Bari

Bari is the largest city in Puglia, a little over a 325,000 people. The approach to the city is typical of Italian cities, smokestacks and industry give way to five and six story apartment buildings, and finally a modern commercial center. Then, tucked in a small area very near the shore, is the old town. The medieval town. That was our destination.

We took the railroad from Martina Franca, where we were staying, to Bari. Martina Franca is a small town and secure parking was included with the apartment so driving in an out of Martina Franca was possible. But driving into Bari seemed like a really bad idea. Especially when the railroad ticket to Bari 45 miles to the northeast was only 5.60 Euro each way.

The train was leisurely, stopping frequently to pick up and drop off passengers. As we got closer to Bari there were more young people, presumably students, hopping on and off.

Roman road

Finally we arrived at the rail station which is set in a handsome piazza. We crossed the piazza and walked along an wide street reserved for pedestrians toward the shore and the old town.

The first interesting thing we noticed as we approached the old town was a section of walkway that was chained off. This section revealed a Roman road that lay below the modern streets and walkways. If you look closely, you can see the grooves that were worn in the store by the carts that drove over this road. The rest of the Roman road remains covered -- and protected in a way -- by the modern streets and walkways.

Sailboat

Fisherman

A sunny day with clear blue skies made the harbor even more pleasant to admire. There was a sailboat passing through an opening in the breakwall out to a calm sea. There was a fisherman returning with his catch.

Bari Film Festival

On the pier we could see a handsome 19th century building whose windows were oddly all closed up. On our way to the old town we eventually walked on the other side of the building and noted that the Bari Film Festival was ongoing. The windows were sealed off, evidently, for viewing movies.

Crypt of St. Nicolas

The old town was a warren of narrow streets but the little community was a real community with small grocery shops and housewares stores and little evidence of souvenir stands. We did get inside the Bari cathedral and took a photo in the crypt which houses relics of St. Nicolas. We were more interested in the light cast by the fixtures.

Stone walls everywhere

On our way back to Martina Franca we were struck by the many, many stone fences. Puglia is an agricultural area but the soils appear to have lots of rocks mixed in. We remember that the New England farmers, in an effort to improve their soil, took the glacially deposited rocks from their fields and made store fences. We had to wonder if the Pugliesi farmers had done something similar.