A ferry across the Adriatic

Tuesday was the oddest day of the trip. I am travelling solo and have a gap in my plans. My only goal is to get from Split to Bologna Italy by early Friday afternoon for an Alumni Reunion. Travelling solo means you set your own agenda but you also have to make it happen, sometimes with faulty or incomplete information. My last day in Split was an example of the drama of my approach with its ups and downs.

NOTE: Please feel free to skip all though the excessive text below and go straight to the interesting video and pics and the last two paragraphs. Will not be offended.

For future readers, this trip is happening well into the 2nd year of COVID. Masks were mandatory on the flight from Seattle to Frankfurt as well as a negative test. Croatia is much more relaxed but a flight from Croatia back to an EU country means getting tested again. Not knowing the rules, I had to assume I needed a negative test to get into Italy even though I decided to go by ferry. Tests are quick and easy but you need an appointment. With some help from my neighbor, I booked a test for the morning. Got up ‘early’ and took an Uber to a cosmetic clinic that was authorized to test. They were friendly and efficient and cheap. My guide also let me know that she and most people thought COVID wasn’t worse than the flu but it does provide an extra income stream for the clinic. Hospitalization and death rates have been very low in Croatia so it is not possible to contradict that belief.

My ferry is scheduled to leave Split at 7:30pm but I had to check out before noon. Fortunately my neighbor gave me a key to his place and said I could store luggage and hang out at his place. Wow, thanks Paul. I felt so at home in Split. I walked back from the test and hung out in the courtyard and searched the web for accommodations and bike rental options in Assisi for tomorrow. After going out for lunch I decided that there was not much going on in Assisi and decided to go to Florence instead. The new goal – get a picture of Ponte Vecchio at sunset.

The information on the ferry’s web site said that all passengers must be on-board 180 minutes before departure. This seemed obviously wrong and both Tonci and Paul tried to convince me it was incorrect but neither had proof. So just after 3pm, I grabbed my luggage and started the 2 mile hike to the ferry terminal in the gorgeous 90 degree Mediterranean sun. Turns out that information was wrong.

Another piece of information that I should have doubted (I did try to crosscheck) was advice that water and food on the ferry was limited but expensive. There are two ferries, one Italian and one Croatian, on this main route and both are big car/truck ferries, definitely not cruise ships. There are not a lot of cabins, most people who take this ferry sleep in their vehicles or on the floor or chairs in the passenger section. Since the ferry leaves at sunset and arrives in the morning, the web said it is known that most passengers are not motivated to avoid alcohol. I followed advice to buy food and fluids before boarding. So now I am walking to the ferry with all my luggage and a heavy grocery bag in 90 degree heat 4 hours before departure. I get to the terminal and eventually find out that the 180 minute warning was not that I had to be on-board, but that the check-in window might open then. I checked in 3 hours early and was told that boarding wouldn’t start for another 90+ minutes.

No shade near the ferry terminal so I walked back with my luggage and the heavy grocery bag to the waterfront and collapsed in the shade of a palm tree between two elderly couples (UK/USA) that had just arrived from Dubrovnik. Pleasant conversation. Rehydrated from the public fountain (water in Croatia is safe to drink, possible more so than Kirkland).

Later I am back at the ferry terminal watching the dynamics of passengers and vehicles and comparing it to the Washington State Ferry system. I now have some strong opinions about German, Austrian and English motorcycle clubs based on their behavior. There were a lot of them but I understand why, it is a great tour to go down the coast of Croatia and then back up the coast of Italy. There was a bikepacker doing the same and she got 1st priority over the cars and motorcycles.

I approached the bikepacker the next morning to ask about her trip. Her English was very poor so the conversation was short (I would guess Poland or Hungary) but she did communicate that she started in Trieste and went down the Croatian coast to Split, was crossing over on the ferry and cycling back up the Italian side back to Trieste. I told her I admired and envied her.

Arrival was at 7am. Set my alarm for 6am and took a shower, repacked and ate the bananas and anything else I had that was suitable for breakfast. No gangway, just go down to the back of the car deck and walk out the huge hinge door when they open it like you are storming Normandy. It only occurs to me now that there was no passport control, no check for COVID Status. Just walked off the ferry with the luggage towards the train station. There was no shuttle and it was less than 2 miles away. It was fairly easy flat going as I followed the shoreline around the harbor. I did miss a turn and ended up at a loading dock, turned around and walked back about 1/4 mile to the public walkway. Seems like that was the Universe dropping some Serendipity on me because shortly after getting back on to the right path the woman backpacker that I had a short conversation with the night before as we boarded our separate ferries caught up with me. We talked as we walked together the remaining mile to the train station. This post ends here because our plans for the next two day changed before we got the the train station.