Bari - Gateway to Puglia

After a few days in Rome, we continued David's birthday trip by catching a train to Bari, the capital of Puglia. While we've traveled through central and northern Italy, this was a new region for us and we were eager to explore the food and culture. The train was high speed from Rome to near Naples, then a bit slower the rest of the way. It still took only a little more than 4 hours to travel the 430km. Arriving in Bari, we walked about 15 minutes from the train station to our AirBnB in the historic center. Our AirBnB was very interesting! It was recessed into the bottom of an old building, with cool stone arched ceilings and a lofted bedroom. Unfortunately, the hot water wasn't working at first, but after flipping a tripped circuit breaker we were in business. 

We need high speed rail in the US!

Staying safe on the train.

It's hard to see when you're speeding by on the train, but there's some great scenery on the route.

The "new" part of Bari.

Our AirBnB was in the lower level of a building in the old town.

The bedroom was lofted near the vaulted ceiling!

Fancy-pants bathroom with stone walls in the shower.

We didn't have a ton of time in Bari, and to make matters worse it was chilly and rainy upon our arrival. We did make the most of our time, though, with a walking tour of the old town. Our first stop, just a minute or two away from our AirBnB was St. Nicholas Basilica. Yes, that St. Nicholas! Coincidentally, the day we arrived (Dec 6) was the Feast of St. Nicholas. There were many people visiting the basilica, lighting candles, and viewing the altar and relics of Santa Claus in his crypt. The Basilica of St. Nicholas was constructed between 1089 - 1197 specifically to host the relics of the saint. The people of Bari had a dispute with the Venetians about who would host the relics that resulted in pirates sailing to Venice and stealing them! We're sure this story should be taken with a grain of salt, but it's still pretty interesting.

After visiting the basilica, we wandered around in the rain (we got soaked) before stopping for lunch at La Cecchina. This was probably one of the better meals of the trip, and was a total accident to discover. The fun thing about Italian food is that it's pretty straightforward, so you can find a great meal almost anywhere without as much issue as finding good food in America. Italian food is also very regional, so food from Puglia is not the same as from Rome or Tuscany. In our previous trip to Italy, David noted that none of the food really tasted like his Dad's or Grandmother's cooking. He always just assumed his family's cooking was Americanized. Turns out, however, he just didn't go to the right spots in Italy! Needless to say, it was an emotional meal. Lunch also introduced us to Puglian primitivo wines, which we consumed by the bottle the rest of the trip!

David with St. Nicholas.

It's not your imagination - the arches in the church are a bit askew.

Lighting candles for the Feast of St. Nicholas.

The statue of St. Nick is brought up into the church for the feast day twice a year.

Bari has a very pretty corniche, but we only saw a bit due to the bad weather.

Old town was a maze of roads and buildings.

Lots of cute little piazzas, too!

Paul's lunch.

David eating orecchiette with braciole, very similar to the flavors of his grandma's cooking. 

After lunch we wandered around the old town a while more, hitting up some random street vendors for fried polenta and fig cartellate before relaxing at the AirBnB when it started to rain harder again. Since the weather was so bad, we basically stayed inside most of the rest of the afternoon before venturing out for take away sandwiches for dinner from Mastro Ciccio on the edge of the old and new cities. On our way back, in the pouring rain, we watched the tail-end of the Feast of St. Nicholas firework display, which they apparently do rain or shine.

Bell tower of the cathedral.

Fried polenta snack.

Cartellate - Puglian Christmas fried fig and reduced wine treat.

The castle at the edge of the historic center of Bari.

Another cute (and wet) square.

"Pasta street" is an area where grandmas make pasta in the street. But it was a bit empty because of the weather.

David on a quiet rainy square.

Christmas lights in a rainy alley.

St. Nicholas display at the Basilica after dark.

Sandwiches at Mastro Ciccio.

Fireworks display for the Feast of St. Nicholas.

Christmas lights in the rainy piazza.

