Taking The Ferry From Italy To Tunisia – What Can I Recommend?

Taking The Ferry From Italy To Tunisia – My Story

It was my younger sister who was the one that originally planned to come to Tunisia. Her partner booked an all inclusive holiday here for her, himself, my 2 nephews, my nephews girlfriend and my 2 nieces. He said at the time that if I got the money together and I booked myself then I could come as well but he was drunk so I know he might not have fully meant it.

This was months before I ever booked my own travel and accommodation.

At the time I was actually quite upset because my sister said she didn’t want me to come. She said she wanted this holiday to be with just her and her family. I knew what she meant – it wasn’t that she didn’t think of me as family but she just wanted a holiday with her partner and her 4 children. She told me later that she was worried about me getting drunk which I did understand.

Although, at the time I felt quite rejected by this. It made me feel like things that I’ve had to deal with in the past were starting to rear their ugly head again. Part of me just wanted to make a stand and just find out the details and make my own arrangements just to prove a point.

It was something I was conflicted over still. I’m not sure if there ever was a point that I gave up on the idea. I was looking at flights before but I didn’t want to upset my sister.

I think there was a point I wasn’t going to come (maybe) but It was kind of strange what happened that made me to decide to go ahead with booking my flight to Rome with the intention of getting the ferry to Tunisia.

Getting Into Rome Italy – This Was Really Happening!

This felt like a long time coming. It was almost like there was no way I wasn’t getting here. 5:15AM I was at the train station, and I got to Gatwick Airport with a good amount of time to spare at about 6:25AM.

It was another one of those times I thought I should have slept for longer. For how tired I felt I really wished I had left an hour later and got some more sleep.

I’ve definitely got a lot of anxiety when it comes to missing my flights. This time was no different, and I suppose its just as well because here I was on my way to Rome.

I found it pretty easy really – getting the train into Rome and finding my hostel. The walk here was a bit much with carrying my bags. For some bizarre reason I still had my coat on, and It was very hot but I didn’t have to far to walk so it was OK in the end.

Arriving At My Hostel In Rome

My hostel – the Villa Luzzatti was a bit shocking actually come to mention it. It is quite an old building. Definitely has a lot of history but this wasn’t really the problem.

What bothered me most after getting here was I wanted a shower but forgot to pack a towel. I thought it would be alright because I assumed the hostel would have one to rent (or to just let me use) like so many other hostels I been to before.

But no they did NOT. The receptionist could barely understand me and when he did he seemed surprised I was asking him. I mean maybe this is just Italy but I couldn’t believe it, and really this was just the start.

I wasn’t even given a key or door key code. They basically just showed me my room and where my bed was and that was it. It seemed like anyone could have just walked in here. I think maybe they have enough trust in people for nothing bad to happen maybe. Fair enough but whilst I’m complaining about the place. There was other things.

The door handles in the room were broken – you couldn’t close the door. The beds were very close together and it was a mixed dorm. Also, the light was broken and I had to use a lamp. Not all the plugs worked in the room and it was shocking really.

I paid 11 euros in the end for a towel from the shop. I know I should have packed one but I guess the silver lining was I got to have a nice walk round this part of the city. The shop I found was right by St. Marias Maggiore Basilica. It is one the 4 Papal Basilica’s in Rome and the largest Marian Church in the city.

I really should have looked at getting a ticket to go in or something. It was a shame I didn’t because it was such a fascinating place to see there in front of me.

There was something going on over the park nearby as well. I’m not sure if this was some kind of annual festival or something they have here every weekend but there was world food tents and music. I hung around here for a bit and it seemed cool.

The world food stalls here included Ethiopia, The Congo, Brazil, Georgia, Morocco, Azerbajan and a good few others. I really felt like I should have been brave enough to order from one of them but I never did.

I think I can be pretty boring at times but maybe other British tourists would have been the same – I’m not sure.

After this I just ended up coming back to the hostel, taking a shower and going to bed. I felt like it was a bit of a shame not to go back out. I mean I really could have done because it wasn’t that late really but I think I needed the rest.

After the past few days I didn’t really get much (rest) and there was also matter of going to Tunisia via Salerno which is not exactly close by.

Visiting Bioparco Di Roma Zoo – What Was It Like?

I suppose this is kind of traditional for me. Most countries I go to I’ll check out their zoos and wildlife reserves. This was my main plan for the one whole day I had in Rome.

I suppose most tourists would have opted for the Colosseum or Vatican City but I thought this would be something else different I could do.

Really I found it slightly boring. I wasn’t drinking – so it wasn’t that but I think it was just like so many other zoos I been to over the past couple years.

Possibly I need to stop going to so many. It wasn’t a bad zoo really but I think on the day I just wasn’t really feeling it.

