Day 8 Booking Nightmare

We landed and I knew my flight for Turkey would leave at 6am.  I relaxed for a bit and took advantage of the free wifi while I waited.  I did something I should have not done which was to search "Turkey" on twitter.  I find twitter is more helpful than the news media, but in this case, the information I was pulling up was frightening.  Just 5 days earlier there were shootings at the left wing of the airport at Turkey.  I kept coming across scary acts of violence in Turkey and that triggered my anxiety again.  I messaged two of my friends who have been at the airport in Turkey and asked for their opinion on the airport.  One of my friends told me they had a nice café upstairs and to have some tea to relax.  I was so nervous, but part of me felt I didn't know what to believe anymore.
Hours passed and then my flight was ready for takeoff.  Since I broke night, I was praying I would sleep on the flight.  From Athens to Turkey it was a less than 2 hours.  I was deliriously tired, and knocked out for 20 minutes, but then we landed. 
I was dizzy because of the melatonin I took and the lack of sleep I had experienced.  I just followed the crowd off the plane and made my way to the gate.  A bus took us to our gate and then we went through security again.  I found an available seat to wait for my next flight.  This layover was 3 hours long, but even though I tried to rest, it was hard because of how busy it was in there.  After looking around the area, I was mad at myself for getting so worked up over nothing.  Turkey airport is an international airport with people from all over the world.  Even though it has suffered from the hands of terrorism, the fact that you're surrounded by so many people made me feel safer.  Sometimes I think this stems from living in Chicago.  The saying goes, it's when you're alone when something might happen to you.
I couldn't connect with the wifi there, but I was hoping my friend in Italy got my message on what time I would be landing in Bari.  It was finally time to board, and off we went.  As usual, just like clock work, my anxiety snuck up right before take off.  So far all of my flights were smooth sailing.  I wish I had more faith that things would be ok.
An Italian lady sat next to me and was nice to me.  She couldn't speak English but luckily I understood her since I've been trying to learn Italian myself.  She was sweet.  I was finally looking forward to Italy.
We landed and I was worn out from my anxieties.  I was looking forward to seeing my friend and knowing I wouldn't have to get back on a plane till Sunday.  What a relief!  The security took a while to get through at Bari.  After we retrieved our luggage we still had to go back in line and go through an x-ray machine to check our bags.  The military presence was intense!  The surrounded us while we waited for clearance.  It dawned on me that they were probably singling us out since our flight was from Turkey. 
My friend kept calling me.  I was so happy to see her number, but I couldn't pick up because I was still trying to get out of the airport.  Once I was outside I called her and saw her parked ahead.  I must have ran up to her like crazy.  FINALLY I'm here!  FINALLY I'm with her!  What an ordeal!!
We yapped about my travel experience coming to Bari.  It was now 3pm and we decided to go grab some lunch.  We had so much catching up to do.  I told her they fed us on the plane and it was a short flight.  I was not very hungry and if anything, I would eat something light.  She suggested Alba Chiara for sea urchins since they were in season. 
It was SUPER hot in Italy.  I had my jeans on since that's what I normally wear on planes.  I quickly changed into my shorts and we were seated by the sea.  I missed her so much.  I felt bad that I was out of it again, but I did not want to end our day because of my lack of sleep.  The urchins were perfect, but the white wine was doing a number on me.  We decided to  run some errands to try to keep me up.
We ended up at Ikea.  lol.  It was a couple of months old, but since it's relatively new, the place was packed!  I forget how Italians can be.  I had bought an evil eye bracelet for me and my friend and we were wearing them at the time we were checking out our items.  A mother told her son in Italian to stay away from those gypsies.  She was referencing it to us.  My friend was in shock, but they normally do not see the eye evil this far south.  There are not many tourists in the region we were at.
We decided to drive back home.  My friend was not very confident in the car.  She never got a rental because there weren't any available, and she was worried driving stick shift with a bad clutch.  I was fine heading home.  I really wanted to take a shower and freshen up.  I felt filthy.
I got my 2nd wind after my shower.  I went downstairs to join my friend for a drink and more stories.  Eventually her boyfriend came home from work and we all caught up.  The plan for the next day was to go to the auto place to see if we could get a loaner car.  Then we could go wherever we wanted.  I was fine with whatever she wanted to do.  It took me forever to get to Italy and I just wanted to enjoy my time here with my friend.

