Getting back home

After the game, it was time to start my Odyssey back to Austria. It started with an 9-hour ferry ride out of Messina to Salerno, the ship leaving just after mid-night. Interesting, the price formation: the ticket was priced at Eur 27, I thought it was a great deal. What I did not know is that a) they charged 15 Euros for my bike b) 5 Euros for fuel surcharge c) 7 Euros for port taxes d) 18 Euros for the booking fee – so that I ended up paying Eur 72, not 27. Very funny, eh?

This was my first bike ride in Europe when I said "hey, I have a tent and a sleeping bag - I can sure sleep on the deck", just as I had done in Alaska in 2004 (since then, I have done this in Norway, an another trip to and from Sicily and to Corsica) - and as usual, I was the only passenger that did this . it was breezy, but I still managed to get in like 5 hours of sleep. Salerno is also a great town, with a hill-top castle overlooking it; I had two hours to relax before my train was bound to leave for Naples. Taking a nice dip in the sea before departure, I somehow lost track of time, so I only had like 10 mins left before departure. The train was bound to leave from platform “2T”, so I had in the direction of platforms 1-10. No escalator, just stairs (have I mentioned that this is not really bike-friendly here?), I shove up my bike the stairs, land on platform 1, with some 3 minutes prior to departure. Seeing the train and no other possibility to get to platform 2, I cross the tracks to platform 2, and ask the conductor if the train was bound for Naples. No, he says, this is platform 2, and I have to go to 2T, which is altogether another part of the station. All right, here we go again: bike over the tracks (remember, some 35 kg), I fell once or twice, and frantically making the dash for it, I made the train. However, the conductor goes, this train takes no bikes. I started quarrelling and arguing, pointing out that it was the information place that told me about this train, he refused, but I kept on, till he finally allowed me to board (anyone knows whether they are bike friendly? Anyone?).

Reaching Naples was even worse: the train arrived on platform 3, and was due to continue for Rome on platform 7.  OK, I see platforms 1, 2 and 3, but nothing more. Running around, dropping half of my luggage, I finally realized that it was a different part of the train station that my train for Rome was due to depart from. With only seconds left, and of course the bike compartment being locked up, I managed to scramble onto the train, with people cursing at me. Oh buy, it was 80 degrees (Celsius, not Fahrenheit), full, no A/C, I was swimming in sweat (not a pretty sight), but at least I was on the train, having collected my stuff from all over the station (yes, literally).

It was to be three grueling hours before Rome; and I still wasn’t sure if the train bound for Villach would take my bike. I pulled a number at the counter, where some 70 people were waiting in front of me. Waiting for some 20 minutes, and still dozens ahead of me, a guy comes up to me and says for a small fee, he could help me. I agree, and he pulls me to a small, somewhat hidden office, where I wait just 2-3 minutes, just to be told that the train to Austria does not take bikes. Amazing. There was still an hour before departure, so the best way to kill time was to take a small ride around Rome. The last time I was there I was a young teenager, it was great to see the Colosseum and the other landmarks of this great city. I would return to this city to explore it in the spring of 2024.

Back to the station, the train pulls in – and, in contrast to all the information I received, I was delighted to find a huge bike compartment, where I safely loaded my bike – even without having a  bike ticket, no one asked for one on the remaining journey. The train was surprisingly empty, I had a compartment of my own for part of the journey, later, a very pleasant fellow, who was a German living in Italy, entered, and we had a great discussion about the differing views on life of these two nations. Think I got in an hour or two of sleep as well and it was around 5 am by the time I reached Villach.

One of the highlights of my trip was to find my car parked intact, it was there, not broken into, no ticket, no scratches, the battery alive and kicking, it was a great feeling putting my foot on the accelerator (and not having to manually pedal to get some speed…😉). I headed towards Vienna, which is normally a 3-hour journey, but as I hardly slept the last two nights prior to that, I stopped three times to take naps at various rest stations, the journey took almost twice that long.

This is how my journey ended, me getting safely back to Vienna, meeting my parents and Anne, driving back to Munich to work the following morning. I spent the week working, the following weekend sleeeeeeping...