It's all a part of traveling and I am grateful my friends waited with me to help me out.
I said my good byes and got on board.  I waited for the conductor to come around to me.  Once he got to my turn I tried to explain to him with my little Italian that I purchased my ticket on-line.  I showed him my printed receipt and my transaction off my iphone.  He kept looking over the information and then tried entering whatever numbers were displayed.  Sure enough, my name came up.  He said, "Ok" and off he went.  I was relieved but sad that I had to leave Foggia having a panic attack.  I wish I left in better terms with my friends instead of having them try to calm me down.  My anxieties were all over the place on this trip.  I hate getting like this.
I caught my train and got to the airport in no time.  The reason I like to break night at the airport instead of getting a hotel room is because I want to be able to sleep on flight.  I absolutely hate flying and because of all the flights I took on this vacation in particular, I didn't mind staying up.  It is what it is.  I know I can't let my anxiety run my life, so I make the necessary adjustments I can to do what I want to do.  It's frustrating sometimes but if I didn't figure out other ways to live with anxiety, what else could I do?  You manage what you can and move on to the next challenge...

Bff

Day 11 Locked Out in Lecce

Me and my friend had trouble sleeping that night.  Our hotel room had no air conditioning.  Not to mention, we had a window we left slightly opened but it did not help whatsoever.  Our room was facing the hotel patio and we were too worried someone might sneak in.  We kept spraying rose water all over our face.  We somehow managed to knock out in the end.  That was short lived considering our all-you-can-eat-breakfast-buffet was over by 10am.  We quickly made our way to the patio where we joined other residents of the hotel.  I was pretty much out of it at the table.  I knew we had to checkout at 11am, but first let me wake up.  lol.  I didn't take advantage of the pastries because I was focusing on trying to stay awake.  I knew in the back of my mind we had to pack our things.



Shabby chic!

Had our breakfast outside but the food was setup in here.

Sure enough, like clock work, the housekeeper made her way to our room.  We excused ourselves and continued packing away.  It felt so silly to be rushed like that, but she reminded us that she had to get the room ready for other guests coming in that afternoon.  Afterwards, we walked over to talk to the concierge about the parking situation, but no one was there.  Now what?  We figured we'll take our luggage to the car and write down the plate number from our rental.  When we got back to the hotel, the door was locked, of course.  We didn't know what was going on, so we called up the number listed off Booking.com and someone answered.  My friend explained that the concierge was going to help us in case we got a ticket from where we had parked last night, and then someone buzzed us in.

Despite no air conditioning, I still enjoyed our stay at Pazlazzo Zacheo...

Another lady was walking down to talk to us.  She took the information and said she would let the concierge know once she gets back.  We asked if there was a nearby beach we could go to with sand.  My feet were done from walking on rocks.  lol.  Luckily she gave us directions to one that was 20 minutes away and off we went.  Gallipoli was still pretty quiet around 12pm and we figured we'll check out the beach area.  We knew we had a lot to discover in this town!
We found the beach with no problem.  There was a field lot off the side of the road where a bunch of cars were parking.  We knew we were close by.  We changed in the car into our bikinis and cover ups and started to walk into the field.  We found a wooded area but could hear the sound of the sea up ahead.  Sure enough, the beach was hidden, but we also discovered we were the only women here.  I was surprised we walked in on a gay beach, especially in Italy.  We found a good spot to lay on and got comfortable.  I quickly knocked out since I didn't have much sleep.  It was very relaxing.
At one point my friend was getting too hot and wanted to go out into the water.  I woke up and followed her out there, but since she had her special scuba shoes, I stayed behind.  The rocks in the water were too slippery for me.  I noticed that the men were pretty reserved with another.  They kept their distance a bit when they were among friends.  Me and my friend stayed on the beach for hours, and it wasn't until later on that they got comfortable with one another. 

Turquoise waters at Gallipoli!

Trying to even out my tan!

