Bari

After having a nice little stop in Casterno, I went big and headed for Bari. It was raining hard in Casterno but within 10 minutes I saw this and it was worth it:

The train ride to Bari was around 4 or 5 hours but it felt like forever. I arrived in Bari at 6:50 and felt like I had almost no time. I didn't know what time everything closed and I was kind of nervous I wouldn't be able to get everything I needed. The first thing I did was go to the information booth where I was given a map of Bari and told of 2 hostels that I could stay at. The girl at the information desk recommended the first one and told me it was only three blocks away. She called ahead to find the price, make sure they had room and told them I was coming. Then I ran over to the ticket window to grab a train ticket to Florence the next day. I had to buy two tickets. One to Bologna and then one from Bologna to Florence. After that I was off to my hostel.

The hostel was nearly impossible to find because Italians don't label addresses the same way that we do in America. They don't have evens on one side and odds on the other. I actually doth know what they do. It feels pretty random to me. Also the information desk girl might've had really good English but she  clearly got "across from" and "next to" confused when she described it in relation to the church near it. Also the hostel was literally someone's 3 bedroom apartment that they turned into a hostel. So I had to ring on the door and tell them I was a tourist in Italian. They opened the door and the guy that ran the hostel was really cool. I just sat and pet his dog for like 10 minutes. The rate was 17 euro for the night but I only had 15 in cash so I gave him that and he was cool with it. He gave me a map, told me where the best gelateria was and where all the best sights were. He was a really nice guy and I got my own room because there weren't many people there. Lastly there was even a computer I could use if I needed to but I had wifi so it was good. After this I went out to discover. The city was beautiful:

As I was walking towards the old town where all the restaurants, bars, and sights were when I happened upon the gelateria that the hostel guy told me about. I decided to stop and it was definitely worth it. It was only two euros and I got the flavored the guy told me to get. It was Pinguino and Creme. Then they put whip cream on it and gave me so much. It was the best gelato I've ever had. It was so good:

Then I walked past the beautiful theater, which happens to be right by the entrance of the old city:

This was an old fish market right by the entrance to the old city. Now it just hosts a bunch if guys that sell tourist things but it's still pretty cool:

The streets down Bari were kind of eerie but they were well lit and kind of pretty. A lot of them were empty because it was the quiet season. All the buildings were white probably because it was an old seatown. Well the map the guy at the hostel have me was very nice except in the old city it didn't have street names so I got completely lost although Bari seems to me to be the perfect place to get lost. I kind of liked it. Eventually though I started asking people for directions and one guy told me to ask the bartender so I did. The guys in the bar got really excited about the challenge and started yelling at each other and getting angry about who was right on my way to my hostel. The bartender sold me a beer for one euro so I got pretty excited about that. One of the guys eventually led me back to the theater and I was able to find my way back from there. I truly liked it, because mine of the guys spoke English so it was a good rest for my Italian. I was proud that I knew enough to communicate with them but at the same time I knew there was a lot I still needed to learn:

The people were nice here, it was home to the best gelato, there are a lot of sights, the hostel is awesome, there is a beach and I was pretty excited about this place. I couldn't wait to tell everyone back in Florence about it and we would probably all come back next weekend. 

So I went back to my hostel and was laying on my bed texting some people from home and while I was waiting for a reply I happened to notice something. 

Above my bed where a headboard should be there was simply a mat nailed into the wall. This did not bother me because I didn't need a headboard at all. It was what was on the mat that caught my attention. There was a little bug on it. A really really tiny bug that looked like a yellow crab or a lice bug. It was moving around and it's movement had caught my eye. Then I noticed two bugs that were black and looked to be the same size as flies although the outside of them looked more like beetles. 

If you've ever just watched a group of ants and then walked away a little bit and noticed that the group you were watching was just a small group of what appears to be a huge anthill, then you know what I'm talking about. That same thing happened to me at this point when I noticed that the mat was covered when these little yellow crab things.

That's about the time when I became extremely disgusted and a little scarred. What if the bed had bugs in it like the mat? I've never had bed bugs and I honestly have no desire to get them. I looked at about 20 reviews online and found out that two people had said they got bed bugs while here. One guy had said that he had read the review before his that said bed bugs and had slept there anyway only to wake up with 28 bites on his body and face that swelled pretty bad. That definitely freaked me out. My mom told me not to risk it and to just get a hotel room, so I off I walked to the hotel next door.

