TUESDAY, JUNE 18
GETTING THERE
Buses are looking very familiar, as are odd neighborhoods where we seem to find ourselves staying at night. Yet again, we had a hard time finding our way to our hotel in Bari. Crossing the railroad track is no easy feat in this city. It required walking through a long, dark, graffitied and stinky tunnel alongside a buzzing, major underpass for cars. We either had to cross here, or walk nearly two kilometers down the tracks to Central Station.
Of course, we made it. The hotel, the Romano B&B, was a bit out of the way, well quite a bit, but it was clean and the owners were so kind (they have helped us with many extras — including borrowing a bowl for Chloe’s morning oats). They own the restaurant next door and delivered our pizza!
BUSY BARI
What most struck us about Bari was the community in the streets and squares. People live their lives in public. Women sat around tables making pasta in several small piazzas. Men hung out and talked near the castle’s stone ledge. Families gathered with other families along the seaside boardwalk for picnic dinners. Older women huddled in groups of five or more throughout the city. Children played in alleyways and open areas. People leaned over their balconies and called down to neighbors.
Crossing from new town to old town the streets become narrower and darker, the buildings transition from Brutalist and neoclassical to ancient. Buildings in Bari are much taller than in Matera, and quite powerful. Palm trees line streets and pathways inside of the parks. Roundabouts have sometimes garish, sometimes “experimental” fountains.