I started to get thirsty.  We noticed a beach bar up ahead and decided to check it out.  I wasn't sure if it was a private beach bar since there weren't many people there, but they seated us once we walked in.  G Beach Bar had gold trimmings and plenty of lounge seating as well as a dj booth and sound system.  I could tell they throw parties out there, but since it was still pretty early, we enjoyed our spumante and people watched.  Little by little more people started to show up.  I was amazed how quickly it got packed.  I didn't want to leave our spot since now the crowd was getting bigger and better.  We hung out some more until we decided to head back to the beach.  We wanted to work on our tans.

G Beach Bar

CHEERS!

It was now later in the afternoon and we laid out a bit longer.  We started to get hungry.  We didn't know what to do next.  Our options were to either stay in Gallipoli one more day or drive out to Lecce which was back towards home.  Leave it to us Chicagoans to get FOMO out in Italy!  lol.  We drove out to Lecce instead.
The drive was an hour long.  We were getting our second wind again.  Lecce is another touristic town with retail and boutiques, and we were in the mood to shop!  We had trouble finding parking  because of the traffic again.  Once we drove into a lot, we weren't sure if it was ok for us to park or not.  It didn't matter because the inevitable happened.  My friend broke the key off the rental car.  UGH!!!  To make matters worse, it wasn't the key to the car.  Due to the high theft rate in the southern part of Italy, some manufactures install a steering wheel lock to further prevent cars being stolen.  My friend broke off the key to the steering wheel, but luckily she managed to pull it out of the lock.  We grew worried because we still were uncertain if we could leave the car in that lot.  We noticed people parked nearby and would walk up to the machine to pay for parking, but it looks like it was out of order.  They would end up driving off.  We didn't know what to do. 
It was now Friday night, early evening.  We noticed a couple of policemen nearby and ran up to them for advice.  I could see that the cop knew we were in a big jam.  He called up a locksmith and talked to someone about what had happened.  Once he got off the phone he told my friend that the locksmith said they wouldn't be able to help but told us the directions to his shop in case we wanted to stop over there ourselves.  We knew we had to do something, so we ran to find the locksmith.  Along the way we found a hardware store, and stopped to ask if they could help, but no such luck.  It was getting frustrating for us.  To make matters worse, my friend's phone was low on battery life.
We eventually found the locksmith's shop but he told us there was nothing he could do.  He told us that he had told the cops that we were out of luck.  I asked him who would have such a key and he said either the manufacturer of the car or the car shop would have the spare.  My friend was hoping we wouldn't have to use them as a last resort since technically we were still 3 hours away from home.  She had no choice but to call them up herself.
I could hear her frustration talking to the car shop owner on the phone.  They didn't quite understand what had happened.  I was amazed this was the first time anyone ever heard of this problem, much yet a car shop.  She even took pictures off her phone and sent them to the owner so he could "see" what she was talking about.  Apparently they were under the impression she must have did something in order for the key to break off like that.  She explained over and over again that all she did was turn the key.  I couldn't help but question why they were giving her such a hard time.  Eventually, he explained that he does, indeed have a spare to the lock in the sterling wheel.  It was a nerve wrecking.  Now the question is, how can we get the key if we're 3 hours away?
Unfortunately, her boyfriend was with his father at the dentist.  He wasn't sure if he would be able to pick up the spare before they close the shop.  Me and my friend were stuck at the moment.  We were put on hold until we figured out what we could do. 
We went to a café where my friend could charge up her phone.  It was now past 6pm and we were stuck, literally.  We were still nervous about the fact that the car was at a lot where the meter box was broken.  All we needed was a ticket on top of all of this.  My friend looked at train schedules in case her boyfriend had to jump on one in a moment's notice.  There was one at 7:50pm that would be perfect.  We waited until she called up her boyfriend to see if he got to the car shop on time to grab the key.  He couldn't talk at the moment, but she quickly told him the train schedules.  He was using his assistant's car to drive his dad to and from the dentist.
We tried contacting him once more and this time he said he couldn't talk because he was jumping on the train.  We couldn't help but ask if he got the spare key (hey you never know), but low and behold, he had it!  That brought a sign of relief.  We decided we now know we have 2 hours to kill, so let's go eat!

Lecce at night...

