As I mentioned at the end of my last post, the Workaway I had travelled over 200 miles and 9 hours for was cancelled as I arrived at Corinth station,. This left me in a pickle as I didn’t want to travel back to Athens and didn’t want to stay in Corinth. I perhaps rather rashly booked a ferry to Italy for the following day. The ferry left from Patras at 17:00 meaning I had all day to travel there and I left early to avoid any hiccups.
In order to get from Corinth to Patras (Patra) you have to catch a bus from the main Isthmus Bus Station in Corinth, over by the canal. To get to the Isthmus Bus Station a bus leave from the smaller bus station in the center, costing €2. I ended up catching a taxi to the Isthmus Bus Station as it was hammering it down with rain. I didn’t have any waterproofs, I was wearing jeans and the waterproof cover on my bag is broken, these 8 months of travelling are taking their toll. The taxi, from New Corinth town, cost €7 and as soon as I got to the Bus Station my bus to Patras turned up, leaving at 10:10 and arriving at 12:20, costing €13.80.
From Patras Bus Station to the New Port you have to catch the blue bus, ask inside the station if you are unsure, costing €1.20. I was allowed to check in for my trip at 15:45, meaning I had a couple of hours to kill at the Port which was easy enough to do in the bar. The ferry cost €65 for an air seat, basically the same as an airplane seat, to get a cabin would have been €200 more. Checking in was very smooth, my passport was checked and my bag scanned, there were no issues with my injections and I walked straight onto the boat. The seats were comfortable enough and there were only 5 people in the 150+ seats meaning I could lay down across 3 and get a good nights sleep. The ferry was absolutely huge, with 3 restaurants, a swimming pool, a casino and 11 decks, if only I had more money!
I arrived in the beautiful town of Ancona at 15:30, around 2 hours late and walked for 15 minutes to my hostel next to the train station, my passport didn’t get checked at the Port, I was allowed straight off the boat and on my way. The cheapest hostel I could find was €16 a night but it was very pleasant with only 2 people in an 8 bed dorm. There was a shop next door and a launderettes round the corner, meaning I could finally do some washing. In the evening I went out for my first taste of Italian food, which was amazing, before settling down for a much needed rest in a proper bed. The following morning I caught a train to Rome, leaving at 08:45 and costing €17.75 (same time and price everyday). The train ride was very nice, at first following the coast, before cutting inland through the mountains, past rivers and beautiful waterfalls. I arrived in Rome around 12:30, just in time to catch some of the 6 nations!
