All the Single Ladies (Bari)

Today, dear reader, we have a walking food tour of Bari. I booked it through the same company that gave us the Bologna lecturing guide. We shall see what transpires.

Unusually our hotel package includes breakfast. Normally, I would not waste the money on a hotel breakfast. Who needs cold soggy bacon, bad coffee and a toaster that can't live up to it's name? Not us, so we approached the breakfast room with low expectations. They were dashed immediately. Excellent breads and pastries, proper coffee, a selection of cereals ... who knew? Well done, Mövenpick.

Our tour wasn't commencing until 1pm and the sky couldn't decide whether to be sunny or cloudy; it occasionally threatened rain as we ventured out explore part of the old city. 

Captain Cook or Piccinni?

We set out from our hotel, about 500m from the Teatro Margherita. It stands majestically at the end of the street, a full stop before the water and the fish market.

Teatro Margherita.

Tourist information sits at the beginning of Piazza del Ferrarese across the road from the theatre so Jayne dropped in to procure a better map than the one supplied by the hotel. Apparently the theatre was originally built on stilts in the water because the government of the day had decreed there could only be on theatre built "on public land" and Teatro Petruzzelli already had that sown up.

Behind the theatre, across the water, is the fish market, but not as you would expect. It is a long sheltered  area built near where the fishing boats, not trawlers, moor. The local fisherman bring their daily catch up to the shelter and sell it. You can also buy oysters and urchins, opened in front of you and sold with a squeeze of lemon.

The fish market. Open air. Good move.

Possibly the most interesting or disturbing sight, you decide, was one old fisherman slapping his octopus. No, dear reader, that is not a euphemism for ... anyway, much seafood is eaten crudo in Bari and octopus needs to be tenderised. That is accomplished by smacking it on a stone slab, which was being carried out with great gusto. It was clearly thirsty work as well because someone offered him a beer as he was working. In fact, as they sold out of their catch, all the fishermen were gathering for a chat and a beer at 10:30am. Well, that would be knock off time if your day started at about 3am.

It's up.

And down.

Rest, rinse, repeat.

Returning to the promenade, we turned away from the main beach, Pane e Pomodoro, (funny name, eh?) to commence a circumnavigation of the old town. The old town was built by the Normans and the new town by the French. One is a labyrinth, the other an ordered chess board.

We walked towards the main dock and the car ferry that could have been heading across the Adriatic to Albania, Croatia, Greece, or up the coast to Venice. I noted the number coaches parked in the port bays. Sad face. Lots of tour groups.

This is an installation. It looks like a Cathedral from a distance.

The stone bridge outside the Castello Svevo di Bari was the meeting point for our tour. It was all of 5 minutes walk from the hotel. Across the way from the castle is the Strada del Oriecchiette where all the ladies make the semolina based, ear-shaped pasta at tables set up in the street, outside their homes. The original pasta is small, but there is now a large size as well. You can also purchase it in different colours, just for tourists. It is a narrow street lined by the oriecchiette makers and tour groups.

The castle. A former Norman fort.

We hurried through, knowing this would be on our list later in the day and found the San Domenico church. Never one to walk past a church ( I said that with a straight face), we popped inside for a couple of photos. There are many, many churches and chapels in Bari, not all of them open. Some without walls or a roof. More on that later.

Oriecchette street. Alleyway really.

San Domenico had a chandelier. Unusual.

The next trick for the day was to locate the church with the rose window that shines the sun on the rose mosaic on the floor of the church at 5pm on June 21, every year. It's a solstice thing. Another example of a pagan ritual being christianised. You would think that an easy task, dear reader, but no. The church has many names. Google maps unerringly directed us to Cattedrale di San Sabino, however the paper map read Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta. The sign outside the church actually had two other names, one dedicated to the Archangel Michael and I can't remember the other.

The rose window.

The floor mosaic of the rose window.

Anyway, tickets secured, imagine paying to go to church, we ventured inside, once again to be mistaken for Italians until I said Australian and the other guide relayed the information in English. We visited the crypt first because mass was about to start in there in 10 minutes. It was, as you would expect, beautiful with low ceilings, decorated arches, an ornate altar and a side altar with bones, specifically skulls. The altar on the opposite side of the crypt contained the mummified body of Saint Columba from the 3rd century. She was Spanish, a virgin (of course she was, doesn't the Catholic church love a virgin?) and martyred by decapitation. Her head looked like it was attached when I saw her. Sorry, no photo, the glass case kept flaring in the shots but you can google her if you are interested.