We walked around Lecce's main plaza.  It was now 8pm and we were window shopping and trying to figure out which restaurant we should try out.  My friend has a theory that if a restaurant looks packed, they must have good food.  Since there were so many restaurants to choose from, we knew we wanted to sit at one that was busy.  The problem was, no one was budging from their seat.  It was now Friday night and people were enjoying their evening.  Me and my friend settled next to a restaurant that had available seating right away.  We were hungry and never really ate anything else besides breakfast.  My friend was on the look out for the restaurant next to us since it was packed.  I ordered a risotto with potatoes and it was delish.  She ordered a salad and wasn't too pleased with it.  You see?  She proved her theory once again..
 

We finished up our meal and then walked over to the packed restaurant.  We figured we'll have some wine and wait for her boyfriend to arrive.  A group of good looking men sat nearby and were speaking Italian.  My friend of course, understood everything they were saying, and at one point, one of the men were egging on another friend to introduce himself to me.  Of course, her boyfriend called at that very moment to let us know he would be arriving in 10 minutes.  We quickly got the bill and ran out of there.  I felt bad not being able to give this guy a chance, but her boyfriend rode a 2 hour train ride to help us out.  It is what it is.  I figured it would be better to leave in a hurry before the guy had the nerves to come up to me.  At least we shared a glance!  

Feeling magical in Lecce!  Too bad we were going through an ordeal but we tried to have fun despite what was going on.

We got a little lost finding the train station in Lecce, plus the area wasn't so great so we were very nervous.  Luckily we found it in time before her boyfriend arrived.  We quickly ran up to him like he was some sort of a super hero!  The past few hours were frustrating and we just wanted to go home.  We made our way back to the car, but now it was 11pm.  More people were out, especially teenagers.  It took us a while to find the car because we were going in circles for a bit.  Now the time has come for us to try the spare key!  We were nervous at the moment because we didn't know what to expect.  Her boyfriend was behind the wheel and noticed right away how difficult it was to put in the key.  Luckily he unlocked the steering wheel but when he tried the car key we were screwed once again.  The battery was dead.  It was awkward because he knew right away that my friend had tried charging her phone in the car.  We insisted that she barely charged her phone for 30 minutes while we were waiting on him.  What else was she suppose to do?
He jumped out of the car and went up to people who were getting into their cars at the parking lot.  He asked if anyone could help him jump his car.  One of the men suggested pushing the car to get the engine going.  Me and my friend along with 2 other men started to push the car as hard as we could so it would start moving fast.  Luckily the car turned on and me and my friend jumped in like stuntmen!  We did it!!  NOW let's go home once and for all!
       

Day 10 Gallipoli

We messed up.  Because we had a long day we ended up oversleeping.  That was definitely not the plan.  I packed up my suitcase because we were not sure how long we would be out on the road.  I had a train ticket to leave Foggia on Saturday for Rome, but we weren't sure if we were going to head up north.  If we were, she was going to drop me off in Rome herself.  I was excited for our road trip.  I didn't know what to expect.  We quickly had our coffee and made our way to the auto shop.  We crossed our fingers when we walked in.  The problem with not being able to get a car to rent was the fact that most Europeans were still on vacation.  They were not returning them in time, and kept holding on to their vehicles.  Low and behold they had a car for us, but they still had to run a maintenance check on it.  We were told to come back after 3pm and we should be all set to go.
What did we do in the meantime?  We went for gelato of course!  I was craving it real bad.  We went to our usual parlor in town and treated ourselves to our delight.  I ordered a double scooped fig gelato!  It was delish!!

THE BEST!

So many flavors!

When we  went back again to the auto shop, we  FINALLY got our car!  By now it was close to 4pm.  My friend decided to go south again.  We felt it was late in the day and figured we would enjoy more of the night life in the south.  After a 4 hour drive we made it.  Of course, we were pulling into Gallipoli when everyone was getting off from work.  The traffic was coming from everywhere.  It took us about an hour to find parking.  Back at the auto shop we made reservations at a hotel.  Looking for that took us another 40 minutes.  We were frustrated, hungry, hot because of the humidity, and nervous lugging our suitcases around in such a massive crowd.  There were so many people around us!  We had trouble trying to get through.  We were going in circles.  Eventually, we asked someone who gave us the right directions and sure enough, walked right into it!  We were so relieved.  The bad news was we might have parked in an area that might give us a ticket.  The concierge told us to make sure we give her the plate number of the rental.  She was going to find a way to take care of it for us if we did get one.
We made our way to our room.  It was beautiful!  We had the patio to ourselves.  I was curious to see who else was staying with us at our hotel.  The bad news was our room had no air conditioner.  We both took turns taking a shower to cool off.  I got my second wind and was feeling pretty excited to checkout Gallipoli at night.



