Journey by public transport across southern Italy to a Greek Agean island.
From Naples to Alonnisos
This was a get up and go holiday. My husband, Nick and I packed a bag, booked a flight and went. We had a friend living on Alonnisos, which is one of the Sporodes, and she offered us acommodation when we got there but to make the holiday more vital we decided to fly to Naples and get to Alonnisoss by public transport.
We did not see Naples and die because even in June, Naples is hot and busy. Instead we caught a train to Pompei, except we got off at the wrong stop. We found ourselves in a poor suburb where teenagers on mopeds tried to mug us. Clutching bag and camera tightly I managed to pull one youth from his bike and we were eventually rescued by a taxi full of school children. The driver remonstrated with us for our stupidity. He said we were lucky to be in one piece. After he had delivered the school children to the appropriate schools the taxi driver took us to Pompei and charged us 15 Euros for the 2 km journey. We felt that he had earned the premium for his kindness in rescuing us.
Opposite the main entrance to the famous 2600 year old city we found a camp-site which also had a few bedrooms to let. We booked in and resisted the request for our passports by filling in the required forms with the site owner. Our suspicion was now on red alert and the thought of leaving a credit card impression or our passports with the string-vest clad couch potato who greeted us was forbidding to say the least, so we paid for two nights in advance.
The city of Pompei is a magnificently preserved Roman metropolis. The day and half we spent wandering the dusty streets with Mount Vesuvius gazing benevolently down on us were hours I will remember for ever. The high-lights were the aphitheatre, the garden of the fugitives and the wall paintings which were to be found in the many almost undamaged houses. There are intrcate mosaics covering ancient fast food tavernas and brothel alike. The thought that Vesuvius, could at any time, erupt and bury Naples and surrounding areas under ash again gave the whole experience an immediacy which was echoed by some of the astonishingly pristine aspects of Pompei.
The area surrounding the ancient city is uninspiring. Food was poor and costly. I had the worst Napoli pizza and spaghetti carbonara I have ever tasted in an open-air cafe near the campsite. There is a good supermarket nearby and I would recommend picnics rather than restaurants in this area.
The train then took us through some beautifully green and yet rocky landscape on the 12 hour journey to Brindisi. We could have broken the trip with stops at any of the number of sleepy rural villages along the way but decided to make haste. We had a long way to go and no idea about how easy or difficult our route was going to be.
The south of Italy is generally agricultural and poor. The area grows glorious fruit and vegetables and markets are a must for any who enjoy eating cherries as big as a child's head (I exaggerate, but not much) and allowing the juice to cascade down ones chin.
Brindisi is a surprisingly sophisticated and prosperous town. I say surprisingly because we were beginning to see Italians as self-conscious, overly-serious and irritatingly vain people. Young men become fixated with their reflection in the train windows and cafe owners barely snarl their greetings in some of the station diners we had frequented. We had met one friendly and interesting man on the train who was returning home after a 14 year stay in London. He told us that the rural Italians were not too enamoured of tourists.
As we arrived late in Brindisi we were worried about finding somewhere to stay but we needn't have been. A taxi took us to the door of a very respectable guest house in a central part of town. We had a large clean and cool room for just 15 Euros a night.
The sea front at Brindisi is quite stylish and great coffee, antipasti, pizza and icecream can be enjoyed at any time. The real surprises are when you walk into the old town and come across marble paved squares of enormous proportions. The church of St. Catherine is particularly spectacular. A photograph of 6 feet tall Nick at the door of the church taken from across the square makes him appear no taller than an ant.
There is also a striking memorial to Italy's recent past. Mussolini was famous for, amongst other things, making the trains run on time, which they do to this very day. He also donated a strangely beautiful fountain to Brindisi. Its art deco style is quite brazen amongst the more rococo surroundings.
All the boats that go anywhere go from Brindisi so after a few days soaking up the Italian atmosphere and getting expert at the language we stepped on a ferry to Igoumenitsa on the east coast of Greece. The ferry journey is long and if you are not on a tight budget I would recommend a cabin. If you choose to travel on the deck you will not be allowed to sleep on chairs in the lounge. So stay awake and drink plenty of water from the shop, not the bar. The water from the bar is four times as expensive.
From Igoumenitsa we caught a bus to Larisa and then another to Volos. The buses are frequent and we broke the journey with a night stay in Ioannina. This is a beautiful town high in the mountains with lake and byzantine walled town.
Accommodation can be pricy there are some very nice hotels offering rooms for around 100 Euros but we found a clean first floor room in Hotel Hermes in a central position with balcony but really horrid shower rooms for 14 Euros. The showers are old and grubby but if you wear flip flops and close your eyes you can use them.
Switching from speaking Italian to speaking Greek is very difficult but you really have to try. English is not widely spoken. There is lots to see in Ioannina and the cool air is a welcome relief.
The bus journey continues over some spectaular mountains and plateaux. The strange rocks at Meteori were apparently used as a location for some James Bond film but more interestingly, perhaps, there are monestries on top of the wierd needles of rock and food has to be hoisted up in baskets on ropes to the isolated monks who inhabit them.
In Volos we found excellent acommodation on the waterfront with balcony and clean bathroom en suite for just 17 euros. We wished we could stay there for a week. It may be a comercial port but it is a really lovely town too. Nearby there is an area called Pilion where many Greeks holiday. It is mountainous and green with many camp sites. We caught the ferry to Skiathos and then on to Alonnisos where we were greeted by our friend.
Alonnisos is an unspoilt island with good cuisine and fine beaches but I'm not going to tell anyone any more about it. It is a secret.
The holiday closed with a flight from Skiathos back to Manchester booked from Alonnisos the day before we wanted to go. Flights booked from Greece are very cheap and it is well worth buying one way out and the return flights as one-way tickets from Greece.
Finally Skiathos is worth a mention. This is the famous holiday destination of many Brits and a very pleasant island it is. It has a short runway and so the landings and take offs are an experience in themselves. The island is too popular for our taste and the bars and cafes along the waterfront are very poor value. Good food can be found on the shady slope behind the main front. Many Italians holiday in the Sporodes and this influences the cuisine. It was in Skiathos that I eventually got a fine spaghetti Carbonara. Seafood and stuffed vegetables are also popular. Be warned though, much Greek food is what I would call over-cooked and often served cool.
This trip taught us that travelling the Med can be done on the spur of the moment and booking accommodation in advance is foolish. We did not meet one British person until we arrived in Skiathos so we feel we got the true flavour of the places we visited and not the tourist's eye view.
Favorite Sights: The mountains and rock formations of central Greece.
Tasty Food: Antipasti in Brindisi.
Places to Stay: There are ample very cheap rooms to be found. Hotel Hermes in Ioannina is worth finding but beware the showers there.
Nightlife: Cafe life, restaurants, relaxed bars and long, long conversations with American, Dutch and Chinese travellers on the ferries.
Memorable Experience: Visiting Pompei
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