We shared a large pasta with sea urchin sauce.  YUMMY!

 

Lunch by the sea...

A nearby beach by the restaurant. 
La spiaggia sta vicino a il ristorante.  (There goes my little Italian translation!  lol)

Holiday Blues part 2

We're not sure yet what was the motive concerning the mass shooting at a holiday party in California.  My heart aches for the victims involved.  I was messaging my friend in Italy about the current events taking place here in the States, as well as our city in Chicago.  The mood is dreary wherever you go.  She was mentioning that she's been in funk over there as well.  She misses her old life sometimes.  It must be hard being a foreigner in a new country. 
Back to recapping my trip.  At this point my visit was coming to an end.  Me and my friend made our way to Bari to go see the Grotte di Castellano.  We spent the whole afternoon there.  We were getting hungry since the tour to the caves lasted 2 hours long.  Luckily we brought along a change of clothes.  Since the temperature dropped to 57 degrees in the caves, it was hot outside in the 90s.  We wanted to get out of our layers and wear our day dresses.  I bought some dresses in town the day before for 5 euros each!  The local fair was happening and we checked it out to see if we could find some goodies.  My friend was telling me of the scandal that was happening in Italy.  Apparently, some of the clothes in these markets are made in China, but Italian vendors have been sewing tags saying they are made in Italy.  I will say, you can tell by the quality right away where the garment is made.  But since I'm no stranger to bargains, I still bought some budget friendly day dresses.  They were cute after all!
We drove past Monopoli and my friend suggested we check it out for dinner.  We've already been in Bari a couple of times and we wanted something new.  She heard good things about Monopoli so I trusted we were in for another adventure.  The parking situation was a little crazy, for in this town, there were a lot of no parking signs.  We didn't want to risk the car being towed, so we drove around for nearly an hour trying to find an ok spot we felt comfortable with.  We asked around for a good restaurant and they suggested Il Guazzetto Ristorantino.  We walked past it and it wasn't opened, yet (despite it being 7:30pm) but they gave us an 8pm reservation and told us to come back.  My friend joked that Italians eat dinner no sooner than 9pm so they knew right away we were tourists.  Who cares I wondered.  I was hungry now.  Waiting around for 30 minutes was not such a bad idea.  The man who took our reservation also mentioned that the restaurant was completely booked for tonight.  Our table had to be ready for other guests coming in at 9pm.  We told him we shouldn't take no more than an hour for sure.  He seemed ok with that at the time.
We did another passagiata in centro and loved Monopoli!  Lots of outdoor seating for dining and live music playing.  It was a Friday night and there were a lot of people walking around.  We walked over to the dock and people watched there.  We knew we had to go back to the restaurant soon so we didn't walk too far away.
The Il Guazzetto Ristorantino was officially opened!  There were people already inside getting to their tables.  We got a bottle of wine and ordered the specialty fish of the day with pasta of course.  My friend wanted il fruta di mare so we murdered that dish.  It was seafood heaven!
Me and my friend were enjoying our evening, drinking wine and finishing things up at the table.  We decided on no dessert since we wanted to try the gelato there in Monopoli.  Remember, every town does things differently!  The man who took our reservation came up and asked if there was anything else we would need and we graciously said no; everything was perfect!  Then he kindly reminded us that we had to leave.  The guests that had the 9pm reservation have arrived and he needs our table.  Well that's a first!  So much for great hospitality!  We got up and before you knew it, they started to clean up our table to make way for the new patrons.  A great food experience although we were rushed out of there.  This place is definitely high on demand on a Friday night!
We went to the gelato place to sober up a bit.  That wine got us a little tipsy.  Nothing like a double scooped gelato to sober you up!  We did another passagiata for the rest of the night before we headed back to town.  It was sad knowing I had to leave the next day.  This day was perfect...

