Essecke: June 2014

Back in Switzerland after a super holiday in Italy and Finland. We started our holidy on the 12th of June when we flew with Alitalia from Zürich to Bari. Our holiday in the Puglia region was short, only four days, but we'll surely be going back one day for a longer stay. Specially the food was great! And also the atmosphere. I'd got lots of restaurant and city tips from my Italian colleague who grew up in the Bari region. He went as far as to book us a b&b in Ostuni and made us a reservation for a one Michelin star restaurant because he knows the chef there. All this was of course super great. In Italy you can go far if you know somebody who knows somebody....As my colleague said about the b&b: "It belongs to a friend of a friend of a friend, so practically family." :D

Train station in Bari airport

We had actually planned to spend all four nights in Bari and rent a car for day trips. My colleague said it would be better to make a roundtrip and sleep every night somewhere new. Well, I had already booked the hotel in Bari and that's why we ended up sleeping first night in Bari, second night in Ostuni and the two last nights in Bari. Our hotel in Bari was Mercure Villa Romanazzi Carducci, which was a nice place and very easy to reach from the airport. It might not be the best place if you prefer to stay next to the restaurants and the nightlife which is mainly in and around the old town. But we are walking people so we didn't mind the two kilometer walk. The average room rate was 80 euros per night without breakfast. We had breakfast at the hotel only once. My professional interest told me that I should check it out and for a price of 9 euros per person it was very good.

From the airport we took the train to the stop "Bari-Quintino Sella" and from there it was only about 200 meters walk to the hotel. The tickets cost five euros per person. Taxi would have been around 25 euros. The first night we had sundowners in some cafe/bar at Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, which name I can't remember. This time we weren't quite as active with the photos and information as on our holidays before. That's why this post isn't the best travel/food post. I can't remember the names or prices of all the places we stopped at. Sorry about that, but some times you just want to take it easy and forget the camera.

Castle in the old town of Bari

In the first evening after the sundowners we walked around in the old town and found a place called Restaurant Black & White to have our dinner. Because we were in Italy we followed the locals and had dinner only after 9 pm. Because it was such nice and warm evening everybody wanted to sit outside and we had to wait for the table for a while. They were quite slow at setting the table but for the trouble of waiting we got a small snack offered :) Food and service were very good and the wine recommendation went nicely with our seefood pastas.

Sundowner snacks and drinks at some place

Pasta with seefood in Restaurant Black & White

Pizza in Restaurant Black & White

The next morning we took the train back to the airport and picked up a small Fiat. Of course, we were in Italy, so we wanted to have a Fiat :D The cost for two days were about 100 euros. Without the better insurance coverage it would have been about 50 euros. My Italian colleague told us to take the cheapest car with the best possible insurance so we thought it better to follow this advice. And now a small tip: never ever watch "driving in Italy" videos if you are actually going to drive in Italy ;D Well, all in all it wasn't bad. We might not want to try our luck in Rome or Napels but in the countryside it was alright.

Our destination was Ostuni and on the way we stopped in Alberobello, a small, cute UNESCO heritage site with funny houses. Our b&b in Ostuni was booked by my colleague and after some trouble of finding it we were welcomed by the super cheery and happy Eliza. If you are ever planning a trip to Ostuni you should definitive book a room in Dimora Lucia. Really a super place! Right at the centre, nice and simple but very clean rooms and the best of all: a huge roof terrance with a fantastic view over Ostuni. To this place we'll definive want to return. Our dinner in Ostuni was organised by my colleague. We ate at the Cielo Restaurant of La Sommità Relais Hotel. If you are into fine dining and stars, DO NOT miss this place! Super food, great service and lovely outside garden where we had our dinner. Sorry, but I didn't take any photos. It just didn't feel right in a such great place.

When in Italy one needs to have a small Fiat :D

Town of Alberobello

Ice cream break in Alberobello

Town of Ostuni. The view from the roof terrace of the b&b.

Cat people take always cat pictures.

In the centre of Ostuni

Some more roof terrace pictures

Sunset in Ostuni

Morning sun in Ostuni

On our third day we left the beautiful Ostuni behind us and headed to the north side of Bari to Trani. On the way there we had a ice cream break in Polignano a Mare, a cute town at the see. We went to Trani to eat :D My other italian colleague, guest chef at my working place, gave me a tip for a great seefood place in Trani. The restaurant is called Pescandalo and it's in the harbour of Trani. For seefood, check it out! From this place I even have some photos coming up.

The town of Polignano a Mare

The cathedral of Trani

The town of Trani

Lunch in the Restaurant Pescandalo

Raw starter, fish carpaccio

Warm starter, green beans and shrimps

Warm starter, octopus and tomatos

Warm starter, baby squids with zucchini and lentils

Warm starter, fish force meat and aubergine

Pasta dish, spaghetti with zucchini and mussels

The harbour of Trani

From Trani we drove back to Bari and said goodbye to our small Fiat. After an early evening siesta we headed to the old town for dinner. The whole city was full of people with high spirits and hundreds of Italian flags. The first World Cup game of Italy was coming up later that evening. For dinner we found a small cafe/bar La Uascezze on a small side street. Of all the places we ate at, this became our favourite. We even went back there the next evening. It's not a restaurant with everything from antipasti to secondo to dessert but rather a tapas kind of place where you could order various small dishes for the whole table. I did't take any photos of the food but we had e.g. gratinated chicory, fritata, burrata with ham and ruccola, filled and grilled focaccia...

The last day we also spent in Bari just enjoying the holiday, having some drinks and walking around, having snacks and some more drinks...:D All in all our mini holiday in Puglia was great and there is still many places left for us to visit in the future. Would love to go there for a week or two with some friends one day.