Back tracking

 I need to back track a little bit and tell you about our last day in Bari - we are now in Monopoli - only an hour's train ride and heading south now from Bari.

We decided to join a walking tour in Bari Vecchia (my old faithful go-to) - it was starting at 9.30, and the decision was made at 9:15, but we found Andriana at the meeting point and this is what we learned:

1.    That he has moved into this old town to absorb this special and particular way of life - where the women congregate on the streets to make the quintessential ear shaped pasta called orecchiette - they sit and roll it in the street, chatting to each other. 

2.    They also sit around chatting quietly in the evenings as their homes are very dark and narrow - twin towers he called them - mostly. only about 4 meters wide, and then three or four storeys high, pretty dark on the ground floor where the kitchen is.  This means a strong community feeling, plus nothing that happens is a secret - his example was where someone bought new PJs, everyone knows because the washing is out in the street for all to see.

3.    The city is filled with icons - over 270 in this old town he said - and let's say there are about 6,000 residents. I, of course became obsessed photographing them - many and varied and lovely.

These are just created by people outside their houses, and flowers popped there by neighbours.

4.    That San Nicola, the basilica, has two churches within one - the orthodox downstairs and the catholic upstairs. S. Nicola was the original Santa Claus - he was the defender of children, saved two young girls from being sold to prostitution by repaying the dowry the father had received. He fought against the Romans in the religious  persecutions. I tried to work out what the persecution was - jump in here if I have this wrong -S Nicola was Christ-centric where the Romans were including Mary - is that right? And I did let these two guys push in front of me...

5.    That the columns in the basilica were rumoured to be able to find you a husband if a woman touched them, Andriana told us that there was 'once time' (love that turn of phrase) when there was a special service for all of the single women - and of course all of the single men were waiting outside to get the first picks - the original speed dating. Perhaps we can set that up locally? (We, like other tourists just wandered through the church taking photos - no problems - even though mass was on. Feels incredibly intrusive from our perspective, but no one blinked an eye.

6.    That Putin donated a statue of S. Nicola about 10 years ago (what?) but Bari haven't been so fond of him over the last 2 years. It stands in a corner in thePiazza s Nicola.

7.    That in this lovely piazza, there is a column to which minor transgressors where shackled to be publicly  shamed - rotten tomatoes etc thrown - and beside the column sits the lion, the symbol of justice, which you can touch for good luck (after the local justice system has shamed you, I guess!).

8.    That this family have been delivering ice in Bari Vecchia for three generations - and you see this motorbike racing around the streets delivering ice to bars and cafes.

8.    And having been introduced to it on this tour, our new favourite morning coffee is caffe leccese - espresso coffee poured over ice in a glass with a generous dollop of almond syrup! It's divine. It's going to be my new thing, just need to source the almond syrup at home. Doubt I'll be able to pull that one out at our yoga cafe though...

and the rest of these photos belong nowhere, but it's my blog and so I can just throw them in with reckless abandon! (I wondered with the guys in white shirts were Jehovah's witnesses, local style (much better fitting suits than home)...