Bari Italy
Arwenofbosham
Rob and Jacky Black
Sat 7 Sep 2013 12:27
Bari – Mairina di Levante SRL
5th – 7th September
We made a quick passage to Bari and having already phoned the small private marina we had a space awaiting us on our arrival. The contact was from a pilot update in the Cruising Association MEDNET and most useful it was too! This was a small marina and we had an alongside place with all services for 40 Euros per night. There was a free shuttle bus into the main port from where we could walk into the old town or catch a bus to the main part of the city. The manager of the marina Francesco and his son Andrea were so very friendly and helpful giving us local information and suggesting some places to see while we were there. We decided to stay for a second night so we could explore some of the historical sights. We did try to hire a car to visit some of these places but that proved to be very difficult and expensive – nothing less than 90 Euros for one day! In the end Jacky went on the train to visit the Unesco town of Alberrobello where the extraordinary Trulli houses are scattered everywhere. The journey took 90 minutes and the single track train wound its way through miles of small holdings which had a mixture of vines and olive groves and almost all had at least one Trulli building. These are amazing hut like structures which are made completely of flat stones that are layered to create round buildings of one storey with conical tops usually the tips are painted white. They date from the 13th – 14th century. In Alberrobello there are hundreds of them which are often joined together a bit like a row or terraced house. The actual Unesco site is situated on a hillside and inevitably many of the Trulli are now occupied by small tourist type shops! But when walking around the town it is not unusual to come across a Trulli that has been incorporated into a more modern building. There were plenty of other places we could have visited but we contented ourselves with a morning looking around the old town which has many Roman remains and some lovely 9th – 11th century buildings including the beautiful St. Nicolas Basilica.
We really enjoyed or stay in Bari but time was marching on so we decided to leave early on Saturday for a long day’s sail to Brindisi.