Puglia & Rome

Once again at an airport, once again a quick post, because what happened deserves another one. Puglia deserves another mention, too. It is genuinely beautiful here. Thankfully, the temperatures were not quite so relentlessly hot, and the area was perfectly bearable.

So, what was on the agenda after Bari? Matera first, as I mentioned before. It is not actually in Puglia, but it is relatively easy to reach from Bari by bus. If you book early enough and make it to the bus station in time. Matera is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world; the cave settlements of the Sassi date back to prehistoric times. Until the 1950s, many people still lived there in dire poverty, in homes carved into the rock, before the state cleared the districts. It is incredibly picturesque and, as mentioned, full of stairs, which I fortunately rather enjoy. So I ran through the city with my camera in hand and learned a lot about photography again. I had my camera with me in Oceania too, but one of the control dials had jammed, so I was mostly stuck using automatic mode. Here, I could finally learn more about the camera again: depth of field, exposure, and all the other nonsense you need to take reasonably good photos.

In the evening, it was back to Bari, ready to set off for Alberobello the following afternoon. The morning got hectic again: rushing through Bari, all the way to the old town, then trying to find the bus departure point once more. Somehow it was not clearly signposted, and everyone gave different information. Of course, it was the same bus station from which the bus to Matera had left the day before. I could have figured that out, but these things happen in the rush. The rush was entirely my own fault, of course. That is how it goes sometimes.

After one ride and one missed connection, I finally arrived in Alberobello. My landlord had been pestering me all day about when I would arrive, and unfortunately I could not give him a time because I already knew how reliable public transport can sometimes be. That did not exactly make for a relaxed day either. In the end, the man intercepted me right at the station and accompanied me the remaining twenty metres to his, let us say, hole, complete with a dangerous spiral staircase and an extremely soft mattress. Far too soft for my taste. I think my landlord was simply broke. He desperately needed the money and accepted it with corresponding gratitude. At least I finally had a little peace and quiet.

In the evening, I went for a stroll through the old town. Alberobello is famous for its trulli, whitewashed round houses made from dry stone, with conical roofs. This style of building dates back at least to the fourteenth century; particularly large numbers of trulli can be found in Rione Monti and Aia Piccola. Alberobello has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996.

The following day brought more wandering through these picturesque lanes. Truly extraordinary, with some extremely beautiful photos in this wonderful setting. This slower kind of travelling without a bicycle is actually rather nice. The day went by in a flash, and the next day was another transfer day, this time to Polignano a Mare. Polignano sits on limestone cliffs directly above the Adriatic and is known for its old town, the Lama Monachile beach cove, and a rather appealing restaurant built into the cliff. A table there costs only 250 euros. I briefly considered it, then delayed it long enough for there to be no booking available anymore. Perhaps that was for the best. It would not have been much of a return on investment. Time and effort wasted.

The town was already inhabited in Roman times, which I was able to explore from the Adriatic by motorboat the following day. When jumping from the boat into the sea, I naturally had to slip slightly and end up with another badly bruised toe. The nail will probably come off soon. My second one this year. I had weakened the first one structurally on the Greenstone Hike in New Zealand to the point that it fell off somewhere in the South Pacific. I also took some really beautiful photos in this Adriatic town, learned a lot, and, believe it or not, there are no tourists around at six in the morning. It is far too early for me to get up at that time while on holiday, but hey, empty streets. Another lesson learned.

The real treasure of Puglia, though, is not just its picturesque towns but the wonderful, friendly people you meet everywhere. People who have time and are genuinely happy to engage with you. To me, that is the region’s real cultural heritage.

Overall, it was genuinely instructive to travel like this for once. One encounter with a photographer was extraordinary: he photographs on silver-coated glass plates and develops the images directly on site. Phenomenal technique, and I am wondering how long it would take me to copy it. Probably only a few years.

The journey back to Rome was unfortunately completely uneventful, but my hotel choice and the discount were phenomenal. Then the usual programme in Rome, above all putting what I had just learned into practice, which resulted in some really strong pictures.

In that sense.

P.S. Record time: eighteen minutes from the first sentence to publication.