Changed into a tunic dress with my converse.  I wanted to be comfortable, and since we were in a new town, wore my fanny pack as well.

We were starving at this time.  We walked down to the fish market.  There was so much going on.  It was overwhelming.  A lot of people knew right away that we were tourists and were trying to get us to come to their restaurant.  We settled on a place and my friend went over to see what they had.  She was in charge of the menu, so I trusted her selection. 

We finally got our meal and we devoured it.  As usual, we ordered la fruta di mare (fruits of the sea).  I do enjoy fresh seafood, and the scampi were huge!  We were very satisfied with our meal.  Afterwards, we went for a stroll around il centro.  By now a lot of the shops were closing up.  We heard music up ahead and found a dj playing house music outside of a restaurant.  Everyone was sitting outside at the patio listening.  Again, I was surprised no one was dancing because he was very good.  I still feel Italians are pretty reserved, but at least a group of little kids were dancing for him.  It was too cute!

So many restaurants to choose from!  I was surprised how many people were out on a Thursday night...

We ordered a glass of spumante and then afterwards walked around some more.  We were tired after a long day of driving.  We figured we'll get up in the morning for check out and then experience Gallipoli in the daytime.  After that who knows?  Anything was possible!

Day 9 Baia Delle Zagare

I slept hard until the morning.  I heard my friend getting ready downstairs.  She was putting her beach bag together.  I quickly got up.  I knew we were going to head to the auto shop to see if they would  have a rental waiting for us.  She has been checking since I originally landed in Greece and they kept telling her for sure they would have it by the weekend.  Now it's Wednesday.  She wanted to drive out to the northern regions.  So far, every time I have come to visit her, we've only drove to the southern cities. 
We had a light breakfast and made our way to the auto shop.  Italians are known to take their time.  They do not rush.  Although there were some customers ahead of us, we waited patiently for our turn.  Of course, all of that waiting did no good.  We were still left without a car.  Not to mention, they took a moment to look at her boyfriend's car and confirm the clutch (along with some minor issues) were kaput.  She did not want to leave the car there without discussing the details with her boyfriend.  For now, she wanted to see what her driving options were.  The repairman advised her to drive the car at her own risk, and that's what we decided to do.  My friend could drive either 1st or 3rd shift, but 2nd shift is where the clutch would get stuck.  I trusted my friend that she felt she would be fine.  We prayed and off we went.
My friend decided we would try to reach Baia Delle Zagare once again.  Last year we drove out to Mattinata but couldn't find it.  We gave up after an hour.  This time, I had written down the coordinates from the resort's website and we entered the info on the GPS.  Driving to Mattinata wasn't so bad.  Only an hour away.  It was when we were driving up and down the cliff where things got tricky.  Because she couldn't get into 2nd gear, we had no choice but to drive super slow a couple of times.  That lead to a back up real quick, which was nerve wrecking considering we were driving on a cliff.  Even if cars wanted to pass us up, they couldn't because it was a single lane road.  YIKES!  Luckily that did not last long and eventually we found our exit.  Driving steep down was just as scary, but my friend is a pro by now with stick shift. 
We made our way down the steep and found a group of staff finishing up a conversation with the police.  Once they drove off, we went up to them and asked if we could go to the beach.  We weren't sure if it was a private beach or not.  They gave us directions to where to park the car and we stayed silent about being patrons of the hotel.  lol.  I'm pretty sure they knew we weren't locals.
Lugging our beach bags around wasn't easy.  The parking lot was a good 10 minute walk to the hotel.  From there we found the signs leading up to the beach.  There was a public bathroom by the elevator that leads you down to la spiaggia.  We changed into our swimsuits there. 
The view alone was amazing.  I couldn't help take pictures of the resort.  I secretly wondered what type of guests made it out here.  There was a lot of space for parties and weddings.  The lawn area was spacious overlooking the woods.  There were canopy lounges located on site. 
We rode down the elevator and walked up to a staff member and asked for two umbrellas.  He charged us 30 euros and then lead us to our spot.  The beach was small but luckily there were not many people there.  I have to get use to the quietness of Italy.  I'm used to some type of music being played, but here in Italy, I immediately notice the silence.  I'm drawing a conclusion they just don't like loud music.

