Polignano A Mare

Bari is interesting and, in parts, quite picturesque. So it’s worthy of a visit on its own, but it’s also a great place from which to take side trips. For example, this morning I took a train to Polignano a Mare.

Mare is Italian for sea. If you knew that then, even if weren’t familiar with Polignano a Mare, as I wasn’t before this trip, you likely figured out that Polignano a Mare is a seaside town.

If you didn’t know that mare is Italian for sea then the seaside aspect probably comes as a surprise to you. You might have thought it’s a town with cis female horses. Nay, nay. It is not.

The train ride takes roughly the same amount of time as the one I took to Trani yesterday, but it goes in the opposite direction along the coast. Today’s train started by making a number of stops in Bari suburbs, passing considerable sprawl.

Even before leaving the last station with Bari in its name, the land became generously dotted with vineyards, the occasional other crop, and intermittent unproductive greenery. Plus, as a bonus, I caught glimpses of the sea not too far off in the distance.

The guidebook that encouraged me to visit Polignano a Mare by suggesting it’s worth a trip, didn’t offer any suggestions as to specific things to do and see there. It just recommended it as a beautiful town built on a craggy landscape and a great place to gaze at the crashing waves. That sounded perfect.

In Polignano a Mare

The impression I got of Polignano a Mare from the guidebook before going there was very different from what I saw there. It was not a bad difference, just a difference.

I accept that the misperceptions I got from the text were probably my fault, not the author’s. Most things are likely my fault. My guilt feelings are boundless.

What I thought I’d find is a small village with residences, restaurants, shops and such crammed into any available narrow valleys and wide enough crags.

The reality is that Polignano a Mare is quite a large town. Tt could very well be classified as a city for all I know. It certainly has the population for it. In fact, whether or not it is officially designated as such, I’m going to refer to it as a city henceforth.

Most of the city is flat or, at most, on a very low, very gently sloping hill. The seaward edge of Polignano a Mare is atop a long cliff., the top edge of which undulates along the sea.

There are many caves and crags in the cliff. Hence, the guidebook’s mention of a craggy shore was not false.

One thing the guidebook got very wrong, at least for today, was the bit about people enjoying watching the crashing waves. Today, a few ripples gently, almost hesitantly, tickled the bottom of the cliffs.

You probably have to pay extra for crashing waves.

Train Station and Into the City

Upon arriving at the Polignano a Mare station, I and the other passengers were greeted by a rank of tuk-tuks. Signs advertising cave-viewing boat trips, tours, and tour and hotel transfers plastered the little available space on the sides of the tuk-tuks. A couple of the drivers touted the same vocally.

I passed them by and instead strolled along the street that Google Maps told me would take me to the old town and, beyond that, the sea.

The street that leads from the station is attractive. Trees bearing green needles rather than broadleaves line the streets. The buildings are low-rise and, not special, but pleasing. And I passed a small, pleasant park.

Polignano a Mare Middle-Age Town

That street quickly leads to, not the old town, but rather a middle-age town. Its streets are mostly on a grid pattern, but with some diagonals. They are relatively narrow compared to, say, most North American residential streets. Sidewalks are just barely wide enough to be called sidewalks as opposed to, say, ant laneways.

The streets in this part of the city are not solely for pedestrians, as evidenced by the lines of cars parking up just about every spot on one of their sides. But, at least when I was there, traffic is light enough (almost nonexistent) that you can walk on the street rather than the ant laneways with little fear of being run over even if you don’t pay as much attention as you should.

Depending on which direction you head away from the station, walking through this middle-age town brings you to the sea, the old town, or the old town and then the sea. (There’s a lot of seafront.)

Seaside

Within the middle-age town some of the streets dead end at the cliff by the sea. At those points, there are low stone walls preventing falls. There are gaps in the walls with sturdy railings that provide even better views of the dramatic seascape than over the low walls.

I took in the views from a couple of those points.

Then I walked through the middle-age town to an area that’s more open to the sea.

A civilized, winding, long path snakes along the top of the clifftop, following its shape. The path provides great views of the seascape, including a small rugged island a little off shore.

The city side of the path is less inspiring, to say the least. There are parking areas with sufficient space for a two- or three-digit multiple of the number of cars that were there today.

To be fair, my guidebook said that Polignano a Mare is jammed on Sundays with day trippers who come to enjoy the views. Today isn’t Sunday. It’s Monday. There were some tourists and locals around, but I wouldn’t use the term jammed or marmaladed to describe it. It was more like pleasantly lively.

On the other side of the parking lots is neither the middle-age nor old town, but more of a young-adult town containing relatively modern mid-rise residential buildings.

(Just to be clear, there is a section of Polignano a Mare that’s formally called the centro storico (old town), but middle-age town and young-adult town are my terms. I expect royalties if you use them.)

Polignano a Mare Old Town

The old town of Polignano a Mare is a mishmashy warren of car-free, narrow lanes. The old, two- and three-storey buildings that line them are charming. Most are residences, but some have restaurants or shops on the ground floor.

The old town has at least a couple of churches. I ducked into one. It’s not particularly large and it exudes a restrained beauty.

I didn’t go into the other church because its front sported two largish signs, both with text in both Italian and English, and both saying the same thing.

The English told me that, “This Church is busy for a wake, therefore it can’t be visited. Thank you.”

A wake? It was a couple of minutes past noon when I walked by. They should have woken up hours before. Oh, well. Different countries; different customs.

Kidding aside, this is the second time during this trip that death barred me from taking a look in a church. On the bright side, if that’s the worst that death has for me, I’m definitely winning.

Oh, what was the name of the church? It was the Chiesa del Purgatorio, which translates into Church of Purgatory. I don’t know enough about Catholicism to know what holding a wake in purgatory’s church says about what the people who arranged it thought about the deceased. But make what you will of it.

Remember those street-dead-end vista points I mentioned in the middle-age town section above? I found one viewing spot in the old town that provides an even more spectacular view of the sea, the cliffs, and the city sitting atop the cliffs. I posted a picture of it here.

Lunch

The whole old town is oozing with charm and character. I walked aimlessly through it for a while.

I had lunch in Polignano a Mare. I thought that best so as to avoid the existential angst I felt yesterday over whether to conclude my morning journal entry about my side trip to Trani in what has become my traditional way, namely with a note about lunch, despite me not having that lunch until I left Trani and returned to Bari.

I acted the part of the tourist I am and had an early lunch, at about 12:30. I chose a restaurant with large sun umbrellas completely shading their outdoor tables beside a small, fetching square. I sat facing an old building with an attractive clock on it.

If all goes according to plan, I will leave the Puglia region of Italy tomorrow morning. So I thought it appropriate that my last lunch in the region should consist of the native pasta, orecchiette. I had an orecchiette dish that included broccoli rabe, a nice sauce, and a couple of other ingredients I’ve forgotten. A small dish of olives was on the table for me to munch on from the time I sat down until I left. I munched.

The liquids I consumed included wine, acqua frizzante (sparkling water), and an espresso.

As has been common on this trip, lunch was wonderful, including both the food and the ambience.

After lunch, I had a few more minutes to wander around the charming old town of Polignano a Mare before heading back to the station to catch a train.