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.