The crypt.

That was enough for our morning and we headed home briefly before meeting our guide at the castle. Adriano was everything you would want from a guide. He was friendly, knowledgeable and answered all of our questions as well as supplying ideas on how to spend our next two days and where to eat.

As expected, we commenced our tour with the oriecchiette ladies, most of whom it appeared, know Adriano. There were a lot of ciaos and conversations along the way as he explained the recipe, the production technique, deftly demonstrated with a single sharp knife, and the cooking procedure of the different sizes. Not only are the coloured ones for tourists but so are the big ones - locals prefer the original small size.

Cheers big ears.

The regular oriecchette.

Happily it was noticeably less crowded by now as we wended our way up to the top of the street and back down to a restaurant, opposite our starting point. Here we enjoyed our first taste of Bari, no surprises - oriecchiette with cheese, cherry tomatoes and fresh arugula. The only part of the dish cooked was the pasta. Oh so tasty!

Then we wandered off to see more of Bari Vecchia's tiny streets with its 6,000 inhabitants, its piazzas, its family altars on numerous buildings, its washing hanging on lines, covered by plastic sheets, in case of rain. It may be a tourist destination but it is maintaining its sense of community and lifestyle in spite of the influx.

The doorway to the salumeria.

Next taste stop was a restaurant/delicatessen where no tables were free but suddenly a table and three chairs were set up to accommodate us while we sampled an antipasto plate. Clearly, it's not what you know ... Anyway, this stop included three types of cheese, a magnificent creamy burrata, a pecorino and a ricotta, drizzled with fig syrup. There were also capocollo (cured meat), olives, taralli rings, fried fava beans (no liver or chianti) and croutons with sundried tomatoes - all accompanied by a Nero di Troia for me and a Bombino Rosé for Jayne. Wow! And this was only stop number 2 ...

We returned briefly to the outside of Cattedrale San Sabino before our next food stop - panini with 3 types crudo fish, tuna, swordfish and salmon with pepitas and sundried tomoatoes. Fresh, zingy and tasty.

A typical laneway.

After that, we headed to the Basilica San Nicola, the patron saint of Bari who has many claims to fame including being revered by both the Roman and Orthodox Catholic church (he started out life in Turkey), looking after fishermen, single ladies and children - yes, he is the Saint Nic who gave us Santa Claus. 

The single ladies pillar.

The pillar is called the miraculous column of Bari. Legend has it that if a single woman circled the column three times she would be married within a year. Many people attempted to souvenir pieces of the column so it had to be encased for its protection. The single ladies of today who desire a husband are no longer able to circle the column and have resorted to writing messages that are pushed through the metal bars.

And so we are at today's title, All the Single Ladies by Beyoncé. Too obvious?

The ceiling has the wow factor.

Anyway, San Nicola's bones have been moved around several times between Bari and Turkey but they now rest under the altar of the basilica and happily, and unusually for us, his feast day is December 6, not while we are here.

The crypt where the bones are kept.

The basilica's diverse interior reflects the domination of the city by various groups including the Normans and the Spanish and it also has several not square arches that were added after an earthquake in the 1500s to stabilise the roof.

Not quite straight.

After the basilica, we ventured to another iconic church, Santa Maria del Buon Consiglio, the church without walls or a ceiling, just columns and a mosaic floor, partly demolished to make way for urban improvements but then preserved and never fully reconstructed. It is listed as a monument on the map of Bari. If you didn't know it was once a church you would not recognise it as one.

Not a parishioner in sight.

Our final two tastings were of local fruits, fresh and perfect and then Tette della Monarche, also known as Nun's breasts, light fluffy sponge cakes filled with chantilly cream. There is much that could be written here, but discretion is best. No nun jokes.

In between the last two courses we walked part of the city wall, behind the Cathedral, looking across to where we had ventured in the morning. Then it was down to the two major piazzas that adjoin each other. After a three hour meander, not needing dinner, we bid a fond farewell to Adriano, who promised to email me more information tomorrow.

Towards Bread and Tomato Beach.

As the clouds tried very hard to rain we walked back down Victor Emanuelle II to the hotel. The marble footpaths can be slippery in this weather, but we made it without issue. The forecast for the next two days is not looking promising, but we've had excellent weather throughout the trip. No complaints. It is what it is and we will deal with it.

No dinner required tonight, just some wine.

Alla prossima.