Although, it was cool to see the Brown Bears. I’ve been to so many zoos and they have been nowhere to be seen. Here there was 2 bears I see and a small cub (which was quite cute). There was an Anaconda here too which are always quite amazing to see, and they had big Komodo Dragons and Monitor Lizards.

I got round most of the zoo – I was doing my best to follow the map I was given with numbers. There was some animals I didn’t see – no wolves, otters, wild dogs, hippos or bear-cats. I mean I’m not sure if this made too much difference to how I was feeling on the day but it was not that bad really.

The animals I did see were the Giraffes, Elephants, Rhinos, Monkeys including Tamarins and Marmosets. There was the Tigers, Lions and Chimpanzees as well and of course the Bears and Reptiles as well. Just to name a few.

The walk round was a good bit of exercise too. Lots of hills to walk up. It was a bit tiring but I do say I like to walk when I’m away on these trips. My thinking is that it is good to make up for all the idle time I spend at home. Zoos are great places to go for a walk. This is one reason I like to go to them and to just enjoy the surroundings.

What I Did After I Left The Zoo

I left the zoo after I felt I had been round everywhere. I’m not sure how long I spent here on the day but I think It was worth the 19 euros I paid. I didn’t have anything planned after this but to just go back to my hostel.

The Colosseum I thought about going to but it wasn’t until getting the tram back to my hostel that I noticed it was only 4 or 5 stops away. It maybe was the best thing about my hostel. I didn’t give much thought about location when I got here but after this I did think for the price (a lot cheaper than most places available) it was kind of the silver lining of it all.

So, I left the Zoo and went to see the one of the “7 Wonders of the World” – The Roman Colosseum. I didn’t even acknowledge this at the time but this is no. 4 on the official list.

The Roman Colosseum – What Did I Think?

Now when I think about it in hindsight – I think that it would have been a terrible shame if I didn’t come here to see this place. Really, I’m sure this will be one of the greatest building you could ever see in your life. Even just to look at it from the street outside it’s really something else.

So, once you get here you begin to see there is so much more around the area. Before I actually decided to buy a ticket for the Colosseum I had a good wander around. I went inside a church and I wandered how much I could see without actually paying for a ticket.

You will see that the largest part of this site is the Forum. In a way I wanted to explore this more than the Colosseum. It really just looks like there is so much more here to see. I actually paid for the ticket hoping to get in here, with the Colosseum really only an afterthought.

The ticket unfortunately I bought I got too late to gain access to the forum. The ticket guard said you typically need about 2 hours and it was under 2 hours until the site closed. I still had the opportunity to go into the Colosseum though and this definitely made up for it.

What Is The Roman Colosseum Like Inside?

So, I was quite happy to pay this still, and I’m glad I did because it was truly AMAZING. It just boggles the mind to think about what this place has been through.

• How old is it?
• How much of it is still here since these times long gone?
• and EVEN (my favourite question – was this even built by the Romans, or was it here before?

I’ve heard the Pyramids in Egypt are like this. Apparently, they are older than Ancient Egypt and belonged to a past advanced civilization that lived here WAY before.

The ancient past is so fascinating to me. Like how much do we really know? The Colosseum I see a picture of Inside of it being much taller and being quite reminiscent of the Tower of Babel..

It’s actually quite Interesting as Pieter Bruegel, the Dutch Renaissance Artist based his painting of the Tower of Babel on the Roman Colosseum. You have to question why this is? Was this really a place that existed and could it have been here?

I mean I guess not. Babel, I’m sure is the same as Babylon and this was the area on the lower Euphrates River in southern Mesopotamia. It is now Iraq so I don’t belie that but could have the Colosseum been much taller?

I am very fascinated by the legend of the Tartarian Mud Flood. This is apparently evident in places like St. Petersburg Cathedral, with its partially submerged windows on the ground floor. It is said that in Cities like Prague for Instance that they had to build new buildings on top of old ones because this really happened.

The Colosseum does have an underground so I do wonder – was this once above ground and was the building once much visibly taller?

I don’t know if this is true – my thinking is about there being more levels underground then the 2 which were used by the Gladiators and the animals such as Lions that were kept Inside of here.

Maybe one day this will come out in the news. “Hidden floors found underneath the Roman Colosseum”.

I wont bet any money on it but I would love for something like this to be discovered.

I will let people make their own minds up about this but STILL either way even if The Colosseum is what we’ve all been told it is and something else even more spectacular – it still is very worthy of it’s title of the 4th Wonder of the World.

My advice would be to make a full day of it and pay for the full experience – which I think is 24 euros.

You may want to look at booking a tour if you want to take this a step further but I suppose this depends on how much money you really want to spend.

Now, back to my STORY>>

My Last Two Days In Italy

This was the day that I felt so much was building up towards – actually finally getting to Tunisia. I set my alarm for 5.55 AM as I knew I needed to make sure I was in time for my train.

