Bari Lunch and Walking Tour of the Centro Storico (Historic City Centre)


Buon San Valentino!!!💝💞💘

Happy Valentine's Day!!💕💖

Today we had to get up before the sun in order to catch our high-speed train to Bari, Apulia.  

Unlike in previous years, we had absolutely No problem getting onto the train, nor finding our seats. It was all very civilized!  Thank goodness for smaller, more manageable luggage!

                                                                    Relaxed Boy
                                                                Happy Girl!

We arrived in Bari around noon, once again to be picked up by our Savour Italy team.  Guiseppe was there to whisk us to our hotel.

From there we went for lunch and had "cibo tipici" (typical food) of the region of Puglia.

Vince's dish is "pancake con bresaola, burratina, guacamole, granola di pistachio" (pancake with air-dried salted beef, burrata cheese, guacamole and pistachio nuts).  Mine was called "Tagliata di pollo" (grilled chicken, arugula, cherry tomatoes and drizzled balsamic).  YUMMMM!!

This afternoon's tour took us to the old city of Bari. 


This picture is of Castello Normanno-Svevo (or Norman-Swabian Castle.  It was built in 1132.  It is surrounded by a moat on all sides except the northern section which was protected by the sea.  

I've tried a few times to attach a video we took of the exterior to give you a much better sense of the scale of this structure, but my blog does not seem to want to insert it.  Suffice it to say that it covers several acres.  Here's another pic from outside.


The amazing thing about this castle is that it is built over several earlier centuries of other civilizations (Byzantine, Norman, Swabian, Aragonese, to name just a few). The photo below shows flooring from the Byzantine times, and the walls are a combination of Greek & Roman and Norman structures.



There is way more stuff to see in this Castello - things like the insides of the Towers (there are 4 of them), the fireplace room and the throne room.  We will have to go back to get in early enough to visit these parts!

The last part of the tour took us around the VERY confusing streets of the Old Town (thank goodness for Google maps, or we might still be there!). 

It got quite chilly that evening, so we were really hustling to get warmed up with a little food and wine.
Cena (dinner) consisted of very typical cuisine of Puglia:  

                            Orechiette pasta (invented in Puglia), with tomato, basil and parmesan


                                        Spaghetti pasta, tomato and mussels with parmesan

All-in-all, the day was a good start to our visit to the Puglia Region.  C'mon back for tomorrow's FABULOUS experience - a full day of food and wine!!!







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