Unexpected stop: Bari, Italy

Friday, November 12, 2010

While trying to get from Croatia to Greece, we unexpectedly crossed Bari, Italy. From an online review, we were expecting an industrial town and hoping to stay as short as possible. When we found out that we had an entire day to burn before the next ferry to Greece, we decided to walk into town. We were pleasantly surprised. Bari is not a small place.

First we walked through an “old town” which gave us a sense of small-town Italy. Old stone buildings, cobble-stone streets, laundry wires, old churches, and ancient castle wall remains. Since ancient times, as early as 181 BC, it has been known as a major Mediterranean port, and is still well known as a port city. We quickly realized how important religion is in this part of town. We passed and entered several churches, and lost count of mini shrines/altars set up in the streets, built right into the stone walls. I cannot for the life of me find out what they’re called. It usually consists of a religious painting adorned with curtains, and a shelf for plants, statues, and/or candles. Bikes and scooters are the easiest form of transportation through the narrow old streets, especially when you have to navigate around produce or goods that spill out of shops or are stacked against an alley wall. The front doors of homes were all left open with a lace curtain hanging over the opening for the perfect blend of privacy and fresh air. Would I be weird to implement this genius idea back home?

One of the first things we did was grab breakfast. My eyes went big inside the restaurant. Pizzas, calzones, panzerotti, and paninis were neatly lined up behind glass, waiting to be picked. The coffee list was equally tempting. The names went far beyond my coffee knowledge of lattes and cappuccinos. I had never seen so many names for coffee drinks! This was especially lovely after leaving Croatia, where an espresso machine is rare and the only coffee is overpriced NesCafe, an instant coffee that reminds me of gas station brews. Yuriy and I ordered lattes, grilled panini sandwiches with prosciutto, greens, and thick round slices of milk cheese. We also tried croquettes for the first time—they look like fried mozzarella sticks but have ground potatoes, ham, and cheese inside. Let’s just say it was a good start to the day. 
 
As we continued wandering, we left the “old town” and entered a modern metropolitan city. A big contrast. No more laundry wires. We walked along a major street lined with palm trees and big, well-known designers and stores. We were definitely surprised. We later found out that Bari is the second largest city of Southern Italy, after Naples. I was overjoyed to find several gelaterias. I didn’t get a chance to have any gelato ice cream while in Paris, so I had been craving it ever since. I guess it’s not such a bad thing we waited to get the real thing from Italy. We soon realized we were in the middle of a University town. We sat on the edge of a fountain across the street from the [gorgeous] school, and watched students walking around the park. We strolled through the campus to see more of the fashion the young people were sporting. One thing that puzzled me was these ugly shoes every other person was wearing with the letter “H” on the side. Especially with a nice chic outfit, these outdated looking sneakers ruined the look (in my opinion). Men, women, old people, young people, even babies were wearing them! And they came in every color combination, including glitter varieties. I googled these fad shoes later and found out they were called Hogans. Have you heard of them?

Around mid afternoon, we realized a good part of the city was closed for business. Locked up, lights out, iron gates down over the doors. We began wondering where everyone was and whether it was a holiday. We got to the point of wondering if there was some national crisis going on and we just hadn’t been keeping up with the news. We didn’t want to be clueless tourists, so we found wifi and started scouring for Italy news online. We came to find that shops in Italy are typically open Monday to Saturdays from 9am-1pm and 4:30pm-7:30pm. Lucky people get a 3 and a half hour lunch break! I had heard of Europeans and their luxury naps, but didn’t think this still happened in a big, modern city.

We had time for a tea break, several bakery stops, photos around the city, and a lot of bookstore browsing (mostly photography and art books since we can’t read Italian). Then back onto the ferry in the evening to head for Greece. 

27 comments :

  1. my gosh, i just love your blog. my boyfriend & i have big plans to travel once we're married too, and looking at your photos just makes me SO EXCITED. your photos are just incredible.

    also, i read on "oh, hello friend" that you two are heading to turkey! i was in turkey for 2.5 months this summer so i can't wait to read about your travels!! are you going to be able to make it to cappadocia to olympos? those are two places we weren't able to get to, but i will one day! i've heard both are incredible. i went to bodrum & selçuk before hunkering down in istanbul for two months (my friend and i were working at a summer camp there). you are going to have a fabulous time!!

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  2. Janis, we just made it to Turkey and are in Bodrum now! It's quite deserted compared to how you saw it over the summer. Our final destination is Istanbul as well, but we want to check out some places on the way there. Give us more recommendations! So far, we want to swing by Ephesus and Pamukkale.

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  3. yes! selçuk/ephesus was great but SO HOT. i almost died. much better idea to see it in november! my only other suggestion is to visit some of the princes islands (about a an hour long ferry ride from istanbul). super cheap + easy to get to, and they are just beautiful (and no cards allowed!). i went to buyukada & heybeliada.

    email me at janis.roseanne@hotmail.com if you want any suggestions of what to do in istanbul!

    peace.

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  4. Oh my word. I just keep falling in lvoe with your blog. You really are the luckiest people.

    I hope so much that one day I'll get to travel. All I want to do is travel.