2nd attempt trying to find this place but we did it!!

Gotta love the selfie stick! 

Eventually, the barista on site turned on the speakers and we listened to dance pop (but at a low volume).  Me and my friend couldn't help but yap out loud, which is more than what the others on site were doing.  Couples were either reading to themselves or resting.  We were the only ones laughing.
Most of the beaches in Italy don't have sand.  They have rocks, which is hard sometimes to walk on.  Not only do the rocks hurt my feet, but in the sea, they are pretty slippery.  After a while of laying out we decided to dip in the water.  The  faraglione up ahead was occupied by some young daring swimmers.  They would climb up and dive off.  They put on quite a show for us.  I was jealous of them.

I wish I could be fearless like they are.  Some of them were boys, not men!

We stayed in the water for some time.  Once we laid out again, we grew restless and went by the bar for a drink.  Since my friend does not like to be out in the sun too long, we laid out a little bit longer and then it was time to go.  They had outside showers to rinse off the salt.  We took advantage by using some hotel soaps I had brought along and we did a quick rinse down.  We were planning on staying out so this was the only way we could freshen up.  The water from the shower was cold, so we hurried up.  We made our way back to the public restroom and changed into our dresses for the evening.  My friend wore a while lace maxi dress.  I decided to change later and focus on doing my makeup in the car.  Off we went to Trani!
An hour later we arrived, but because people were getting off from work, there was so much traffic.  It took us a while to find parking, too.  I quickly changed in the car and we took a stroll in il centro to see what we should do.  It was still too early to have dinner.  The clouds looked suspicious, but luckily we only got a drizzle.  We found an adorable bistro that was showcasing art and sat outside the patio area.  I ordered a spumante.  We played around with snap chat filters until it was time to head to the restaurant.  We didn't want our hair to get frizzy.  lol.
We chose Corteinfiore restaurant because it's one of the highest rated in Trani.  I'm always down for seafood, especially in Italy, so I knew we were in for a treat.  Again, we were probably the most talkative in the whole restaurant.  I joked to my friend why everyone around us was so quite, but she informed me that Italians take their food very serious.  There isn't much socializing.  Me and my friend couldn't help getting talkative once the wine started to pour!  We tried to tone it down but it was hard.  We were too busy enjoying our night.  We laughed.  We cried.  We discussed our deepest secrets.  I've missed her so much. 
After dinner it was time for a stroll.  We didn't want to stay out too late.  Some roads are pretty dark with limited lighting.  We went back home in hopes of getting a rental for tomorrow. 

Getting to Trani in time for the sunset...

A glass of spumante before we head to dinner...



