Italian trip

Would you let someone you met over the internet come to your house and stay for five days? We were the lucky recipients of Caroline's hospitality when she did exactly that. I trawled the web for two weeks looking for a place where I could do some physical work while the boys are I were in Italy. No one was harvesting olives or grapes in mid December, but Caroline wrote to say that she may want someone to live in her house while she goes to visit family in the UK. We exchanged some emails and a phone call or two when, about three weeks before the trip, I called to say that we would definitely like to come. She sounded happy.
She told us later that she had second thoughts after she hung up the phone. "What have I done? I don't know these people at all. This is worse than a blind date. They are going to be living in MY HOUSE!" With the end of school and my efforts to plan the rest of the trip, I didn't think about it much.
I gave up on the finding-work plan and made a reservation at a youth hostel in Pompeii. The next day, I got a message that began, "We would love to host you and your sons for a week in mid-December." Then I changed the reservation and made plans to drive 5 hours from Bari, Italy after we got off the ferry from Albania to Bettona.

Six huge ships lit up like Christmas tree were exciting for all of us—my boys and I. Immature as a child? I'm guilty. During this off-season trip, there were about 6 cars on a deck that could hold about 100 cars. Regardless of this fact, we were directed to park close enough so that we had to squeeze out the window. The ship also carried about 20 semi-trailer trucks that were also packed in tightly. The trip over the Adriatic was mostly uneventful. We went to sleep right away because it was already 11:00 at night. During the night, I switched places with Maxim, who was on the top bunk, because the ship was pitching and rolling some 30 degrees. It was far enough anyway that I was afraid he might roll out. All arrived safely.