4-Xtremes – Part 19: crossing the Adriatic and its many hurdles

Series: 4-Xtremes – The World Tour

Here comes the ferry!

On the latest stage of their journey, Andrea and Mike needed one thing in particular: patience. As the saying goes, good things come to those who wait. But what did the pair get for their perseverance? Find out below!

Camping with a view after having a corona test: shortly before leaving Greece, Andrea and Mike managed to find yet another beautiful spot.


Last time around, we told you about our three corona tests and a week in quarantine which separated us from our next destination. Well, in the meantime, we've passed all of the tests with flying colours and arrived at our intermediate destination. Buongiorno from Italy!

Wondering how we got here? In Greece, we drove all the way north before making a quick stop at the aqueduct ruins near the ancient city of Nikopolis, both of which are steeped in Roman history. Then, in Ioannina, we had our first test.


Roman ruins on both sides of the Adriatic – separated only by a ferry crossing.
Roman ruins on both sides of the Adriatic – separated only by a ferry crossing.
Roman ruins on both sides of the Adriatic – separated only by a ferry crossing.
Roman ruins on both sides of the Adriatic – separated only by a ferry crossing.
Roman ruins on both sides of the Adriatic – separated only by a ferry crossing.
Roman ruins on both sides of the Adriatic – separated only by a ferry crossing.
Roman ruins on both sides of the Adriatic – separated only by a ferry crossing.
Roman ruins on both sides of the Adriatic – separated only by a ferry crossing.
Roman ruins on both sides of the Adriatic – separated only by a ferry crossing.
Roman ruins on both sides of the Adriatic – separated only by a ferry crossing.
Roman ruins on both sides of the Adriatic – separated only by a ferry crossing.
Roman ruins on both sides of the Adriatic – separated only by a ferry crossing.

The ferry is running... we think.

The results should have been there on the next afternoon, so we decided to camp overlooking the city. Rather surprisingly, it was actually warmer 500 metres higher up than it was down by the coast. After getting our negative test result back, we dashed off to Igoumenitsa, from where our ferry was supposed leave during the night.

Full of glee, we bought ourselves an ice cream and a short time later received a rather sobering e-mail: a strike on the Greek side meant that the ferry was cancelled and rescheduled for the next day. Perhaps. Great! In essence, we weren't fussed about the delay, but it meant that our negative corona tests may no longer be valid as they're not allowed to be more than 48 hours old. The lady at the check-in booth couldn't help us further, so we just had to sit it out and hope.

Filling in the gaps.

After spending the night near the port, we got the good news: the ferry will be departing today. And as vehicles like our Axor are much shorter than many freight trucks, they're often used to fill in any gaps on the boat. And so, just short of midnight, we were among the last passengers to drive onto the ship.


We spent the night in a cabin and at around 8 a.m., we arrived in the port of Brindisi. The border guards only took a brief look inside the truck and didn't even bother to look at our papers. Buongiorno Italia!

All we had to do now was to drive across the “boot” in order to continue our journey. But we weren't in a rush and decided not to fix ourselves a specific destination just yet. After all, you know how it goes: there are still two corona tests and a week of quarantine awaiting us. Keep your fingers crossed!


4-Xtremes – The World Tour.

An unparalleled journey.

Andrea and Mike Kammermann have been on tour in their Axor for three years. "4-Xtremes – The World Tour" is the motto of the journey that the two Swiss nationals embarked on in mid-2020 and which they share with the RoadStars community. Keep up to date and don't miss out on any of the stunning destinations visited by the adventurous pair.

You can find the current parts from the “4-Xtremes – The World Tour” series here.

You can find the route of the trip before the crossing to South America here.

 


Photos: 4-Xtremes

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