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  5. Hello there,
    Chanced upon your blog while looking for travel infos. Honestly, all your photos are incredibly beautiful. I like them all :)

    I'm not sure where your will end your trip but Southeast Asia definitely an amazing place too with many diverse cultures. U could consider extend your travel here someday.

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  6. Such beautiful pictures! I just returned from Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Austria. It is perfect this time of year. My husband and I went to Greece for our honeymoon back in 2007. You must visit Rhodes. It is the most charming place in Greece, my favorite by far. Safe travels!

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  7. I think the altars are called side altars...here is a website I found that explains religious Italian architecture: http://www.sacredarchitecture.org/articles/retro_tablum_the_origins_and_role_of_the_altarpiece_in_the_liturgy/

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  8. I love the photographs, guys. So colourful. Can I ask what kind of camera(s) you use? And is there a particular technique (perhaps post-production) to give them that slightly saturated and soft-focus light greeniness look to them? (I'm sure there's a better way to describe but I'm not that great with explaining visuals).

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  9. I stumbled across your blog today and can't even express how much I love your photos, they're all so beautiful!

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  10. Bodrum is awesome! If you get a chance, there's a super cool underwater archaeology museum there you should check out. Other awesome places to see in Turkey are Kas and Antalya (should still be warm enough to swim right now) if you can swing a visit south. Ephesus was fantastic (I would recommend staying at the ANZ guesthouse in Selcuk. People there were awesome, they even drove out to pick us up from another hostel when our reservation fell through). If you're only heading north and can't make it farther south, there're some great historical sites to see on the way up. Didim, Miletus and Priene are all worth seeing, but I'm a history geek, so they might not hold much interest for everyone else. Good luck with your trip! Hope you absolutely love Turkey, and I can't wait to see your posts about Greece.

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  11. I've been following up on your blog since I saw your amazing wedding at Green Wedding Shoes.
    Your pictures and traveler's stories are really delightful! :)
    I'm looking forward to seeing your pics from Santorini! :)

    Out of curiosity are you following a specific traveler's guide or just finding the places to stay and stop to visit from googling it? :)

    All the best for the next journeys!

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  12. you guys really need to sell these prints. they are stunning. also, i am so inspired by you guys. i want to start saving now for my six month european honeymoon!

    x

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  13. I am absolutely in love with the concept of your blog. Stunning photos, gorgeous couple, brilliant honeymoon idea. Just tweeted about it! Plz tell us what camera, lens, post-prod you use! We're dying to know!

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  14. waaa i love your blog and you photos. you've successfully put ants in my pants and given me the travel bug, i just got back from a trip recently and i can't wait to go again.

    sab@
    http://fromblank.blogspot.com

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  15. Traveller's Anatomy- We will indeed be in Southeast Asia to catch some of your sun in December! We will spend a lot of time in Thailand, but thinking about Cambodia, Bali, Malaysia..... wherever we get directed.

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  16. Thank you so much for the advice on Bodrum!

    Juana- We are not using a traveler's guide. We roughly mapped out some countries we want to visit, but relying on the internet to find places to stay and nearby cities to visit. It's much easier for us to go with the flow than plan everything out in advance.

    Those that asked about cameras and such, we will do a FAQ post about those in the next few days.

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  17. thanks for visiting my blog today. i'm glad you like my photos, it means alot coming from a photographer.
    i've posted a reply to your comment on my site.

    best

    sabina

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  18. I am so loving all your photos :) Takes me away while I am stuck in NYC ;)
    x
    Nicole
    http://nicolefranzen.blogspot.com/

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  19. what beautiful photos! i love the different compositions.

    i found your blog via 'oh hello friend' and am glad i did - i look forward to going through your archives and catching up on your adventure so far.

    i'm particularly drawn to your blog because in the new year i'll be heading off on my own adventure - i'll be moving to india for a year to live/volunteer. i also love to explore new places and love photography - so i'm hoping to travel around quite a bit and capture everything with my camera :)

    definitely bookmarking your blog. i think it's so cool that the two of you decided to do this right after your wedding - like a 6 month honeymoon...exploring the world. so awesome.

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  20. paninis+gelato=the perfect Italian meal!

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  21. Ugh.. the Hogans sound like Crocs, an equally bad idea! haha.

    Italian gellato...heaven!!!!

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  22. The photographs are really amazing. I liked your post very much and impressed by your blog.

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  23. The photos are absolutely marvelous> so colorful and each one tells a story. Congrats!

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  24. oh my! i just recently found your blog and i have been reading all the archives. you two! these pictures. they are gorgeous!
    going to less known cities is the best way to really get to know a country. i am italian and i think you got italy completely right! you have discovered that the incredible food at every meal, the trends, the relaxed pace of life, the random roman columns, the churches, the vespas, the tiny streets and the gelato are really really what italian people are made of:)

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  25. Your pictures are so stunning! I just pinned it so that I can plan my next Italian adventure!

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  26. Puglia is AMAZING! You should visit the rest of the region! Here my itinerary and travel notes: http://bit.ly/MidoriAllPuglia

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  27. These photos are stunning, they really emphasise the beauty of detail!

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