Sorry, had to get some alliteration in there! As the title implies, I’ve said goodbye to Bari. I’d initially planned to stay until 14th April but I’ve made the decision to move up the country, to Rimini, a more touristic coastal town.
Since Lucy left, I’ve kept myself busy. Admittedly I had a lonely day on Saturday but on Sunday, like the weather, I was back on form. Everything in Italy is closed or closes by 1pm on Sundays so there isn’t a great deal to do, so my over-active personality is forced to relax. I spent the day walking around the old city of Bari, which Lucy and I hadn’t discovered and fell in love with the cobbled streets and beautiful piazzas. Because the roads were so tiny, there isn’t room for people to have cars so I enjoyed hunting out vespa scooters. Still on a hunt for a red one though…
In terms of food, I think the best thing I’ve tried in Bari has been the gelato. Lucy and I went to the same place twice, ‘Gasperini’ (I know, I’m making a habit of frequenting the same place since being in Italy) and both times we devoured absolutely delicious gelatos. I’m trying to work my way through every flavour Italy has to offer – so far, pistachio, fior di latte (milk) and lemon sorbet are standing out as my top 3. I’m definitely going to look into gelato making courses because you don’t get any ice cream half as good in England. Despite the service being terrible and having to pay for the normally free cream, I loved the fior di latte ice cream from Re Vittorio and if I’d have stayed in Bari longer, I would have had issues deciding between Re Vittorio and Gasperini for my final gelato.
I’ve eaten a LOT of pasta this week, which is crazy because I’d never chose to eat it at home but when in Italy… do as the Italians do an’all. I made a simple farfalle al ragu on Saturday (nothing to write home about as it was shamefully a ready-made jar job) but I HAVE written about my delicious creation from last night, oriechette con cime di rabe. I shared it on a candlelit terrace with one of the girls in the hostel, over a glass of red wine and we both agreed it was pretty tasty, so do give it a read!
Cheesy grin for you!
Yesterday I visited Polignano a mare, a coastal town thirty minutes by train from Bari. Despite getting harassed by a creepy Italian (this is becoming standard now), I managed to survive the day by myself. I did get a lost a lot though, but it did give me an opportunity to properly explore the town and test out my Italian by asking for directions. However, because Italy’s very religious, a lot of shops are closed on Mondays, meaning the chances of getting a quick snack were near impossible so I ended up settling for the worst gelato I’ve had since being in Italy. Usually I’d refuse to eat rubbish food, but I’d gotten so desperate that I would have eaten anything. Ah well, by this point I’d found the beach and wow, it more than made up for the shoddy gelato. Also, Polignano as a town is quite simply, lovely, and I’d recommend anyone to give it a visit if they were in the area.
So beautiful – Polignano a Mare
I’m going to stop typing now as I need to keep you wanting more! I’m now 3 hours away from Rimini where I hope to find a completely new variation of pizza, pack on even more pounds (sarcasm!) and enjoy the sunny beach. Ciao!
