{"id":9922,"date":"2024-09-24T20:25:16","date_gmt":"2024-09-24T19:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/?p=9922"},"modified":"2024-09-24T20:25:16","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T19:25:16","slug":"day-50-goodbye-greece-hello-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/09\/24\/day-50-goodbye-greece-hello-italy\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 50 – Goodbye Greece, hello Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We had a 2PM ferry from Igoumenitsa to Brindisi today, so we were afforded another leisurely start. And of course what better way to start than a long chat with Helen and Jeremy. That\u2019s when we found out their van had been flooded in the port they had left the boat in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hopefully I shall long retain the image of Helen walking back from the loos carrying Jaffa in her cage. Brilliant, but also bonkers – love it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then we had a pack up and headed off to Masoutis, Monday trading rules not being the same as Sunday trading rules, thankfully!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few more shots of Elena\u2019s Camping. The facilities were basic, no loo roll in many loos, but it did have loo seats and it was spotless. Unfortunately we didn\u2019t get to try the restaurant, but there are good reports and it was packed each evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ollie at Elena\u2019s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
View from the second tier at Elena\u2019s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
There\u2019s a kitchen with fridges, freezers and hobs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Good washing facilities and hot water!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sat Nav says we have 2335 km to home. Though we\u2019re definitely going to be taking some detours!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our plan was to check in at the ferry first, then get supplies and then get into the ferry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we\u2019d stocked up at Masoutis (just stuff for the ferry)\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ferry carry on<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We headed back to the port and made a salad and some butties for the 7+ hours on the ferry in the car park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
T1 Igoumenitsa Int Ferry Port<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We then had to board separately!! Both of us a bit nervous about not having the other as support. Sue had to go through a customs check as a foot passenger, and I had to drive Ollie through customs and meet Sue on the other side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We both think this was mainly as a migrant check. The customs guy got me to open the side and rear doors of the van for a cursory check. It felt like he was just looking to see if we\u2019d got someone stowed away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Igoumenitsa Ferry Customs Checkpoint<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once through customs we queued up alongside a few cars and bikes, and the regulation 30 or more lorries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We seemed to be pretty early to board the boat and got good seats in the bar\/cafe area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Cafe Bar on Kaydon Palace<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This was the same ferry that we\u2019d done the overnight trip on in reverse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sue was set for the 7 and a half hour trip with some knitting!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Sue knits<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I was told off (nicely) for lounging in the lounge. You can\u2019t lie down on the boat until it sails!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So we whiled away the journey, knitting, reading and watching the Half Blood Prince\u2026 enjoyed it (again) but not a patch on the book. And what\u2019s the scene about where The Burrow gets set alight? Doesn\u2019t seem to take the story forwards and doesn\u2019t collapse bits of the book that a shorter film has to do\u2026 they\u2019d have been better off putting some of the book back in like the Prime Minister chapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Deck 9, I think<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Ship shape and Brindisi fashion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
We even spotted Mylos Villa from the boat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was a bit spooky getting off the ferry and heading back through the port we\u2019d got so confused about on the reverse leg 12 days previously! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the we headed off to the outskirts of Brindisi for an apartment we\u2019d pre-booked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were landing in Brindisi at 8:30, so didn\u2019t want to travel a long way. But also didn\u2019t want to end up with an apartment in the middle of the town with no parking. So we plumped for a Winery on one of the main roads out of the town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019d spent the previous two days talking to the apartment person and had got self check in instructions and sent ID via WhatsApp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Italian roads\u2026 they\u2019re shocking! We\u2019d sort of accepted the Corfu roads being poor, and the Igoumenitsa roads being bad, but better than Corfu. Where\u2019s the excuse for the Italian roads being so diabolical. The main dual carriageways are worse than British b-roads, and by a very long way! And of course there\u2019s trash everywhere!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All was fine when we arrived, though it wasn\u2019t obvious where we parked and so we left Ollie in the light and not next to a lorry weigh bridge that I thought might get us woke up with a \u201ccan you move your van mate\u201d first thing in the morning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ollie left in the car park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The dogs that greeted us by the fence were probably the same ones that woke us up in the morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The property was called Dimora Risveglio. There were about half a dozen en-suite rooms, with a TV, on the first floor of what was probably part of the winery. There seemed to be a communal kitchen, but there was coffee and some plastic packaged toast and croissant in the room. We slept ok, but were woken up by the dogs and people coming to work at the winery at probably about 6:30!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dimora Risveglio looks more industrial in the flesh<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But I\u2019m getting ahead of myself, that\u2019s tomorrow\u2019s story!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tomorrow we head in the wrong direction, on purpose\u2026 twice\u2026 and start our proper Italian leg of the journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though we now have 2449 km to get home rather than the 2335 we had this morning!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harry, Ron and Hermione are just about to storm the Ministry to wrestle the locket from Umbridge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We had a 2PM ferry from Igoumenitsa to Brindisi today, so we were afforded another leisurely start. And of course what better way to start than a long chat with Helen and Jeremy. That\u2019s when we found out their van had been flooded in the port they had left the boat in. Hopefully I shall […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[53,52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2024-summer-holiday-to-greece","category-travel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7726.