Beautiful Monopoli!

Il Guazzetto Ristorantino!

Fruta di Mare!

My friend urged me to suck the head of a prawn.  She knew I was grossed out by this...

The fish of the day with pasta of course!

A Saturday Night Dinner Party...

Since my friend got drunk at the BIG PARTY, she had a terrible hangover the next day.  I was tired myself from being out all night.  We bummed around the house til we started to feel better.  That wasn't into later in the afternoon, around 5pm.  My friend wanted to keep it low key that night, so she suggested cooking a big dinner.  She invited some friends to come by, and they all agreed!  It was a nice change of pace from the night before.  She made some eggplant parmesan which was delish.  Since she knew I'm not a cook at all, she had me prepare some of it so I could learn.  I hope mine turns out as well as hers!  Everyone loved it!  We stayed up past midnight talking and had a lot of laughs.  As awkward as it sounds, sometimes things do get lost in translation, and it comes out funny if anything.  At this point, I can understand Italian about 50% of the time, compared to nothing at all when I visited last year.  I've been taking up lessons on my own, but I need to be consistent.  I want to keep learning so the next time I come I can be more fluent.  The part that's hard for me is to speak it back to someone.  I'm hopeful that I will be able to learn this language without sounding bad.  The next day we had some good sleep and decided to drive to a nearby town, Matera.  This town was one of the locations where the Passion of Christ was filmed, and I can understand why!  Everything looks preserved from the biblical times.  Beautiful stone homes and scenic views.  I felt closer to God there.  It was scorching that day too!  We walked a lot and decided to squeeze in another town nearby before we headed back home.  We drove to Altamura and did some window shopping.  It was an awkward day in general, for me and my friend started to argue about stuff.  It's hard when no one is wrong.  As any relationship goes, there comes a time when no one is right.  Looking back, I'm glad we put this behind us.  I love her too much to argue over something that is beyond our control... 
We ended up passing by Bari before we drove into town.  Since Bari is a metropolitan town, we checked out the Mac Store for some makeup.  My friend cannot find this stuff in her town.  She has to make a trip out here in order to get her products.  We made up that night.  We decided to checkout Napoli the next day.  We needed some more adventure for our trip!

The dinner table is ready for the evening!

Adding the layers to our eggplant parmesan...

Beautiful Matera!

An attempted selfie.  At this point you can see the tension in my face...

Sassi di Matera

No pics allowed but I did sneak this one in...

Window shopping in Altamura...

The central church in Altamura...

An evening in Bari made everything better...

We got TURBULENCE! Part 2

After a 2 hour flight, I landed in Bari airport in Italy.  It was an hour away from the town where my friend lived.  AGAIN no working wifi.  What's up with these airports?  Regardless, I was super groggy as I walked over to claim my luggage.  I had a knot in my stomach praying it would be there since I went through that crazy ordeal at Beauvais airport.  I sighed a sense of relief when I saw my suitcase.  I waited outside for my friend.  She was late, which was fine because it gave me some time to people watch.  Now that I was in Italy, I noticed the interactions within Italians.  They are much more animated than French people.  I almost forgot how they were since I've been away.   
My friend was excited to see me.  Me?  I was trying my best to stay awake.  I still had the antidepressants and melatonin in my system.  My friend drove to nearby Trani so we could have dinner, but I couldn't keep my eyes open.  "Let's walk around and find a restaurant.  You need to eat."  That made things worse.  I was dizzy and felt we were walking around in circles.  She really wanted to go to Le Lampare Al Fortino; a $$$$ restaurant located by the harbor.  It was beautiful, but I had no appetite whatsoever.  She wanted me to experience fine dining at it's best, yet I was useless.  I just wanted to sleep.  I felt bad because she mentioned she hasn't been out in months, and here I was ruining things for us on our 1st night together.  We settled for Il vecchio E Il Mare next door; a cute bar overlooking the sea.  Some light bites will do for me.  In typical Italian fashion, we ordered a glass of wine and that was it!  I was knocking out at the table.  My friend knew she couldn't save this night even if she wanted to.  She drove us back home while I slept the whole way.  I didn't even change out of my clothes.  I headed for the guest room and it was lights out for me. 

