Every year late November, my travel companion and I go away for a few days. Over the years, we have been to Mallorca, Malta, Tallinn/Estonia, and Thessaloniki/Macedonia. This year, it took us to Bari in Apulia, a region at the heel of Italy’s boot.

We got very lucky with the weather – sunshine, blue skies and an average temp of 20°C for three days.

My first view from the balcony of my B&B in the old town of Bari.

The houses in the old town are quite narrow and usually have three floors with a rooftop terrace. As one of the locals explained to us, the bottom serves as the kitchen and the place to eat. The upstairs is for sleeping and bathrooms. These houses have no living rooms, as we know it. The ‘living’ is done mostly outside. You are only inside to eat, sleep, and shower. Not to live there.

We passed many of these homes with their front door open. I often saw a grandmother sitting there, the TV was on, people kept going in and out.

This was my room at the B&B ‘Bella Bari’. As each floor only had one room, I basically had the whole (small) floor to myself. It made for a fairly spacious bedroom and bathroom.

This was the view from our rooftop terrace. Initially, we had plans of sitting up there every night with some wine. But when you get lost walking around the old town, walk all day, we had no more energy left to climb to the top terrace (terraces on the 4th and 5th floor). This photo was taken shortly after we had arrived.

This square separates the Old Town from the new town.

The lights installed around the Old Town emit a special warmth and glow. The wine helps too, but the camera doesn’t lie (as my husband likes to remind me 🙂 )

Our first day there was well spent. We got lost a few times, walked and laughed a lot, and managed to stop here and there for some refreshments. When going to Bari Old Town, wear good and sturdy shoes.

Did I mention Primitivo is an excellent wine..?