Italy 2022: Bari rickshaw tour

The main activity for today was a rickshaw tour of the old city that should be a fun activity by itself, as well as getting a feeling for where everything is in the area.  So, after a good breakfast, we rode in a taxi that was waiting outside of the hotel (not especially for us!), taking us to the edge of the old city. Unfortunately, the map that was printed on the ticket receipt was not very good and didn't show where the rickshaw company was situated. We were dropped off where I've marked an X next to Piazza IV Novembre and walked through Piazza del Ferrarese; we didn't know it at the time, but already we had missed the turning that leads to Strada Valissa (marked in yellow). Instead we walked and walked through the old city in search of a road that we had no chance of finding. Eventually we returned to our starting point, where we found someone who could explain how to get to the tour company (the map section that appears above comes from a picture of a map that I photographed in a shop window; we didn't have it with us).

We arrived at 10:10 am (we were supposed to be there at 9:50) but couldn't approach the counter as there was a group of people hiring bicycles who took up the receptionist's attention for half an hour. When eventually they left, I explained that we had a reservation for 10 am but couldn't find the shop in time. No problem: we were transferred to the 11:30 am tour. I then spent some time looking for a shop where I could buy water and a new hat (my old straw hat had been ruined in the flight to Bari); I thought that I had filmed some of the sights, but later on it turned out that I had filmed my pocket - the old problem of thinking that the camera is on when it's off, and off when it's on.

Eventually our tour began, which was great fun. Riding in the rickshaw was a very good idea as we had shade from the sun and could see the sights with minimum effort. We had thought that the rickshaw driver would be the guide, but no: there was another rickshaw and maybe ten cyclists (including an Israeli couple whom we met whilst queuing yesterday for the flight) accompanying us. The guide pedalled the other rickshaw; we stopped at pre-determined points where the guide would get off her rickshaw and explain about where we stopped.

We had a good tour around the old city, visiting the Castello Svevo (where a 'pavement artist' hijacked the group for making some music - I think that this was a case of the 'artist' seeing the group then asking to perform for us, rather than something planned in advance) which is opposite the famous orecchietta alley (most of the YouTube videos about Bari that we watched in preparation for this trip included a visit to this alley). From there we went through various alleys, including those that we had erroneously walked through in the morning. Then the alleys were wide and empty, and all the doors along them were closed; now the alleys were full of half-full restaurants and there was barely room for our rickshaw to pass without causing problems. Surprisingly for us, the tour finished at the Basilica of St Nicholaus, that was actually the furthest point that I reached in my early morning searches. 

While we were waiting in the tour company's shop for the tour to begin, I noticed a poster for an antiques sale that would take place today at Via Napoli 260. I didn't know where that was, but on the way to the Castello we actually went past this site. This is not the sort of thing that I enjoy but my wife really loves these. We asked our rickshaw driver about this and he said that he would take us there after the tour finished. 

The antiques sale was a odd mixture of high quality glassware and linen mixed with a load of what might politely be termed rubbish. I left my wife to it and walked off in search of a new hat that I found quite quickly (written on the label is "100% paper, made in China"). I walked back to the market where my wife was engrossed in checking out the goods. I sat down on a bench and read my kindle until I heard her shouting my name - she needed money to pay for some glass ornaments that she wanted. By chance, I had earlier seen in the market another two people who had been with us in the queue for checking in the day before.

It was now about 3 pm and finally we were feeling a little hungry. I had seen that there was a small restaurant situated by the market, Tuccio, so we went in there. Strangely enough, we were served by a waiter who is a Christian Arab from a village in the north of Israel who is studying medicine in Italy; he could talk us through the menu in Hebrew. We ordered a single portion of fried hake and potatoes  between us that was more than filling. After paying, we asked the waiter to order a taxi to take us back to the hotel; while we were waiting, my wife talked with two of the waiters and I talked with the proprietor (also young) about Italy and Israel and economic conditions. Very interesting. After some time the taxi came and took us back to our luxury hotel that would be excellent had it been located closer to the old city.

After showering and resting for an hour, my body was screaming out for tea. We went down into the lobby of the hotel, intending to go outside and look for a cafe when I noticed that there was a bar next to the lobby. Aside from the alcoholic drinks it was also possible to order tea with cakes; as opposed to the 'hot' water available at breakfast, this hot water was boiling, and so we had two very good cups of tea each as well as a pastry (filled with cream and cherries - pasticciotto, a local favourite).

After this, we wandered around the lobby and the area outside, which is exceedingly well set out with plenty of shrubs and trees. One of the staff saw us come out and followed us, asking if we wanted a taxi but we said that we just wanted to enjoy the outside of the hotel.

After a while we came back in and went up to our room. Tomorrow we will have another good, if not better, breakfast then we will pack before decamping to our holiday apartment.

If I had to award marks for the day, I would give it 9/10 where the only bad part was the unnecessary (and frustrating) wandering around looking for the tour company.