Too bad I didn't have an appetite for Le Lampare Al Fortino.  It's breath taking!

We needed reservations but I think they could have accommodated us...

Until next time!  Definitely on my bucket list!

Next door at Il Vecchio E II Mare.  Olive oil and tomatoes bruschetta..

Octopus bruschetta...

12 Hours Non Stop!

Someone at The Big Party had mentioned rain on Monday, and now it was Saturday morning.  Me and my girl figured let's make it to the beach so we can get some sun in.  She figured out a route where we can also hit up some towns that had a good shopping district.  She had a baptism next week and was looking for a dress to wear.  We packed up a bag and threw in some clothes to wear out and away we went.  Our 1st destination was 2 hours away and it was already 12pm.  We should have left earlier but our night out wore us out.  Unfortunately, our drive started to catch up to us, and by the time we found our town, we were starving for lunch.  We knew the beach was nearby, but couldn't see it right away until we drove over this little bridge.  We noticed that people kept looking at this certain direction, and then it hit us like a ton of bricks.  It was one of the most beautiful sites I've EVER seen!  The sea, surrounded by rocks and white town homes.  We finally arrived to Polignano a Mare!
We quickly found parking and made our way below to the beach.  But with the sun hitting hard and us with an appetite, we figured we needed to eat 1st.  Luckily the beach had a restaurant, and we devoured ourselves to another all-you-can-eat-buffet.  We then changed into our bikinis and found a spot to lay on.  First of all, this was no ordinary "beach".  There was no sand.  In place were rocks, and trust me, it was uncomfortable!  We made the most of it regardless.  Italians LOVE to tan.  In fact, they can spend hours on the beach.  As for us, we only spent one good hour underneath the hot sun.  We decided to go to our next spot, but I will say, Polignano a Mare took my breath away!  It is gorgeous. 
Before we drove out, we had some gelato to cool ourselves off.  And I concur!  Italians know how to make gelato!  It was so yummy.
To change things up a bit, my girl drove to a small little town called Alberobello.  We headed to the central district where the Trulli houses were.  This village is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage site, and rightfully so.  This unique area is over 600 years old!  We walked around took a ton of pictures.  What I liked as well were the souvenir shops inside the homes.  I bought some cool stuff, along with my favorite item I got, a map of Puglia! 
On to the next, and this time we went to the city of Bari.  My girl really wanted to hit up some shops, but we were out of luck looking for a dress to wear to this baptism.  This metropolitan city had a retail shopping district, both high end and low.  I did manage to buy 2 tops, and she got a hot dress to wear out to dinner.  I changed as well, and slipped into my wedges again.  It was time for dinner and my friend wanted to go to one of her favorite restaurants.
We drove to the nearby town of Trani, and I fell in love again!  This port town is so pretty at night!  We walked around in the Marina and found the infamous restaurant La Banchina Osteria.  I ate like a queen once more.  We ordered a "Fruits of the Sea" platter and indulged in some tasty treats.  Everything was delish!  The hardest part for us was the drive back, especially after we had a huge dinner.  We got back into town and headed to the winery again, but this time for a private birthday party.  A friend had rented the space to celebrate his son's birthday.  He was turning 18 and had invited all his friends.  They were having a lively time, but by then me and my friend were exhausted!  We were all over the place for 12 hours non stop!  I did manage to dance for a little bit, but luckily we left before the party died down.