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8yl38-2A2","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8801,"url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/08\/11\/day-7-luxembourg-south-to-north\/","url_meta":{"origin":9922,"position":0},"title":"Day 7 – Luxembourg South to North","author":"John Martin","date":"August 11, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Today started with a fantastic breakfast spread laid on by our hosts Tom and Helen. Opted for the non-alcoholic option \ud83d\ude09 Of course we had long chats yesterday, where we learnt the difference between Billige Geschist (cheap shit) vs Gunstig (value). The Germans, of course, appreciate the latter and not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2024 Summer Holiday to Greece"","block_context":{"text":"2024 Summer Holiday to Greece","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/category\/travel\/2024-summer-holiday-to-greece\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_5203.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_5203.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_5203.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_5203.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_5203.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_5203.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9651,"url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/09\/10\/day-37-igoumenitsa\/","url_meta":{"origin":9922,"position":1},"title":"Day 37 – Igoumenitsa","author":"John Martin","date":"September 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, we thought it would be a bit of a quiet day today, arriving in Igoumenitsa and setting up camp. But in the end we had a bit of a scramble to avert a disaster. In this next gripping installment of John and Sue do Europe\u2026 Over night, having left\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2024 Summer Holiday to Greece"","block_context":{"text":"2024 Summer Holiday to Greece","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/category\/travel\/2024-summer-holiday-to-greece\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7058.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7058.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7058.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7058.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7058.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7058.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8794,"url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/08\/11\/day-6-charleroi-to-luxembourg\/","url_meta":{"origin":9922,"position":2},"title":"Day 6 – Charleroi to Luxembourg","author":"John Martin","date":"August 11, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"So, after a noisy night next to the River Semoy (I was kept awake by the endless campers heading down the gravel track to the loos) we awoke to the dulcet tones of the donkey we had previously thought to be quaint. It was probably 100m from our van, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2024 Summer Holiday to Greece"","block_context":{"text":"2024 Summer Holiday to Greece","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/category\/travel\/2024-summer-holiday-to-greece\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240811_132446_0019a-2-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240811_132446_0019a-2-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240811_132446_0019a-2-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240811_132446_0019a-2-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240811_132446_0019a-2-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240811_132446_0019a-2-1.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10042,"url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/09\/26\/day-53-gallipoli-to-matera\/","url_meta":{"origin":9922,"position":3},"title":"Day 53 – Gallipoli to Matera","author":"John Martin","date":"September 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Another travel day\u2026 the relentless pull of the road never ceases! Not much to report today, and the Dashcam was playing silly buggers (needed the SD card reformatting) and so there\u2019s not much from there either. Camping Torre Sabea was a nice little site. Very tired, quirky, but we enjoyed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2024 Summer Holiday to Greece"","block_context":{"text":"2024 Summer Holiday to Greece","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/category\/travel\/2024-summer-holiday-to-greece\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7981.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7981.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7981.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7981.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7981.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7981.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10384,"url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/10\/05\/day-62-travel-from-lucca-to-avignon\/","url_meta":{"origin":9922,"position":4},"title":"Day 62 – Travel from Lucca to Avignon","author":"John Martin","date":"October 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Not much to report today. We set off from the yard at the back of the garage for Avignon after some breakfast and coffee\/tea, at about 8:30. The concept of using a back yard to house camper and with a minimal toilet and shower setup was quite appealing. We were\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/20241005_093422_0022a-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/20241005_093422_0022a-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/20241005_093422_0022a-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/20241005_093422_0022a-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/20241005_093422_0022a-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/20241005_093422_0022a-1.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9107,"url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/08\/22\/day-18-travel-munich-to-berchtesgaden\/","url_meta":{"origin":9922,"position":5},"title":"Day 18 – Travel Munich to Berchtesgaden","author":"John Martin","date":"August 22, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Leisurely start this morning as we\u2019re leaving the luxury of fitted sheets, all you can eat breakfast and an en-suite bathroom. Sue had to go for her 7:30, 5k run again this morning and managed to find the Chinese temple in the Englischer Garten. Chinese Temple Englischer Garten After breakfast\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2024 Summer Holiday to Greece"","block_context":{"text":"2024 Summer Holiday to Greece","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/category\/travel\/2024-summer-holiday-to-greece\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_5847.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_5847.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_5847.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_5847.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_5847.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_5847.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9922"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9956,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9922\/revisions\/9956"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}