Sunset on the Adriatic

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Now Greece is serviced by a pretty vast network of ferries and we planned to catch one from Patras to Venice. To do this we first needed to catch one of Greece's very unreliable trains. The train was clearly to small for the amount of passengers trying to use it because each time we stopped more people would get on causing quite cramped conditions for all aboard. We also managed to strike a day where there was construction on the tracks so were then advised we were to catch a bus to the next station in order to continue the journey. By some freaky coincidence we ended up travelling on to Patras with a couple from Canada we had met 8 nights earlier on our previous ferry to Greece although they would end up departing for Bari rather than Venice.
Upon arrival at the train station it was only a 20 second walk to the port, however, it was a 10 minute struggle in the blazing sun with packs on to our ferry terminal. Once at the terminal we had an eight hour wait as the ferry departed at one minute to midnight, so we had a few beers with the Canadians before they departed for Bari. At about 8pm our ferry arrived and this thing was absolutely huge. This ferry made our previous few look tiny. It was bigger than most cruise ships seen in Auckland's Harbour, but despite its size we were still going to be sleeping on the floor, due to it being full for the first leg of the 34 hour journey to Venice. Sleeping on the floor was nowhere near as bad as the first time and there was no need to upgrade to a cabin, so other than food (of which we had a $40 breakfast for two) & drinks the trip from Greece to Venice was free.
The most amazing part of the journey was on the 2nd night when we were able to see the sunset on the Adriatic Sea. As I lived on the East Coast of New Zealand growing up I never had the opportunity to see this event (sunrise yes, sunset no), and I have say it was pretty incredible. With the sea dead calm and very few clouds in the sky it was a pretty amazing sight, something I will remember for a very long time to come.

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