August 2018
We sat down for a coffee at a nearby cafe and waited until midday when our Airbnb would be ready. We also had our first taste of foccaccia barese as we sat there - delicious!
Our Airbnb was an old fashioned place, a long almost cave-like apartment of a couple of rooms opening right onto Via Gesuiti in the old town, and gave us a flavour of how many people still probably live in the area.
We dropped our stuff and headed for the train out to Matera (yes, technically not Puglia!), where we were going to meet up with Stacey and Blair. Unfortunately we missed the train by a minute or two so had an hour's wait for the next one - unfortunately, this required us to spend some time in another cafe having more foccaccia.
We finally got the bus (the train replacment) and with the help of some friendly locals navigated the changes of train and bus later in the journey. Our delay may have saved us from getting completely drenched in Matera, given we passed through some thunderstorms and heavy rain just before we arrived.
We met Stacey and Blair and wandered around the impressive town. The buildings are built into the side of the hill and many have caves as rooms, making for an unusual and amazing view as we wandered.
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| Walking through Matera |
As they told us their travel approach we realised how much our travel style differed from Stacey and Blair - they seemed very much in constant movement, having not stayed more than 2 days in one location for the last 2 months and were traveling between 2 and 6 hours each day on their motorbike. By comparison, we were spending a little longer in each location and not travelling quite so much each day.
We got the train back to Bari and headed out for dinner at Il Rustico pizzeria. For only 13 euros, we had a full size pizza and a selection of 6 generously sized starters along with a beer - delicious and cheap!
The next day Rach called home while I had a croissant and coffee for breakfast at the nearby cafe on Via Palazzo della Civita - free courtesy of vouchers from our Airbnb host.
Later we took the train for 2 hours out to Alberobello, home of the famous conical stone trulli houses. They were a very cool sight but the town was rammed with tourists. Given the unwieldy time schedule, we had to look around in 40 minutes to get the next train back to Bari in time. While quick it did allow a fairly good look around.
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| Alberobello |
Two hours back to Bari then we were on another train to Polignano a Mare. It was frustrating as it was nearly as far away as Alberobello but only took half an hour and was a lot cheaper. Oh well.
Polignano was definitely worth the visit - we tried more delicious foccaccia, as well as a tasty Panzerotti for a late lunch before wandering around and admiring views of the town above the sea cliffs. We also managed to swim in what was probably the warmest sea I've ever swum in, surrounded by the amazing views of the town. Afterwards we had a quick glass of Puglian red and rose nearby before getting to our train back to Bari.
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| Impressive beach at Polignano a Mare |
That morning we'd seen a group of motorcyclists taking a selfie with foccaccia across from where I'd been having breakfast, and a Google search showed it to be THE foccaccia place in Bari. We dashed there after getting off our train before it closed and got a couple of pieces for the next morning's breakfast. (spoiler alert: it was as every bit as good as hoped.)
Dinner was a half hour walk into the suburbs at Il Grottino, where two pizzas and a bottle of Negroamaro were 20 euros. My pizza was good but Rachel's was exceptional - stratiaccella, pistachio and bacon (photo provided). One of the best pizzas we've ever had. On the walk home we got gelato from a pumping little place (at 11pm at night!) called Gelato Gentile that rounded off the evening very well.
Thanks Puglia! Onwards to Sicilia!
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