It's really WAY too early for me to be awake right now. It's a little past 9 AM and I am on the train from Rome to Bari (in Italy). That's where I will catch the ferry over to the Greek island of Corfu. I'm very excited about getting into Greece. I've been in Italy for a long time now and am getting the itch to pack up and get out. That said, I'm NOT excited about the over night ferry ride since I didn't get much sleep last night (when in Rome.... ). I will have to sleep sitting up tonight.
Wow... I'm am on my own again and it's a weird feeling. I'm really happy about the opportunity (it's much cheaper), but when you're tired, it's so much of a hassle.

LATER that DAY
I am SO glad that I don't have to see another freakin' train for at least a few days! I feel like I've been living on them... especially for the past two weeks.... and if your definition of "living on" equates to spending more time on a train that doing ANYTHING else but sleeping, then I have been.
That said, the harsh reality of being on my own has fully hit me.... hard when I got off the train in Bari. There "Where in the world do I go?" factor got me. The archaic map in the guide book gave me direction, but without streetnames on the actual streets here in Bari, the book does little good. I bought a bus ticket in order to save my poor, achy muscles the two mile walk to the ferry port, but I got on the wrong bus. Luckily a little boy informed me that I was on the wrong bus (I was supposed to be on the 20/ bus, not the 20 bus.... big freakin' difference, right?). Instead of trying to figure it out the twenty slash thing in a sea of like 800 buses, I just decided to walk it. Luckily, it's a port town.. and when in doubt, follow the water. I made it with no issues, but right as the 20/ bus was pulling up.
So I'm currently in the ferry port. There's no one here and I wonder what the hell is going on, but I guess I will see sooner or later. Wow. I feel sorry for whomever has to sit next to me on the 12 hour ferry ride. I can smell myself, and I stink.
I've had a croissant, a candy bar and an apple all day long. I'm starving.
It's crazy how tired I am of travelling. It bothers me. I still get goosebumps seeing something new, but it seems to be happening less and less. I now, I'm whining. I'm annoying myself.

LATER in the EVENING on the FERRY
This is very, very, very, very strange. I am a little perplexed, a little apprehensious, and very hungry. I should have paid the extra God knows how many Euro for a cabin. Instead, I chose "airline seating"... and the airline seating section is completely empty. I mean, I think this is where I'm supposed to park my ass for the duration of the trip, but honestly, it's dark and cold and scary in there. The seats look like rejects from the Army Surplus store that dad shops at. There is no one really on this ferry except Greek men. Where are all the other backpackers? Where are all the PEOPLE?
I should have known something was amiss when I couldn't even figure out where to board the ferry. I mean, it was obvious where the boat was, all I saw was a long line of semi trucks and empty buses pulling into the butt of the boat. Little did I know, I was supposed to get in line with the semi trucks and board the same way. This is so different than the nice ferries I took in Croatia. It's obviously a Greek ferry because everything is in Greek, including the "Breaking News" being shown on the off color, large screen TV.
A LITTLE LATER
So I took a quick walk around the other decks and it turns out that everyone has cabins. I guess there are a lot more people during the high season.... because there still are not very many people and NO ONE looks like a tourist. I wish I had a book. I'm pissed.... I was actually looking forward to this ferry ride and I got the ghetto boat. It's like a really old, really small, really rank and dingy Las Vegas night club. Seedy. And the mother $^*@ is running late.