Bari to Ferry and On and On

After we left Rome we headed to a city called Bari, also in Italy. Bari was cute, small and famous for good pizza. Zoey was still walking around with a fever, so we found a hotel to stay at for the night. The hotel was more expensive than we were hoping for, but was the cheapest one around. The night went fast. I went out and got us some pizza to eat (mediocre at best) and we watched some TV. At one point in the night Zoey's fever broke leaving the bed wet with sweat. Being on the other side of this and seeing that happen was very cool.

We woke up the next day around 10 and check out was 10:30. So we packed our bags up and headed out. By this time Zoey was seeming to feel better, but had developed a rash that had gotten so bad she was having problems walking. We decided to have it looked at by a doctor and got in a cab headed for the hospital. The hospital was no help at all. Because it was Saturday no one would see her. Defeated we hopped in another cab and headed off the the port, where we would be leaving from.

The ferry wasn't leaving until 10 pm so we had about six hours to kill. With Zoeys pain we decided to just wait it out in the port terminal. No good stories came from this waiting, but we did how ever notice that there was a considerable amount of Americans waiting with us. Normally not a good sign.

The ferry left about half an hour late but it was worth it. The ferry was so rad. It was like a small cruise ship. It had a restaurant, bar and a dance floor. I meet some cool people, two girls from Colorado, and a dude from San Fran. We stayed up late talking about our travels and the adventures we'd seen.

When we awoke we had landed in Dubrovnik. the site from the ferry was amazing. It looked just like the pictures I had seen. It didn't take us too long to get the our private accommodation that was about a 10 minute walk from the old town. Zoey still not back to full working order, and I stayed in for the night. Our apartment we rented was small but nice. It was good to have a full kitchen all to our selves.


nice view in Dubrovnik


very cool flowers all over the Mediteranian

The second day we decided that it was time to take Miss Zoey to the hospital. We hopped a bus that got us back to the main port and waited for a cab to pull up. One of the local guys hanging out near us, told us that a taxi should be there any minute. Making chit chat, he asked us where we were going, and when we said hospital, he ushered us to his car and drove us down there. Very nice. the hospitals are weird there, and when all is said and done, we leave with prescription medicine and no real doctors visit. Very frustrating.

Zoey and I had layed in bed for two days straight when we got back home. She needed this. We had a blast with the Croatian TV. Family Matters, Fresh Prince, The Nanny, War at Home and Step by Step are all in full rotation during the day. Remember TGIF? So great! I felt bad about not going out by myself but come to find out Dubrovnik only takes about a day to see anyway.


cannon on the walls of old town


face in hole

A few days of rest got Zoey into the town and we found it way to touristy and overpriced. The apartment was fair priced at about $200 for the whole week. After talking we decided we could save money by camping. We decided to head north to a city called Split for camping gear after not finding any in Dubrovnik.


So scared on the wall

Split turned out to be a great time. Maybe too "great" if you ask Zoey. We found a hostel to stay at, and arrived kinda late, around 11 pm. We knew reception was going to be closed so we were wondering how we would even get in. Luckily for us there was a party going on, and we were greeted with great yells of joy and invitations to start drinking wine and vodka. This was very odd for us. We were tired, and this party was loud. I was concerned how we would ever get to sleep. We decided to pull the old when in Rome thing.

Finally getting some sleep we realized most off the other kids had such a great time the night before they booked another night. Still planning on camping, we hit the street in search of a tent. We found one not too far from the hostel along with two decent sleeping bags. The sleeping bags are great because we can zip them together, keeping us warmer with body heat. The tent is small and holds two, with a nice rain cover. We can get it up in about five minutes. We decided that due to the sun going down so early we would stay at the hostel another night. That night was Zoey and I's anniversary. So a few of the hostelers took us out, and I think three people fell over on the way home due to intoxication and wet cobble stone.

One of the guys staying with us Greg, had some really cool traveling stories including one where someone gave him a car, that was given to them, by someone else who had received it for free. The only rules for the car were, take care of it, sign the roof when your done with it, and give it away when you go home. This story kinda made Greg a big deal with the other hostelers trying to get some free rides. This included me. I'm a little ambitious, trying to get Zoey and I to Istanbul. Greg didn't dismiss the idea, leaving me with hope. We have about two weeks to get there still. So Greg, Zoey and I along with two other guys decided to go camping for a couple days. We planed that this would be our time to get in good with Greg. If only... :)

We all packed up our stuff and left the hostel headed toward the car. Zoey and I are still rolling light with everything on our backs. Kind of an impressive fact when you see what other people carry with them. Brett was the most normally packed with the big travel bag on his back and a normal backpack on his front. You see this all the time. Noah, had a travel backpack, a guitar, a full size amp, a guitar, a full size amp, a backpack, and some hand bag. Way too much. We get to the car and it is packed full. Greg didn't have much but his car came with a tent and all kinds of goodies. So this packed car has to hold all our bags, and five grown adults.

Watch this video

packing for the most unsafe road trip ever

I regret to inform you that there are no pictures of all of us inside. We simply couldn't pass a camera around the car. But imagine Brett Zoey and I squeezed in the back with all of our stuff in our laps. Noah who took the front seat, had to close the back doors squishing us in tight. Too funny.

With no camp site in mind the three of us in the back seat were kinda nervous at how long this trip was going to be. None of us could see the road or move. We were really lucky that no one got car sick. The ride was less than an hour up the coast line, until we found a beach with trees. (Obviously I had nothing to do with getting there) We unloaded out of the cramped car and headed up into the trees looking for a place to stay. This seemed more difficult than it should have been because we were all so hung over from the night before and the sun had set. Non the less camp was set and there was beer and wine to drink.

A nice German couple from the beach doing some car camping, came and drank with us. I went to bed early that night, but I am told I missed some very silly activity's.

The next morning we decided to have a repeat offender and found an even better camp site that had a nearly finished house being built near us. With the wind coming off the water, and it being October, the house provided us with good shelter. This night we tried not to drink too much, but that wasn't the case.

The "new family" (as it was dubbed) we created was really cool. The genuine care for each other was really amazing. We had a great time together, and the laughs we had were so side splitting. I forgot to say earlier that all of us were Americans. So we really didn't learn anything about new cultures. The "new family" decided to split up, because we all had different places to get to. But I think it was because we were all afraid of drinking anymore. It was good times. Hope we all stay in contact.

That night we hopped a night train to Zagreb, up north. The train was nice and we got some sleep. The plan for Zagreb was to walk around all day, and catch another night train to Bosnia Herzegovina, saving on the cost of rooms for two night. That morning we got our ticket to Sarajevo, and made sure that we had a sleeper car. So the price went up for the car. That night we find the train, and what a gross piece of junk it was. Our sleeper car didn't exist, and it was first come seating. Very disappointed, we got in a six seater car with two Bosnian men. In this situation, no one is happy. I could tell the men were disappointed to have more passengers, and we were for the same reason. The ride in was restless and cold. O yea, the train was a smoking train. Not to cool in the confinements of a train car. But whatever. We made it and Sarajevo is cold and snowy. It is a really cool city from what we can tell. We are happy to be here. Its very weird to be in a city that has had such an insane war here that has happened in my life.


Me being silly

Some pictures that I think were good.

Old woman and a castle


Bailing water


More from that silly packing experience. Remember we got in and out of this thing like 5 times a day. Kind of tricky.


the great 'New family we made'