Bari Good (wandering in the City)

Wednesday October 27 was another beautiful day- lots of sun and a high of 19C.  We even had to put on suntan lotion during the early afternoon.  Claudia, our host, came over with a detailed map of the old city and also helped us make arrangements with Dora, who lives across the street, to cook us an orecchiette dinner on Friday night (our last night in Bari).  Claudia is definitely our best host of the trip. She is in her late 30s and her English is very good.  It helps that she lives nearby and knows everyone in the 'hood.  Any question we ask her, she answers within a few minutes.

Claudia had told us that there would be a vegetable guy at our corner in the mornings.  Lo and behold, he was there.

The corner veg and fruit guy-- a minute away from the apartment

Orecchiette morning purchase

Dora's apartment across our narrow street--- the whole world watches

Alonso says the old city reminds him of My Brilliant Friend--- some of it has a 1950s feel, though not as rough as Naples back in the day.  People here are very friendly and if you are looking lost holding a map, they will definitely help out.

Our street-- Arco Basso arch at end leads to a big street

Emerging from the arch is the Castello Svevo, a fortification that was designed to protect the inland side of the old city.  It was originally built in around 1132 by Norman King Roger II, it was destroyed in 1156 by King William I of Sicily and rebuilt and reinforced in 1233 by the Holy Roman emperor, Fredrick II.  It went through several transformations during the Angevin domination.  Later it was transformed into a prison and barracks under the King of Naples.  It is surrounded by a moat on all sides except for a section which borders the sea and can be reached from the bridge and the gate on the southern side.  A very imposing structure.

The Castle

Another view--- (we place our garbage in the waste bins) - this is one minute from our apartment )

With our trusty map in hand we wandered in the old city (it actually is not that large).  Lots of very narrow streets that suddenly merge into large squares.

One of the squares

Outside a shuttered restaurant

Apartments on a square

Lots of greenery in the streets

Chiesa di Santa Teresa dei Maschi- built in 1690 with a beautiful baroque facade

 Look closely- two women talking to each other from their balconies

We walked to the very large Piazza Mercantile, which had a number of cafes, restaurants and churches on the square. Formerly, the commercial centre of the city dating back to the 14th century, it is today a location for cultural events.

Piazza Mercantile

Palazzo del Sedile (rebuilt after a 1601 fire) with a 16th century clock tower

Interesting sculpture

Another view

More narrow streets

A street with a number of stores and restaurants

Chiesa di Santa Anna

One of our destinations was Panificio Fiore-- recommended by a number of people.  It was a wonderful old-fashioned bakery.  We bought a piece of hot focaccia for lunch.   They also sell packages of cookies, but all had butter.

Looking in Panificio Fiore-- worker having a smoke outside

I don't think I have mentioned yet in the blog that there are still many smokers in Italy and smoking is allowed on outdoor patios.  We always try and sit away from smokers, but sometimes this is tricky.

We went back to Piazza Mercantile to sit and have our focaccia.  So nice sitting in the hot sun!

Our lunch

We then continued to the Basilica of San Nicola, an immense church in the centre of Bari, renowned for its fantastic design, opulent interior and an important place of pilgrimage for Roman Catholics in Europe.

It was constructed in 1197 in a Romanesque style and dedicated to Saint Nicolas.  

Very difficult to photograph the entire Basilica- side view

San Nicola - sculpture by Autore Z. Tsereteli in 2003

Frontal view

Doorway with some fantastical animals

The inside of the Basilica was magnificent.

St. Nicholas 

The inside of the Basilica

Very ornate ceiling

The organ

View looking back

Another picture of the Basilica from another angle

After exploring the old city for a bit longer, we decided to walk down the main pedestrian shopping street- Via Sparano Da Bari.  

Alonso-- on the main shopping street-- lots of big name stores - both high end (eg Prada) and less expensive stores (Zara) on the same street.  The street leads directly to the train station. 

The bears were getting ready for Halloween

We walked to the train station and bought our train tickets for a day trip to Matera on Thursday.  Our train actually leaves from another train station,  just a few doors away.

Main train station where we had arrived from Lecce

Another cafe with bears-- people eat a lot of pastry in Puglia

We stopped for some photos of Teatro Petruzzelli.  Folks were going into an opera.  The Teatro is the fourth largest Italian theatre by size.  Work began in 1898 and the theatre was inaugurated in 1903.  In October 1991, the theatre was completely destroyed by fire, the result of arson.  The Teatro was reconstructed in 2009 (lots of intrigue between the family that owned the theatre and the City).

Teatro Petruzzelli

Photo of the inside from the outside

Caffè near the Theatre

A war memorial to those who died in the Italian unification

We then walked up the seafront to a bar/caffè that Claudia had recommended.  It had a wonderful view of the sea.  

The colour of the water was lovely and it was very calm

View near dusk

Ciclatera sotto il Mare had a small inside section and a great patio.

Sign for inside resto

Patio with fabulous view

Night at the harbour

I had a Cynar Spritz and Alonso had a Campari soda. We also had some olives and taralli as snacks.  So pleasant and still warm.

Our table

Then it was back to the apartment for a charcuterie and cheese plate and a salad with fresh fennel.  A glass of the Primitivo wine and an almond cookie to top off the day.

On Thursday, we are off to Matera for a day trip.