Bari, Giovinazzo and Alberobello

After a brief overnight stay in the Grand Palace Hotel (on the water) in Ancona to break up the journey (on the day of the festival to celebrate their patron saint)...

we headed for the town of Bari on the south-east coast of Italy - at the heel of the Italian boot, if you like. Bari is another seaside city, and we were very fortunate to be staying right in the heart of the old city in a stunning apartment with views over the water.

The bottom floor features the lounge, dining area and kitchen with a bathroom, and a separate bed was set up down here too.

Upstairs is a mezzanine bedroom, where I am sleeping, complete with its own walk-in robe and bathroom.

Up the next flight of stairs is the roof top deck, with lounges to take in the view and an outdoor kitchen with stove, dishwasher and more glassware, serving ware and plates than we own back in Sydney. It is certainly an entertainer’s home. We were met and shown around by two Italian ladies - one we believe is the owner and the other was there to translate.

The apartment is situated on a raised promenade, which taxis and most cars are not allowed to use. It is very busy, especially this week as you guessed it we have arrived in time for ANOTHER festival - this one to celebrate Bari’s patron saint - St Nicholas, and it’s a BIG deal! People have travelled from far and wide to be here this week.

 

Due to the prime position we are in, the promenade is also very lively until well into the morning, and the last party goers seemed to leave our front door on our first night between 2-2.30am! That would have been ok had we not awoken to someone ringing our very loud doorbell before 5am the next day. It wasn’t party-goers however, it was the police! We were being told to evacuate the building as one of the restaurants below was on fire. Language barriers initially caused some problems, but thankfully one of the neighbours spoke English, so we quickly dressed and moved outside, where we soon discovered the billowing smoke from the restaurant on the street at the back.

We walked around out of the smoke, and waited at the end of the back street where one of the fire engines was. There was a lot of activity, but no one spoke with us so we didn’t know how long we should wait. Eventually the neighbour arrived and introduced his family and together we headed up toward where the fire had been, as they were just making sure it was completely extinguished.

 

Once we were given the all clear to return to our apartment, we grabbed a photo or two of the sunrise.  We had just settled back into our appartment when there was another ring of the doorbell. Thinking it would again be the police, we were pleasantly surprised when the neighbour appeared handing over some warm croissants for us.

After devouring those we went back to bed for a few hours, and grabbed a quick lunch before heading to the train station for our trip to Giovinazzo. Our hairdresser Angelo Caravella told us we had to visit his home town, whilst we were in Bari. He tried desperately to arrange a driver for us, but at the last minute Luigi pulled out, so it was with dread when we arrived at the station in Giovinazzo that we realised there are no taxis in town and we would have to walk to the waterfront (and back)! Difficult with bad asthma!

The town is another seaside village, where people gather in the late afternoon to meet, people watch and grab a drink before dinner. The waterfront is beautiful...

...and the town has some lovely buildings surrounding the square, including a massive church.

At just after 7pm were too early for dinner - as they didn’t start serving until 8.30, so after grabbing a drink and ensuring I had a enjoyed a walk along the water, we headed back to the station for the trip back to Bari.

The festival was in full swing by the time we returned to our apartment, with stall holders lining the main drag and the piazza crowded with people. We enjoyed a pasta each and grabbed some nougat from one of the many stalls selling them, and headed to our place, not long before an unexpected storm hit. I’m not sure what happened with all the party-goers who must have got drenched but we were safely tucked up in bed and for the first time the whole trip slept right through!

The morning brought the sunlight and the stall holders were again setting up for the day.

It seemed like the perfect day to visit the world heritage site of Alberobello. It took close to two hours on the train, past some lovely scenery on the way before arriving.

The whole town is not heritage listed, just a zone where the old houses (Trulli) are clustered together. It is quite touristy, but nonetheless a spectacular sight and everybody was very friendly.

Many people today still live in this little huts, and others are used as accomodation places and restaurants as well as the many many shops selling local memorabilia, food and wine.

Even the church is built in the same style as the Trulli.

After a delicious lunch at one of the local restaurants it was time to head back to the station, and back home to Bari. The train had multiple long stops while we waited for other trains to pass, so in the end arrived 40 minutes later than expected. Luckily it was not a usual travel day for us, with connecting trains to worry about!

The procession for the festival starts tonight or tomorrow morning, so the stage is set in the piazza and the party is well and truly on. We thought it best to eat as early as possible to avoid the throngs of people, so a local pasta yet again. This time the Prosecco was served in Ferrari glassware! That was a lovely surprise!

As I sit here now, below us the drummers are playing and the town is very much alive...

Sadly we must leave our Bari apartment tomorrow. Apart from the noise from party-goers we could get very used to this apartment! Our next stop is Salerno, before our return to Rome and then home.