The next morning I tried calling the 1800 number to book the morning bus. Unfortunately my American phone could not access it so I decided to wing it. I had been told that you could buy bus tickets at grocery stores, bars, cafe’s, and Tobacco store’s, so I figured I’d start at the little grocery store. They sent me to the bar/cafe next door with was bustling with morning activity. I ordered an espresso and “uno billet”. The lady was very jovial and helpful, and I was soon caffeinated and waiting at the bus stop. Fortunately, another man was also waiting and had apparently called to book, thankfully! The bus came 20 minutes late, and I got a finger waggle “Non”, when I asked to buy a ticket. I didn’t need one this time, but wanted to check that there was some consistency in case I was running late in the future..good to know that you should always have a ticket!
On my dry run the day before, I had noticed our Canadian friends boat in one of the downtown marina’s. I was stopping by today to say hi and meet their guests who had arrived by ferry from Naples. They’d had a busy day the day before, and hiked up to the big market in San Beneditto, which was “an hour uphill” both ways. It was brutally hot with minimal breeze, and I made good use of the hand-fan that I had purchased the first season, after a hot excursion to Figures Spain..it was indispensable! Sandra and Doug were just finishing some provisioning and were planning on leaving that afternoon. They were heading to Nora so they could anchor out and swim to stay cool. Generously, they offered a spare berth to me, but I felt like I should stay at the boat as we were having intermittent hot battery warnings and there were thunder storms possible for the next 5 days. Still, I wanted to see Nora and Pula so I said I would meet them there in 2 days, and would plan to rent a car. (There was also going to be a music festival that day so it was shaping up to be a good all around cultural outing!).
I spent the following day securing a rental car and figuring out how to get to the location by buses and walking. As I would be doing this on a Saturday, I stopped at the marina office and explained the plan. The office would not be open in time to call and book the bus I needed to catch, but they walked me downstairs to the Bar/Cafe/Gelateria, and asked the manager to call it for me the next morning, which was incredibly helpful.
(It’s funny how this sort of assistance seemed like it was above and beyond the norm, but really, all of our friends and family would have offered this sort of help to other folks…I think I was just so grateful because between the heat, the language barrier, and the time it took to figure out alternatives for yourself, it was a relief to have someone make things a little easier.)
I got up early and arrived at the cafe where I ordered a chocolate croissant and 2 espresso’s at 2.80 euro, bargain! I used google translate to ask if he wouldn’t mind calling the bus for me, which he did 10 minutes later after explaining to me in slow Italian that he couldn’t call until 20 minutes before the bus was due. This left me time to walk briskly to the bar/cafe next to the market and buy a ticket and another espresso..figured I should be sufficiently caffeinated to be in the right frame of mind for driving in Italy! The bus arrived on time and there was nobody else waiting so it was good I had the help to get it booked. Once in downtown, I knew I needed to get on “Linea 1” and inquired at a bus ticket counter for city buses where this might be. They sent me over to the ARST Blue bus line, which served areas outside of metro Cagliari, who in turn sent me back to a city bus stop counter, where the nice young woman wrote me the name of the area I should get off at and said it would be a 5 minute walk from there to the Europcar rental center. She sold me the ticket for 1.30 EU and told me “you exit and go left” to get to the number 1 bus stop. After a bit of a wander, I determined that it was more accurately left, right, left and was happy to see the next # 1 bus would arrive in 5 minutes. I showed the bus driver the paper with the name of area I was to get off at which was near a big church, and got a nod that it was indeed on this route. It’s never a bad idea to check information twice with different sources! I ended up over shooting the stop by 2 stops, (as I couldn’t see the church and the automated screen that tells you which stop it is was broken), and as I was getting off, he pointed to the bus stop across the street indicating that I could catch a bus back down to the correct stop, and shaking his head as if to indicate what a dumb arse I was for missing it, which made me smile. Google maps to the rescue and a 20 minute walk later, I arrived hot and sweaty at the car rental office. The rental transaction didn’t take long, and in 10 minutes I was headed off to Nora with a few simple directions (confirmed with google maps), behind the wheel of a manual 4 door Opal with plenty of pep and frequent instructions on when to change gear, what the posted speed limit was, and caution of upcoming camera control areas. The route was briefly urban and industrial, before quickly becoming a causeway with a stagno on the right, and a narrow beach on the left. About halfway around the bay to Nora, there was a large refinery with a shipping terminal. The land was flat near the coast until it abutted the rocky foothills and mountains. The road itself was 2 lane and in good nick (but no lighting), with a few roundabouts as you passed through little villages. I drove through the outskirts of Pula which appeared to have a cute old town district with a little central square surrounded by Taverns, Ristorantes and Gelateria’s. Nora was another 10 minutes of narrow windy road from there, and I found a handy parking lot.
It became obvious when I disembarked, that the humidity had been building as I drove in my air-conditioned car, and I could see the thunder clouds draped around the peaks.. I walked up to the Nora archaeological area, passing through the end of an Italian wedding in time to see the bride and groom exit (but after the plate breaking and rice throwing sadly). I then waited in line with 30 or so equally hot and sticky tourists, and when I arrived at the counter, discovered the next tour didn’t start for another 25 minutes…so I strolled around some of the ruins that I could access without a pass and emailed the Canadians to see what their plans were.
#livingthedream
Love the posts. Sounds like this day was especially adventurous.