Ah me hearties. Some highlights from our fierce travels across the oceans over the last few days - them sees can be tough!

Santorini to Greece saw us harassed by some seedy passengers - they stared continuously with lascivious looks in their (patched) eyes. We think they even snuck some pics of us on their mobile phones. When Kate told the deckhands of the trouble they assured us some new seats down below in the finer seating. Cut to the next scene - there we were, plonked on 2 desk chairs in the middle of a walkway with people starring at us as they passed through. Not quite the protection and upgrade we had desired.

We finally got to the (average) hostel - loved that cold shower in the morning after little sleep. Then it was our intriguing train ride to the port as we have already filled you in on. Our ferry to Bari had a pool on deck, though we did not take advantage for fear of catching something. We ate our own weight in peanuts and other such supermarket snacks that become the staple food group of the traveler. Later in the night we snuck inside to the posh seats and slept on the floor - just as every other pleb with a deck ticket does.

Our arrival in the Italian port of Bari was marred by the fact that the ports don't really want to give you your ferry tickets - and there were no Johnny Depp looking staff to help us out (keeping with our pirates theme and all). People were yelling and pushing to try and get their tickets, in a frantic scramble, as we sat outside and lamented about how much we stank and craved a decent shower...

Finally we got our tickets and tried to entertain ourselves for the day. We truly found the treasure when we begun the mission of getting on the ferry to Dubrovnik. Bless the Italians - minimal staff to check passports, regulate crowds and to let us know where we are going - actually the staff totaled approx 5 people to do this!

Well if we thought we were plebs on the last ferry we were wrong - it had been more like the luxury of the first class Titanic compared to the tiny and basic surrounds we now faced. We were delayed by 2 hours due to brilliant organisation at the port as mentioned, the toilets were beyond vile and we were lumbered with another bossy, yelling European grandmother. This nonna was more painful than when we cut off our legs to give ourselves wooden ones!

We finally docked only to face a barrage of people yelling at us to stay at their houses. We decided on a really nice couple with a lovely place close to everything - so refreshing to be able to cook and have your own CLEAN bathroom.

Dubrovnik is amazing - so beautiful - we are actually writing this from an outdoor internet cafe surrounded by lush gardens. The water is crystal clear and the perfect temperature. The Old Town is fantastic - beautiful old buildings bustling with people and shops. The seafood is also a feature - look out for picture of Katie and her fish as soon as the pics will finally work (they are taking forever).

Wish you were here enjoying it with us...