Day 8 Booking Nightmare

We landed and I knew my flight for Turkey would leave at 6am.  I relaxed for a bit and took advantage of the free wifi while I waited.  I did something I should have not done which was to search "Turkey" on twitter.  I find twitter is more helpful than the news media, but in this case, the information I was pulling up was frightening.  Just 5 days earlier there were shootings at the left wing of the airport at Turkey.  I kept coming across scary acts of violence in Turkey and that triggered my anxiety again.  I messaged two of my friends who have been at the airport in Turkey and asked for their opinion on the airport.  One of my friends told me they had a nice café upstairs and to have some tea to relax.  I was so nervous, but part of me felt I didn't know what to believe anymore.
Hours passed and then my flight was ready for takeoff.  Since I broke night, I was praying I would sleep on the flight.  From Athens to Turkey it was a less than 2 hours.  I was deliriously tired, and knocked out for 20 minutes, but then we landed. 
I was dizzy because of the melatonin I took and the lack of sleep I had experienced.  I just followed the crowd off the plane and made my way to the gate.  A bus took us to our gate and then we went through security again.  I found an available seat to wait for my next flight.  This layover was 3 hours long, but even though I tried to rest, it was hard because of how busy it was in there.  After looking around the area, I was mad at myself for getting so worked up over nothing.  Turkey airport is an international airport with people from all over the world.  Even though it has suffered from the hands of terrorism, the fact that you're surrounded by so many people made me feel safer.  Sometimes I think this stems from living in Chicago.  The saying goes, it's when you're alone when something might happen to you.
I couldn't connect with the wifi there, but I was hoping my friend in Italy got my message on what time I would be landing in Bari.  It was finally time to board, and off we went.  As usual, just like clock work, my anxiety snuck up right before take off.  So far all of my flights were smooth sailing.  I wish I had more faith that things would be ok.
An Italian lady sat next to me and was nice to me.  She couldn't speak English but luckily I understood her since I've been trying to learn Italian myself.  She was sweet.  I was finally looking forward to Italy.
We landed and I was worn out from my anxieties.  I was looking forward to seeing my friend and knowing I wouldn't have to get back on a plane till Sunday.  What a relief!  The security took a while to get through at Bari.  After we retrieved our luggage we still had to go back in line and go through an x-ray machine to check our bags.  The military presence was intense!  The surrounded us while we waited for clearance.  It dawned on me that they were probably singling us out since our flight was from Turkey. 
My friend kept calling me.  I was so happy to see her number, but I couldn't pick up because I was still trying to get out of the airport.  Once I was outside I called her and saw her parked ahead.  I must have ran up to her like crazy.  FINALLY I'm here!  FINALLY I'm with her!  What an ordeal!!
We yapped about my travel experience coming to Bari.  It was now 3pm and we decided to go grab some lunch.  We had so much catching up to do.  I told her they fed us on the plane and it was a short flight.  I was not very hungry and if anything, I would eat something light.  She suggested Alba Chiara for sea urchins since they were in season. 
It was SUPER hot in Italy.  I had my jeans on since that's what I normally wear on planes.  I quickly changed into my shorts and we were seated by the sea.  I missed her so much.  I felt bad that I was out of it again, but I did not want to end our day because of my lack of sleep.  The urchins were perfect, but the white wine was doing a number on me.  We decided to  run some errands to try to keep me up.
We ended up at Ikea.  lol.  It was a couple of months old, but since it's relatively new, the place was packed!  I forget how Italians can be.  I had bought an evil eye bracelet for me and my friend and we were wearing them at the time we were checking out our items.  A mother told her son in Italian to stay away from those gypsies.  She was referencing it to us.  My friend was in shock, but they normally do not see the eye evil this far south.  There are not many tourists in the region we were at.
We decided to drive back home.  My friend was not very confident in the car.  She never got a rental because there weren't any available, and she was worried driving stick shift with a bad clutch.  I was fine heading home.  I really wanted to take a shower and freshen up.  I felt filthy.
I got my 2nd wind after my shower.  I went downstairs to join my friend for a drink and more stories.  Eventually her boyfriend came home from work and we all caught up.  The plan for the next day was to go to the auto place to see if we could get a loaner car.  Then we could go wherever we wanted.  I was fine with whatever she wanted to do.  It took me forever to get to Italy and I just wanted to enjoy my time here with my friend.

We shared a large pasta with sea urchin sauce.  YUMMY!

 

Lunch by the sea...

A nearby beach by the restaurant. 
La spiaggia sta vicino a il ristorante.  (There goes my little Italian translation!  lol)

