Our weekend trip to Puglia starts on Friday in Bari – the capital of the region. Together with Saba and Stephanie, we decided that it would be most convenient to rent accommodation in this city and commute to selected towns every day. We travelled only by public transport and our destinations were Matera, Polignano a Mare and Alberobello. Unfortunately, for this reason, we only visited Bari looking for morning coffee and a place for breakfast or at night, walking around after dinner. However, I can recommend two very good restaurants: Mastro Ciccio and MattarelloStreet Food or breakfast at Salvatore Petriella – Pasticceria Café & Bistrot. The weather at the turn of April and May was quite capricious, so both sunscreen and an umbrella came in handy.
Sassi di Matera
On Saturday morning we went to Matera for the day on the Appulo Lucane Railways train. It is worth checking the timetable directly on the carrier’s website because it is not compatible with Google Maps. Matera is located in the Basilicata region, on the border with Puglia. It owes its world fame to the historic districts called Sassi, inscribed on the UNESCO list. The characteristic buildings carved in the rock date back to 7000 BC. and they are still inhabited! Perhaps that’s why this place stole my heart – the history of this place takes us back in time and delights us with its splendour.
Matera Travel Palette
Matera’s monochromatic colour scheme caused dilemmas. But in the end, the town is best reflected by the natural pigments of the earth – umber, earth yellow and khaki. And all complemented by sap green that, perhaps unnoticeable at first glance, gently fit into the town.
We reached Polignano on Sunday morning with Trenitalia national airlines. The small town stretches on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the Adriatic Sea. The white, geometric shapes of the houses are reflected in the turquoise water. Blue also accentuates building details – signs, shutters, doors. The combination of these colours makes Polignano similar to Greek cities. And maybe this similarity is not accidental, it is believed that this is the place where the ancient Greek city of Neapolis was located.
Alberobello
The last destination of our trip was Alberobello, to which we took a bus from Bari on Sunday afternoon. The city is famous for its characteristic huts – trulli. Their conical grey roofs and white walls contrasted beautifully with the stormy sky. In the 15th century, farmers were sent to the area to cultivate the land built without the use of mortar. Temporary structures created in this way did not qualify as houses and were tax exempt.
