Bari

Sunset in Bari.

 

We got up early to get on our ferry from Dubrovnik to Bari, or really small cruise ship (pictured below on the right). It seemed to be almost entirely full of Italian tourists. Maybe a few Croatians on board, but certainly no Americans. The picture above shows the typical 'rough' seas of the Adriatic. So not at all a problem that I forgot my motion sick medication at home.

This picture was taken after most people had gotten off, but during our journey it was filled with sleeping travelers.

A very welcome shady street on a hot day walking to our place in Bari once off the ferry.

Our place was a 5 floor walk up, one room wide. You enter on the street level where there is a half bath and a few stairs that lead down to a dining room. The second floor is the kitchen. The third floor the living room (pictured above). The fourth floor the bedroom (below) with a full bath. And the fifth is the roof deck.

You really had to plan ahead about which objects you wanted to bring with you to which room if you didn't want to get too much exercise. We got a lot of exercise.

But the view from the roof deck (above) was totally worth it. Would definitely stay here again. It was so hot when we arrived and the water looked so inviting that we immediately went across the street for a little dip. While not as clean and clear as Croatia, it was still quite refreshing.

After our swim we took a walk around old town Bari where our place was. Again, full of Italian tourists and not an American in sight.

For dinner we had orecchiette (small ears), the typical pasta of the region. We then enjoyed a nice stroll around the neighborhood now that the temperature had finally dropped a bit.

The next morning we enjoy breakfast on the roof before it got hot again. It only took us about 3 trips to get everything up there.

We then set out on did a little day trip to the nearby town of Alberobello known for its trulli, whitewashed stone huts with conical roofs. It is a very picturesque town but it was hot and full of Italian tourists. So we opted to dine inside for lunch and had a beautiful cheese and fruit spread (really wish I took a pic) and fava bean purée with chicory. We were very glad to find a local non-pasta vegetarian dish on the menu. One can only eat so much orecchiette.

There were lots of cute shops like this selling all kinds of touristy goods. Sadly, I didn't see a single ocean themed cutting board.

We then headed to the beach where we saw lots of super old and gnarly olive trees along the way. Look at those trunks!

Italian beaches have a very different vibe than the ones we experienced in Croatia. The coastline down here seems to be mostly jagged rocks so there aren't many beaches which makes the ones they do have pretty small and crowded. That sure doesn't stop the Italians from keeping up with their tans though, everyone is so dark! The picture above is taken at a beach about a half hour south of Bari and the picture below is taken from the car on the way back of Bari's beach. We were hoping the one further south would be a little less crowed, but I'm not sure that was the case. 

Sunset from the roof deck (pictured above and below).

This little piazza was right outside our windows. It is hard to see in this photo but it is very lively at night. It was fun to eavesdrop on the conversations below.

We've been having a lot of fun practicing our Italian by doing small tasks like grocery shopping and going to the pharmacy. We had the most fun figuring out how to pay for parking and making sure we could park overnight where some very helpful locals explained it to us (all in Italian). 

I have been surprised that I understand as much as I do, but I'm still getting my sea legs with speaking. I keep getting thrown off by everyone speaking to me formally as it is the third person so I keep forgetting they are talking about me. You certainly use way more conjugation forms in real speaking (as in all of them) than when doing practice lessons (which is most often just a few). Turns out they all mattered after all.

Everyone has been really nice and patient with us though. When we tell them we are learning Italian they say, 'Piano, piano.' which means take it slowly and is meant to be encouraging that learning a new language takes a long time. Everyone aside for maybe the fruit man, he's a little curmudgeonly. We went to this small fancy grocery store where we didn't realize the fruit man was supposed to pick out our fruit for us. He didn't like us handling his peaches very much. Which honestly is understandable.

Next we are off to explore the Italian countryside (Campania and Abruzzo where my great grandparents were born) before we settle down in Assisi for a bit.