Day 7 Booking Nightmare

I had trouble sleeping.  A couple of loud cats woke me up.  Nothing like a good cat scream to get you going at 3am!  When it was time for me to really get up, I knew it was the day for me to checkout of my room.  I showered up and slowly began to pack.  I was trying to get some information of the airport in Santorini but it kept leading me to an booking agent's number.  I knew beforehand that I've seen flights from different airlines coming in and out of Santorini.  I was puzzled why nothing was popping up on the airport's website.  I didn't have time to deal with it.  I had to pack my stuff quickly.
I went and turned in my keys at the front desk but asked if there were any room available in case I had to stay one more night.  It was now Monday and people probably checked out the day before.  I wasn't sure of their availability since it was a brand new week.  He reassured me that they had rooms for me if I decided to stay.  I felt a sign of relief!  I needed to go to Noma and look for Kostas to see if he could help figure how the airport's website.  I was confused.
Luckily he was there with some staff members.  I told them what was going on but he was more concerned about running to Fira to get some things.  It was slow at the restaurant and it would be a good time for him to run his errands.  He explained I would have to go to a booking agent and Fira would be the place to find one.  Since I had access to the restaurant's wifi I tried looking at flights myself.  Some of them were unreasonable.  I couldn't find a flight that would go straight to Bari.  The flights I kept finding were heading back to Athens.  Hmmm.  This is getting frustrating.
I messaged my friend in Italy and told her what I was up against.  Since originally I was suppose to have left last night to Mykonos and stay there today, she was under the impression I would be arriving in Bari tomorrow.  She wasn't ready to get me from the airport tonight, so I had to make sure my flight would land there sometime tomorrow.  Upon my arrival to Greece, her boyfriend's car was having problems with the clutch.  She figured she'll get a rental when I arrived but there were no cars available for her yet.  So much for the "playing it by ear". 
Kostas came up and asked me if I wanted to ride with him to Fira.  He had a couple of stops to make and I could accompany him.  I said sure.  I figured he could help me find a booking agent.  I remembered that young couple I met back in Athens when I was trying to find the museum.  They told me the airport at Santorini was a mess and now I understood what they meant.
Off we went to Fira.  I was surprised by how much vacant land there is in Santorini.  I saw more abandoned buildings too, but Kostas showed me where there were also new development.  He is very proud to work there during the season.  "Where else in the world could you work on an island like this?", he asked.  Good point.
When we got closer to Fira I saw the charter buses ahead.  Now I see the flow of people coming in.  We stopped by an electronic store to pickup a new phone.  The prices were pretty reasonable on major items such as washers and dryers.  For the most part, there wasn't much of a selection on some items, but then again, island life wouldn't require the importance of  such mainstream gadgets.
We continued on to two banks before we made our way to the market.  Kostas grabbed his avocados for the restaurant as well as a huge bag of coffee.  As usual, it was a hot day indeed and I could see how preoccupied he was getting.  His phone kept ringing off the hook.  I felt like a little kid riding around seeing and learning things I did not know about Santorini.  I saw a group of girls get on some ATVs with the guide helping them with their helmets.  They looked very inexperienced.  Kostas said it was hard to determine who knows how to drive European, and who are tourists who have no clue.  It was an unsettling feeling knowing those girls were going to ride the streets in those. 
We rode back towards Perissa.  Kostas reassured me he will help me book a flight once we got back to the restaurant.  I guess that's a "no" for looking for an agent.  Change of plans. 
Once we got to Noma, Kostas went straight for the kitchen to drop off the items.  I didn't want to be in his way so I found myself a table in the corner and started looking for flights since I was on wifi again.
I was getting frustrated.  There were some flights that looked reasonable, but whenever I went to purchase them, the flight would disappear.  I didn't understand if I was doing something wrong.  I kept messaging my friend that I was stuck.  She took my credit card information and started looking herself.  Between me and her exchanging messages on when I'll land in Bari, seeing if she'll be able to pick me up at the airport, and how much the ticket would be, we kept losing the flights.  It was beyond nerve recking!!  Sometimes a staff member would ask why don't I go to the beach to unwind, but I had to find a flight to Italy!  I was finding flights that would land me in Bari on Wednesday, and knew I had to take a train out to Rome on Saturday.  I would not be spending much time with my friend and that was the whole purpose of me flying out to Europe in the 1st place. 