I needed to catch my train to Napoli at 6.56AM and I was definitely not leaving anything to chance. My anxiety was through the roof! The night before I was constantly waking up and checking the time. It must have been every hour or so that I was waking back up before going back to sleep.

It was quite bad. On this morning I totally went into panic mode. My thought was that because I booked my train ticket whilst I was still back home in England the time difference meant that my train was coming at 5.56AM Instead of 6:56AM.

It was just so stupid. In my head I was thinking that I only had 26 minutes to catch my train, and I had very little time to get here. I swear – quite often I think my life would make a good TV sitcom. There is a reason I go around with a Mr Bean Teddy Bear – I remind myself of him sometimes and this was just one of these days. It was absolutely horrible.

I couldn’t get out the door quick enough. I literally grabbed everything I had and run out the door of the hostel. I then run all the way down the road carrying my bags and trying to use Google Maps to get to the tram stop. I just managed to get on with about a minute to spare and got to Roma Termini Station just as the 5:55AM train was leaving.

The horror of being so close and still NOT making it. I think the worst part is that here and other parts of Italy if you miss a train you have to buy a new ticket. Its not like England where you can use your ticket any time on the same day.

This was £35 I paid and thought I had lost so it was not a nice feeling.

But What A Plonker I Was

I could have cried. I was so mentally exhausted from rushing out after I’d only just woke up (after barely sleeping the night before) – It felt like it was just typical bad luck but then I realized lol – it was the 6:56AM train that I needed to catch after all NOT the 5:56AM train. I still had a whole hour. Can you believe that?

What a Relief! It was now feeling like everything was Indeed after all going to plan. I had no problem catching my train to Napoli, and I even had enough time to go to the toilet and have some food. I was thinking I should give myself a pat on the back after all this.

I was telling myself “well done Alex, this is actually happening. Tomorrow I will be in Tunisia”.

It was such a lovely thought BUT I wasn’t over the line just yet. I still had to catch my ferry.

Getting into Salerno and Catching The Ferry

This was of course the main mission of this trip. There was getting to Gatwick Airport on the train back in the UK for my very early flight. Then getting to Napoli and Salerno on the morning I had to catch this ferry. It was one thing after another but I was now here in Salerno and I really felt I was in good time.

“I have a whole 2 hours” I thought. After getting off the the train in Salerno I was on the bus within minutes and it was like I had done everything right. I was getting closer and closer to my goal and just like that this is where the problems started.

I think first of all it was not being sure where to get off the bus. I was tracking on Google Maps but I must have ended up about 15-20 minutes out the way. It was definitely not ideal but I rushed ahead and got to the GPS coordinates I got from my email.

It was so confusing. The GPS location I was given by the ferry company (DirectFerries.com) was for those with vehicles – not for foot passengers. I went to walk in past the gates but was told in Italian (not that I could understand it) that I could not come any further.

I did not know what to do, and even though the guard on the gates seemingly told me to head to the right, and to keep walking – I Instead went off in the complete opposite direction.

I was checking my phone trying to find the ferry port entrance. I was downloading taxi apps and stopping people hoping someone could understand English. All was hopeless. I was running round like a headless chicken, and It was not till I see the same guard again – who AGAIN pointed to the right that I actually found where I was supposed to go.

If I only I had just listened to him. I do wonder if I’d have actually made it. It did say in my email that I should be here 210 minutes before the ferry leaves but I was guessing I still had time.

Maybe I would have NOT made it anyway, but, still I’m guessing I probably could have been here a whole hour earlier, and I’m sure that would have maybe made the difference.

I was told to wait for 5 minutes by one of the guards. It was still before 1:30PM when the ferry was scheduled for departure so I had a glimmer of hope.

But I kind of knew it already – it was just my luck – a woman come to the ticket office and she came across a bit aggressive really because I was cutting it VERY fine>

She said – There was NO WAY I was getting my ferry to Tunis, and there wouldn’t be another ferry till the following Friday. I came all this way and I never even managed to do this. It was kind of heart breaking but I did think –

“oh well, at least now I don’t have to endure a 24 hour crossing from here to Tunis. I did give some thought to just staying in Italy but I still wasn’t ready to give up on my holiday.

So I did what I probably should have done in the first place. I went on Skyscanner and looked for available flights from Italy to Tunisia. £50 I see it would be to fly from Milan but it was for the same night, and could I really get there in time?

I wasn’t ready to chance it. Not after missing my ferry but I see the next day I could fly here for the same price at the same time. It was a way to go but this was my new mission.

Also, the best part about it was I got to spend a bit longer in Salerno. It really is a beautiful city. I probably wouldn’t have minded staying here for a couple of days. I think maybe I am kind of grateful because I never would have known about this beautiful place otherwise if I didn’t book this ferry ticket but still all this effort I put into getting here – what a shame this was.