Italy, part II - Bari (ii) - Via Venezia, Lungomare Imperatore Augusto and gelatos

Bari old town and the seaside is a straight walk north from the train station. I walked up the Via Sparano da Bari, which was mostly under reconstruction and took me through a rather shady-looking park where menacing gangster-like people lurked under the boughs and stared at me as I walked past. My first impression of Italy was not going down well. I made a mental note to take another road when I came back to the train station, as I did not fancy having to walk that way when it was dark.

The view of the old town was very nice, and very Adriatic too, ivory and compact and catacomb-like. This design would be repeated amongst every single Adriatic seaside town I'd visit in the weeks to come. I do have to admit though, Croatia does it better. Sorry, Bari. I'm willing to visit more east-side Italian towns in the future and revise my opinion, but as it stands, I just didn't like Bari that much, and was even wondering if I should just find a place to eat and wait for my bus.

Via Venezia

Then I walked up to the seaside promenade up to Via Venezia, and looked up at Adriatic proper for the first time, and decided that my stopover in Bari had not been in vain after all.

Walking along the Lungomare Imperatore Augusto

After walking around the Via Venezia and then going down to the Lungomare Imperatore Augusto, I made my way slowly back south. The sea was very nice, but there was also something very desolate about it that was a little depressing - perhaps the winter sun. I walked down the Via Abate Gimma slowly - the sun had begun to set, and it was getting very chilly. I saw a gelateria in front of me, and Italy is nothing if not known for its gelatos, so I stopped to get one, and was pretty pleased with what I had. Unfortunately that's where the niceness ended - an African hobo saw me and made a beeline for me, alternating between Nihao and Konichiwa, and followed me for about 5 minutes before going away. Welcome to my world.

The dude in this photo. Urgh. He accosted me right after I'd finished taking this photo of the gelataria

Gelateria Gasperini.

I remember swallowing the ice cream rather hastily because it was gigantic, and I didn't want it dripping everywhere.

By the time I got back to the neighbourhood of the train station, the sun was already setting, and it was beginning to get cold in earnest, so I found a McDonald's, took out my second phone as my first phone was beginning to run low on battery, and used the free Wifi there, until it was time to go and catch my flixbus to Naples. By that time it was pitch dark, and I had the two seats to myself. I found the charger, plugged in my phones, both of them, and then curled up happily, accessed the flixbus complementary Wifi and put on some Enrique. I live for moments like this when I'm travelling; it's at times like this that I feel most alive.

The McDonald's in Bari

Onto Naples; goodbye Bari. I was glad to leave that ghostlike city.