After a while of being discouraged, I noticed that Kostas seemed to be upset that I did not want to stay longer in Santorini.  I tried to explain to him that I needed to see my friend.  I understood his sensitivity of me wanting to leave Greece so soon, but in the end, I still had to fly to Italy.  He decided to take actions in his own hands and started to look for flights for me when he had some downtime at the restaurant.  I can see it from his perspective that he just didn't think I experienced Santorini that much and that one day and a half was not that long.  But he found a flight to Athens for about a 100 euros leaving at 9:30pm that evening.  We had to think quickly so he continued to look for flights from Athens to Bari but only one that popped up seemed reasonable.  I would land in Bari the next day around 2:30pm, but to get there was not as easy as it seems.  I had to fly out of Athens at 6am; land in Turkey for a 3 hour layover, and then fly out at 12pm to land in Bari.  That was a lot of flying.  I agreed to it only because I would land in Bari the next day.  Any other flights that popped up would have me landing there on Wednesday, and I did not want to miss a day more without my friend.  We had our own plans and I did not want to miss something.  I hit purchased with a sign of relief.
But then I remembered my conversation from the couple I met back in Athens.  The ones from North Carolina.  Their voices echoed in my head.  "It was very unorganized."  Hmmm.  What did they mean by that?  I figured I would play it safe and head there two hours ahead.  By this time it was already after 5pm.  I went walking down the beach to kill some time.  It was getting busier at the restaurant and I did not want to get in their way.  They held my luggage for me.
Some time passed and I knew I still had to make it to the airport anyways, so I walked back to the restaurant and they called a cab for me.  I said bye to Kostas and the rest of the staff, but I couldn't find the father and daughter back at Ntomatini.  Luckily me and the daughter had exchanged info that night we all went out, but I felt sad leaving like that. 
I walked back to where the beach was closed off.  I knew that was the pick up spot for my cab.  I didn't wait that long.  It did take about 15 minutes.  A good looking cab driver pulled up next to me.  Only when I'm leaving would something like that happen!  We started to talk about Santorini as we were driving through the island.  He said about 15,000 people live here and he's one of them, even during off season.  I love talking to the locals about their way of life.  It gives you an inside perspective that you wouldn't get off from some tour book.
He repeated the same thing that I heard from the other cab driver I had encountered the night before.  He is one of the 39 cabs that circulate in Santorini.  When he pulled up the airport he flirted with me and said next time he'll invite me over to his house for some wine.  lol.  Sure.  "Next time."
I walked into the airport and sure enough, it was mayhem.  Lines were forming outside of the entrance.  I saw a ticket kiosk and tried to print up my boarding pass.  After several attempts, I could not get the settings to go to English, so I grew frustrated and stepped in line for the check in.  Hopefully the agent will see my information that I have purchased my flight.  Kostas had printed up my confirmation number on a piece of paper.  I couldn't get wifi at the airport.  I looked around and saw that people were having the same problems with the kiosk.  I just don't understand why they won't put an "out of order" sign on it.  People were lining up to a lady sitting behind the glass office by the entrance.  All she kept telling people were to get in line and they will help you.  At one point she disappeared and people at the kiosk looked very confused on what to do next since they couldn't get that thing to work. 
Finally it was my turn.  The man behind the counter checked my confirmation number and looked over my passport.  He asked if I had a carry-on but I knew my bag would be too heavy so I checked it in and paid the 35 euro fee.  He told me we were all set and off I stepped to the side.  I was getting very anxious again, so I decided to take a melatonin, even though I knew it would be a 30 minute flight.  The thought of getting in a small airplane and flying over the sea was terrifying to me.  Out of no where I see the man behind the counter lugging my bag around and putting it on the counter to go through the x-ray machine.  He looked very frustrated. 
I got into another line to go through security and that took a while.  I wasn't feeling any better.  Once I got through, I had to go to the bathroom.  Luckily no one was in there because it only had two stalls.  This airport was tiny.  People had no where to sit. 
They announced our flight over the intercom and people got up and formed a line.  A bus took us to our plane.  I was praying that the information was correct that it would be a 30 minute flight.  We haven't even took off and I'm terrified.
They didn't turn on the air conditioner til the plane was fully packed.  It was getting unbearably hot in there.  I was having a hard time trying to calm down.  I popped another melatonin and prayed over and over again.  Finally we had our takeoff.  The lady next to me had her window shade up the whole time.  People had the gps screen on their video screen.  I started to relax once I saw the number of islands we were passing.   Sure enough, Athens was in the horizon and I knew I was going to land soon.  I felt so relieved!