Brendisi Italy, July 2rd, 1997 Good Pizza      When you travel in Europe you are always meeting up with other travelers. Sometimes you spend a week or so with the person. Other times you are just two ships who pass in the night. There are also rare occasions where you wish you never started to talk to the person. This is one of those cases.     It was July of 1997. I had just spent two weeks in Northern Italy. I had spent my last day exploring Pompeii and night in the costal town of Salarno. My next destination was the port of Brendesi where I would catch a boat to Corfu, Greece. This process involved catching a seven A.M. train to the east coast of Italy and then another train from the main line down to Brendisi, an Adriatic port that services the Greek ferries.     The first leg of my journey was uneventful for the most part. I shared the compartment with some Italian Jehovah Witnesses who were very nice and did not try to talk to me about Religion. I changed trains at a station somewhere on the east coast of Italy about an hour or so north of Brendisi. Italian rail has made vast improvements with being on time so I arrived with plenty of time to sit around and wait for the next train. During this time I met a pair of Dutch girls, a college student from the mid west (who thought I was Italian) and a pair of recent college graduates from a school known for its woman's soccer program. We were all waiting for the same train with the same idea in mind. Get to Brendesi, get boat tickets and be on our way to Corfu. The Dutch girls were the seasoned travelers and very sensible. The single guy was the stereotypical ugly American tourist. The college students were well to do and very naive when it came to travel. So naive, one left his wallet on his seat when he went to the bathroom on a night train. He never saw it again. Because we had the same destination and plan in mind, we all boarded the Brendesi train together.     When the train arrived in Brendesi, we went into the ticket office for Adriatic Cruises. (Adriatic only leaves on the even day but goes directly to Corfu, a must see island if you arrive on an odd day you have to take Hellenic to the coast of Greece and then a smaller boat to the domestic port at Corfu). The ticket office must get hundreds of backpackers each day each going to the same place. Therefore the agent was somewhat lazy and put us all on the same ticket, which I held firmly onto. So we were stuck together for the next few hours. The intelligence, or lack there of, of my fellow Americans was already getting on my nerves.     After seeing the port of Brendesi (A town never to be stuck in overnight) the members of my group got hungry so we started to look for a restaurant. I was not really in the mood for eating out. I had I had stocked up on food for the boat ride since I knew I would get hungry after we left for port. The Dutch girls had done likewise, however they didn't want to be rude so they went along. It was the three American college students that were determined to find food before we left. So we wandered the main street.     We came upon a restaurant with neon signs which proclaimed "We Speak English". Furthermore, the restaurant had a man (known as a Handler) saying they had good pizza. I have three main reasons to avoid a restaurant. The first reason: Neon Signs of any sort. Secondly, I skip restaurants which have a sign saying they speak English. My last and most important reason to skip a restaurant is a Pushy handler, someone who stands outside a bar or restaurant and tries to get people to come in. Well this restaurant had all three. Of course the other guys in the group were swayed by his comments of having "good pizza" and the neon signs so they went in.      One look at the menu and I decided to pass on the food. The menu consisted of mostly overpriced pizza. I paid about 8000 L for pizza in Venice sitting by a scenic plaza. Pizza at this little hole in the wall was around 12,000 L. (10 dollars at the time) I was polite and ordered a Fanta, a modest 750 L (About 50 cents at the time). Everyone else ordered pizza. When the pizza came it was burnt, it didn't look too good, and the reports from the Dutch girls was it did taste too good either. I was glad that I didn't order the pizza. It didn't taste good and it was too expensive for my budget.      When the bill came, the waiter mentioned that he added the customary sit down fee of 2000 L per person but decided not to charge me because I didn't eat, which was very nice of him. This addition of the sit down fee completely baffled the guys. I guess they didn't know that you are always charged if you sit down to eat at a restaurant in Italy. I bet they had scene it on their bills but it was less and they hadn't eaten in a party of six before. They decided we should split the extra 10, 000 L between all of us. I didn't want to argue and I did want to get rid of my Lira so I went along with it. I think I ended up paying 3000 L for sitting down for a drink. That is one expensive bottle of soda. Guide Books |  FAQs |  Photos for Sale |  Travel Essays |  Links Contact info: