Daytripping

Hello all.  In the ongoing quest to become better acquainted with what's nearby our little town, we took the train up to the capital city of Bari yesterday.  I must have been to the airport on the outskirts of the city more than thirty times and we have visited the centre on a couple of occasions, but not that we felt we could properly explore and take in the sights.  So yesterday we strolled around the old town and ate in a well-reviewed osteria and enjoyed a coffee in the sun.  All pleasant enough.

Today Mr RR asked if I agreed that it wasn't anything special, and commented that we have everything we love right here, concentrated in our little town, and it's so true.  We have visited so many towns around here that people rave about from Lecce (the Florence of the south) to Ostuni (the white city) to Cisternino (it's all about grilled meat!) even our beautiful neighbour up the coast Polignano a Mare (it's sexy and it knows it! - an American film star dined at the next table to us!) and so many more. We always come away slightly bemused: Monopoli's properties are probably a quarter of the price of those in the towns we've visited, but we can't see that they come close to our concentration of atmospheric, balcony-lined, cobbled streets, our beautiful, seafront passeggiata, our clear sea and sandy beaches, our stunning cathedral, and on and on.

Of course we might be biased, everyone's entitled to their opinion, there's no place like home, etc, but what a treat to be so in love with where you are!

I do try to stay open-minded.  And one thing Bari has that Monopoli definitely doesn't?  60% of the bones of Saint Nicholas!  So that's kinda different!

Father Christmas was black!

And buried in Bari!