We didn't really spend much time in Bari, but I think it's a city that probably deserved at least a full day. The old town is really cute and walkable, and we didn't visit anything in the newer part of town or any of the museums. Bari makes a really great base to visit Puglia, though, so we'd recommend you give it a bit of love. If nothing else, get some orecchiette, a bottle of primitivo wine and take a stroll along the corniche.

Lazy Sunday in Rome & the Vatican

For our last full day in Rome before heading down south to Puglia, we started with some more off-the-beaten path sights, including a morning visit to the Quartiere Coppedè on the north side of the city. We took a bus to this small but enchanting neighborhood, built in the 1920s by a Florentine architect. It's basically just one block in each direction, with whimsical ornate structures and a fountain of frogs in the middle. It might not be on the top of the tourist list, but it's worth a visit if you have a long stay in Rome or you're interested in unique architecture. The surrounding neighborhoods are leafy and pleasant. 

From there we took a bus to the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia. This is a large museum in a former pope's villa, focusing on Etruscan history from the first millennium BC. It's an excellent museum, with a TON of pottery, some interesting funerary and temple sculptures, and even a whole relocated tomb. It's a bit out of the way and less visited than other museums in Rome, but provides an interesting perspective on an often overlooked period of Italy's history. The villa itself is from the 1550s and there are still some interesting mosaics and murals remaining.

Pleasant neighborhood around Piazza Buenos Aires.

The church of Santa Maria Addolorata on Piazza Buenos Aires.

The Quartiere Coppedè and fountain of the frogs.

Neat architecture.

Whimsical building complete with seahorses.

Villa Giulia, home of the Etruscan museum.

An intact Etruscan tomb.

The museum's most famous piece, the sarcophagus of the spouses.

Detail on a statue from a temple in Veii. Pretty impressive for the 6th century BC!

David in the courtyard.

From here we took a long meandering walk, enjoying the mostly sunny day. Heading south, our first stop was the Piazza del Popolo. This area was pretty lively, with people taking in the atmosphere of this touristy area. We ducked in to the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo, checked out the fountain in the square, and continued on to a nice lunch at PizzaRe. Continuing south after eating, we passed the Augustus Mausoleum, and visited the Ara Pacis museum. For some reason entry was free on this day. It's a small museum but houses an impressive altar in a cool modern space. From here we began walking toward the Vatican, crossing the Tiber River and passing by the Italian Supreme Court.

Porta del Popolo, a gate built in 1475 leading into the city of Rome at the time.

The basilica is more plain than some in Rome, but still impressive.

One of 13 ancient Egyptian obelisks in Rome.

Yum!

Outside of the Augustus Mausoleum.

The Ara Pacis Museum.

Italian Supreme Court.

We weren't totally sure what to expect at the Vatican. The last time we went (in the summer several years ago) it was packed - the square was overflowing with people and the queue for the museum was blocks long. This time, were just a few random groups and people wandering around the square and the queue to enter St Peter's itself was less than 10 minutes long. Our primary objective this visit was to climb to the top of the dome, which has 550 steps and amazing views. Afterwards, we spent a little time wandering around the Cathedral itself, which was not at all busy.

Sunny afternoon at St. Peter's.

Bernini's statues line the square.

View down into St. Peter's basilica.

David climbing in one of the narrow windy staircases to reach the top of the dome.

The 360-degree view at the top is amazing!

Sunset views across the city.

The view down to St. Peter's Square overlooking Rome.

This is the core of the old city - can you spot the pantheon?

One of the side domes on the roof.

David inside St. Peter's. You can see it's not very busy today.

Every inch of the inside is decorated.

An amazing Bernini sculpture with marble draped over a bronze figure of the angel of death.

After wandering around St. Peter's for a bit, the sun was setting so we went back towards the AirBnB near the Pantheon. Along the way we stopped by the Turtle Fountain and got some gelato at Frigidarium (which was very yummy). For dinner that evening we opted for some quick take-away since we were packing up and getting ready for our train ride to Bari the next morning. We found a kebab place near the Jewish Quarter called Oriental Fonzie. The food was great and we'd recommend it if you're in the neighborhood and want a break from pasta or pizza.

Mmmm. Shawarma. 

Next up - our travels to the south of Italy!