Locals relaxing in the streets of Old Town
We arrived tired and ready to sleep after our whirlwind tour of Rome. The train was an hour late into Bari, but it didn’t bother us because we had prepared a panini picnic for the journey! Our plan was to spend the night in a cheap hotel then take a ferry to Greece the following evening.
Our hotel for the night, Hotel Romeo, did not have air conditioning but at least there was a fan. Overall, this year of traveling has really helped me appreciate the small victories more. The following morning, that little victory was out shined by a major setback. After walking an hour in the heat searching for the correct ferry terminal, we learned that the ferry was completely booked meaning we couldn’t leave for several more days. I hadn’t pre-booked the ferry online because the website gave me a higher price than it should have been with our Eurail pass. After researching and finding no other options, we booked seats on the next available ferry. We decided to make the most of our extra few days in Bari.
For our extra nights, I found a nice B&B, Dolci Emozioni, in our price range that even had air conditioning! We checked into a very spacious room and looked into cleaning our laundry. We walked to a few laundry mats we found online and none were open. We were not sure if we had the addresses wrong, if the businesses were closed for just a few hours, or days for even weeks. There was no information. Instead, we hand washed our clothes in the hotel bathroom and hung them to dry on our large terrace. We relaxed the rest of the afternoon in comfort while working on the website.
Dinner at Boccaccio
For dinner, Sara researched and found two restaurants that looked good and affordable. When we went out, they were both closed again with no indication why. Eventually, we found several restaurants at the edge of old town. We settled on Boccaccio which also looked closed except for one other patron at the tables, but I’m glad we stuck with it. The food was excellent.
Greenery in the densely developed Old Town
The next day, we wandered around Bari’s old town getting ourselves lost in all the narrow twists and turns. We stumbled upon a bike rental shop, Velo Service, with very friendly staff who gave us some tips of streets to see. We grabbed some focaccia bread from a local bakery, Panificio Santa Rita, which excellent topped with tomatoes and olives. We stopped by several churches and strolled down Strada Barone which was lined with locals making pasta by hand.
So many of the business we tried looked like this – closed up with no information
During our second day exploring, we confirmed that it’s not just the Spanish that take an afternoon siesta. It was also prevalent in Italy and I could see why. After a few hours of exploring, the heat was taking its toll on Sara and I. On the way back to our hotel, we stopped at a grocery store for lunch and made it inside right before they were closing for the afternoon. Good thing we made it because everything else around was already closed and we didn’t want to go hungry again!
Dinner at Cibo
Dinner that night was actually at a restaurant we found online that wasn’t closed. Cibo was pretty much a fast food place that specialized in panzerotti which resemble calzones. The price was right at only 1.50€ each and 1€ for a Peroni. When ordering, there wasn’t a menu in English and the clerk did not speak English, so we just requested a variety but none with seafood. They did an excellent job selecting for us because we loved the favors. They were so good we had to get seconds!
I woke up the following day excited to spend time at a beach. We rented bikes from Velo Service and rode down the coast to find a beach where we could relax. We peddled down the scenic coast finding a surprising diversity of beaches. There was a small sandy beach near the city, a few pebble beaches, but most beaches consisted of low rocks going straight into the Adriatic Sea. We picked a pebble beach that had some grass so we could relax in comfort. For it being so hot outside, the water was refreshingly cool, not to mention crystal clear.
Will taking in the views from Old Town
Once we were done with the beach, we tried to visit an Eataly microbrewery restaurant for lunch but we again found an inexplicably closed building. We settled for the only place we could find which was a basic cafe overlooking the water called Terrazze del Santa Lucia. We used google translate to select some sandwiches but they arrived different than expected. We are finding the new app to be great technology but it’s never exact. The sandwiches and a cannoli for desert were good and we were even able to wait out a passing storm.
Once the storm was clear, we biked back to Old Town to return the bikes. We collected our packs which the bike shop kept safe for the day and walked to the Superfast Ferry Terminal. We were finally on an overnight boat ride to Greece.
Boccaccio - combo appetizer, marinated vegetables with fresh mozzarella, bow tie pasta with tuna in a ricotta sauce - Yum!
Edge of Old Town in Bari
Cattedrale di San Sabino In Old Town
Interior of Cattedrale di San Sabino
Artwork in the streets of Old Town
Old town decor
Focaccia from Panificio Santa Ria
Front doors of homes in Old Town
Rented bikes to explore mor of the area
Strada Barone where pasta is made
Watching a woman make pasta
Old Town decor
Cathedral in Old Town
Will at Torre Quetta beach
Cannolis
Seafront in Bari
Italian vespa
