The Journey to Barcelona

2AM or something close to it. The lights are still at full tilt, blue and red and white shining into my eyes very brightly. The feeling I'm feeling is famliar. I've missed the event, the party ,the occasion. My head hurts, part hangover and part reaction from bored overnight cruise ship bartender cigarette smoke. 2AM seems early for a hangover, I think, but then, how early did I start drinking yesterday? Back to the party I've missed out on. I have "bar grime" (?) on my feet. It's about 82 degrees (F) and I've sweated through my clothes and the sweat has grabbed the particles of burned tobacco from the bored overnight cruise ship bartender's marlboro lights. Grimy is how I feel. More signs of a party missed, there are women struggling to remain upright, meandering towards what I can only guess is the ladies room. Everyone is passed out on the floor. What did I miss? There is at least one girl, but I think maybe two or three, throwing up into a plastic bag. Would I be more embarrassed to throw up on a ferry or to hear other people throwing up? Things are clearing up, the boat is slamming into the ocean. Aha! 'twas no party. Dubrovnik on towards Bari, sun up at 6AM, docking at 8AM.

Bari. Everything you've heard 'bout Italians is probably more accurate than you would imagine. Hand gestures. Overly dramatic exchanges, encounters. We walked along the highway for an hour, ended up in the semi-truck parking area, caught the semi-truck driver's bus back to where we started, then happened upon the trains. Train ride, Rome, got to aeroporto at 9-ish. Justin (me) passed out upon the floor, Aleza inflated my sleeping pad and slipped it under me.

Security officer says: "You have to go, the airport is closing." I still don't know how he got me up, or how long it took. 

Off to find new sleeping 1/4s. Well, the arrivals lounge is open, so we set up camp. And everyone else does too. The communal bonding (as well with the ferry) of a overnight experience in a location not suited to overnightness is warm and comforting. I snore in my sleep, you fart, nobody worries or cares...   

To be continued . . .