The hotel next door cost 70 euro for the night and there was no way I was gonna pay for that. So I walked back to the train station where I had seen a hotel. That hotel cost 90 euros for the night. So feeling a little dejected I went back to the hostel to brainstorm. 

Once there I realized I was a 21 year old college student with wifi and a smartphone. So I googled cheap hotels in Bari and found hotel Victor for like 35 euros a night. Also it was only like half a mile away. So I booked a room and headed over. This was at around 11 and the hostel owner was already asleep. Chances of me getting my refund tonight - 0:

Hotel Voctor was really nice as well and there were no bed bugs. The next morning I got up early and went on a nice little run around Bari:

There were so many pretty parks:

And the water came right up to the city, it was great:

It was a really pretty city:

The harbor:

I don't know of I was allowed but I went on top of the fish market and I got this picture and I didn't get in trouble:

I even ran by the castle which was really cool but since I was running I didn't stare at it too long:

I returned my key to the hostel by putting it under my pillow like the sign says although the owner still wasn't there so I still didn't get my refund. I headed back to Hotel Victor and took a nice, hot, long shower, before heading to the free breakfast where I ate everything that I could. I ate so much food.

Then I checked out of Hotel Victor (left my passport there though) and I was off to see the sights during the day. I saw so many of these fresh fish stores and it seems that even today fish is a huge part of the economy of this place:

I don't think I can say it enough the city is beautiful:

At about this point I realized that I had left my passport behind at the hotel so I decided I would get it on my way to the train station since that's where the hotel was. My first stop was the castle. A thing I realized this day was that Bari was on a pennisula and if you walked in one straight direction for like 15 minutes you would hit water and of you didn't, turn around. 

The Castle was really pretty and it only cost 3 euros to get in. The only thing was that I knew of I paid money for it that is stay a long time in it and I thought had a lot to see in a little bit of time (it was like 11 and my train left at 2:40), so I decided to skip out on the castle. Looking back that was probably a poor idea because Bari is really small and I finished sightseeing by like 12:30 and I definitely had time to see the castle:

I felt like this was a really pretty church:

This was the cathedral and inside was really beautiful. I stopped in here and enjoyed it:

This was St. Mark's of Venice. This was where a lot of nuns that came from Venice met and formed a convent here:

A very tiny alley with a market in the end:

St. Nicholas Basilica. I guess you don't have to go all the way to the North Pole to see Santa Claus. The church was really big and really pretty:

Underneath that archway you can see the sea and the archway is still part of the wall:

St. Nicholas giving the Asian peace sign. I personally loved it:

The inside of the Church was fabulous although it was a little noisy. There were like 3 screaming children in the basilica and I have no idea why anyone would bring children there:

I got really excited when I saw this sign:

Then I learned that I couldn't actually see anything because they had this mass thing going on but it would've literally been impossible to pray or celebrate the mass there because the people were so loud:

St. Nick in his glory:

Still a beautiful church:

Another Jeep in Italy. I love it. Also these arches were all under the old wall so I don't see how that would be effective:

It was really windy that day:

I walked along the wall for a long time and I did see some good sights:

An intense soccer game between locals:

The back of the basilica from the viewpoint of the wall:

It was a windy, yet oddly beautiful day:

I honestly have no idea what this building was but I thought it looked cool:

There were so many parks:

Another beautiful theater:

This I thought was pretty cool. Back in the beginning of the 1900s they redid most of the roads here but when they went to do repairs a few years back they uncovered the road that was covered in the early 1900s. The top later was a younger road made from larger rocks placed uniformly, whereas the lower one is the oldest one (it could be 900 years old), it is made with smaller stones and most are randomly placed. They both have extensive wheel ruts from wagons. Also this was the old entry point into the city when it was walled so the black volcanic rock at the back of this picture shows where the arch would've been held up. They had to cover most of it back up because it was too big to preserve it all:

Then I headed home on the train. There were not many people on it and it was a very enjoyable ride to Bologna:

Good scenery:

We passed by a ton of beaches, including Pescara where I visited my family:

After stopping in Bologna I got some pizza for dinner before getting on the train for Florence:

Except my train was delayed by about 15 minutes. I eventually got back to Santa Maria Novella. Talked to my roommate and then crashed: 

All together it was a great spring break where I learned a lot, especially by traveling by myself. I learned a lot about myself and about Italy. It was definitely a good trip and I would do it again but I think in the future I would prefer to travel with others. It was a lot faster traveling by myself but also a lot lonelier.