Friday, October 23, 2015
Rome to Bari
After goodbyes, we left
for the Rome Termini, the main train station, where we caught the 7:50 AM fast
train to Bari, a port town in the far southeast of Italy on the heel. We arrived at about 12:30 and the six of us
took two taxis to our hotel, which precipitated the first real crisis of our
trip. The first taxi with three of our
group took the only parking space in front of the hotel. Three of us in my taxi were in the back seat,
and my carry-on bag, containing my medications, my computer, etc. was on the
front passenger seat, with our luggage in the trunk. Well, our taxi stopped in the middle of the narrow
street, blocking traffic while we unloaded, during which time very impatient
Italian drivers were stuck behind him.
We got the bags from the trunk to the curb and the driver took off with
my carry-on bag still on the front seat!
I ran after him but he was gone.
The front desk people were
wonderful, springing into action. Of
course we had no idea which taxi company had taken us. They called the two largest ones, they called
the taxi dispatch at the train station, and we waited. It wasn’t too long before the taxi showed
up! Great relief!
We checked in, had a quick
lunch, and met ido, our guide, at 2:30 for a walking tour of Bari. An important port:
As a crossroads, Bari has
seen multiple ethnic groups, and (long story) because of a relic in the local
main church, there is a great connection with the Orthodox churches, especially
the Russian. We visited the church:
We were surprised that in
this Catholic church was an Orthodox section with the kinds of sights not
usually seen in a Catholic church:
Walking back to the hotel
we passed a pasta “factory” where they were hand-making orecchiette:
Tomorrow we leave Bari and
start our tour of Apulia.
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