Italy was the first foreign country I visited. I went there with school, and we visited Tuscany, through the cities of Florence, Sienna and San Gimignano. As a student, I then did several internships in Italy and visited mostly Northern cities. The only exception was Sicily, in High School.
So, in 2017, when I moved to Bologna for 6 months, in order to practice my Italian during several months and work there, I decided to visit some new places. There was one particular city that I really wanted to see, and it was Bari.
What Attracted Me To Bari
The city itself is not super famous, but I remembered that an Italian colleague from my third internship was always going on holidays there, and I was curious. Mostly, my friends knew it because it is the harbour from where you can take the boat to Greece, and they didn’t seem to think that it was very interesting. But they were wrong, and I had a great time there!
Meeting Some New Friends in Puglia
In my hostel, I met some amazing girls from Poland, Bielorussia and the United States. Three of us (Bielorussia, US and I) had booked a tour to Polignano a mare and Alberobello, but the driver’s car broke on that day, and the hostel cancelled the tour.
However, they told us how to go by train to those cities. The Polish girl only wanted to go to Alberobello, and we decided to meet her there in the evening.
Trains were late and slow, but that gave us the opportunity to meet many nice people along the way, including two young Italian girls who recommended us enough places to stay busy for a week.
Seeing The Trulli Of Alberobello For The First Time
We reached Alberobello at the end of the afternoon and managed to find our Polish friend. We walked around the cute streets, amazed by the beauty of the Trulli of Alberobello. There were the regular trulli, some kind of little houses with actually more space inside than expected. The was also a church built in the same style, and everywhere fascinating symbols painted on the roofs.
We didn’t do much in terms of tourism, but I think that simply strolling in the city is the best thing you can do. There’s just so much to see! You can even visit some of the houses, because they are shops, and the owners are very welcoming and don’t mind explaining how people lived in the houses. It is very touristy, but I didn’t mind.
Go To Puglia!
I really recommend the region of Apulia, or Puglia in Italian. Every place I visited was full of history and beauty (check Matera for some other very special and old houses), and it’s a bit less touristy than Florence, Verona, Venice or Milan. Also, the food is delicious and cheap!
To see more photos of Italy, you can visit the gallery Italy.
