#96 Homemade Pasta in Southern Italy

March 23, 2022: Bari

J. Bari is only known for its ferries to Greece and Albania. But we didn't want to take a ferry here. We still wanted to see the city because it's really beautiful. It's not very touristy here, and we were able to watch the daily hustle and bustle of the Italians on the streets. There was a large group of fishermen sitting at the harbor, drinking their after-work beer in the morning. Some were still selling their fresh catch: fish, octopus, and many sea urchins were offered for sale.

The old town is built on a small promontory that juts out into the sea and is surrounded by the sea on two of its three sides. But you can't see the sea in the narrow streets with the tall houses. We strolled through the labyrinth of narrow streets and noticed that today seems to be laundry day. Laundry was hanging from all the balconies and windows, and there was the smell of laundry detergent everywhere. At one point, some very wet laundry even dripped on us.

The houses are often quite narrow and don't have windows on the ground floor, only the front door, which brings light into the interior. We could see inside many of the open doors into the houses of the locals. Often, the kitchen starts right behind the front door, but sometimes there's also a bed there. Bari is known for its ear-shaped pasta. So we could see small wire tables in front of many houses, where the fresh pasta was drying. In the kitchens, mostly women from two or three generations of the families were sitting and making pasta. First, the dough was shaped into a long roll, then a piece of dough was cut off from the end of the queue with a small knife and pulled across the table with the knife in a short motion. And there was the shell shape. I was fascinated by how these women could create this perfect shape with such a short motion, and that all the pasta actually looked almost the same.

On one of the sunny squares in the old town stands the Basilica of San Nicola, where the reliquary tomb of Saint Nicholas lies. Originally, the relics of the patron saint of sailors were kept in a church in Demre, in present-day Turkey. However, in the 11th century, some sailors from Bari stole the bones and brought them here. Now many pilgrims come to the tomb in the crypt of the basilica, but there is also a large statue of Saint Nicholas in the upper church, which is worshipped by locals and pilgrims.

Day 159 - Total tour 11,846 km

---- Subscribe ----

If you want to subscribe to our blog, you can either sign up with Vakantio and click on subscribe, or you can send us a message and we will put you on our own mailing list. We also appreciate feedback!

Email: querfeld2@gmail.com