Italy: Part 8

We spent our tenth day exploring Bari, the capital city of the region we were staying in. We caught the train at 1 in the afternoon and were kept entertained by a group of teenage boys on the train who didn't realise Anna spoke both Italian and English and so openly spoke about us girls. Her translations had us laughing so hard, we had no time for our own conversation. Two of the boys said ciao as they left but the third (who was obviously quite shy) just went red and walked in to the door. We all burst out laughing, much to the confusion of our boys who had no idea that anything had happened.

The first thing we did when we arrived in Bari was attempt to figure out where we were going for lunch. I promise you that we did think of things other than food during this holiday but when in Rome... (I really hope that idiom works there because Rome is in Italy just like we were and that's too cool for me to edit it out). 

This next bit is hard to write. I know we were in Italy, the home of incredible food. I know that every opportunity to eat this food should be taken and I know it is a sin to eat from fast food/chain restaurants when you have delicious traditional food available but when we (okay, I) see a McDonalds it is almost impossible to resist. We'd gone over 10 days without one! We were hungry! Tired! We needed food quickly! Yes we probably should have gone with Meryn, Anna and Ainsley and tried the freshly cooked pizza style wrap they had but we didn't. If it's any consolation, even the McDonald's in Italy is fantastic.

While we were eating, we watched a group of people surprise the poor passersby by running up to them with balloons and cake while singing Happy Birthday (we think) and filming them. Some people just walked on, barely even acknowledging the group. There was one couple that stopped and the woman joined in with the singing, much to the man's happy embarrassment. It was so funny to watch. I was a little scared that they'd come over to us though, I didn't fancy another language barrier fiasco haha!

Inside the University

Anna, Meryn and Ainsley met us after their food and the six of us set off to explore the city. We ended up outside the University and Anna convinced us it would be okay to go in and have a look. The courtyard of the University was so pretty, especially in the sunshine. We walked through the halls of the University and even peeped in to one of the classrooms. We didn't stay long (or take many pictures) because there were a lot of students waiting and revising for their exams.

He is definitely not embarrassing. What would make you say that?

We soon found somewhere that sold ice cream and found a spot in the sun to enjoy it. I wish I could tell you that an ice cream didn't fall over the wall and end up splattered on the pavement below but I can't. It was a sad fate and one that did not cause all of us to laugh. At all.

The rest of our time in Bari was spent on the rocks by the sea. The boys practised free running on the rocks, we played Pope and I even read a few of the revision notes I'd taken with me. It was so peaceful sat there just us lot on the rocks. When we were cold we decided to head back to the train station, visiting a Church with a gorgeous golden ceiling on the way.

Once back in Barletta, we chilled in the apartment before going to a local restaurant for dinner. We were joined by Anna's cousins and they had us laughing out loud for the whole meal. The pizza was, of course, delicious. McPake ordered a "margarita pizza con bacon" in true British tourist style and I managed to tip yet another drink over the table. Clearly a successful meal!

We were up bright and early on our eleventh day because we would be spending the morning at the local market. The boys decided to stay in their apartment so at 12pm, Meryn, Anna, me and Dominica all squeezed in to the back of their parents car and we set off.

I love markets. Love love love them. I was so excited to have a look around, I was bouncing around desperate to go exploring.

Our first stop was a very big stall full of clothes. We ended up staying here for quite a while. I remember thinking it was lucky the boys didn't join us because it would not have been their cup of tea. I wandered round the nearby stalls while Meryn and Anna shopped for clothes. I wound my way back to Anna's parents and ended up buying a t-shirt and jeans. I had to try the jeans on in the weirdest changing rooms I have ever been in. I say "rooms" but the reality was the inside of a van split into three sections by sheets hanging from the roof. I will be honest, I did worry that I was going to get kidnapped for a little while. Not that the van could have gone anywhere quickly but you know.

After our purchases (and some top haggling from Gigi) we left the clothes stall and went for a walk around the market. We found one stall that sold little coffee makers. Anna brought her coffee maker with her to Swansea and Meryn and I have wanted ones like it ever since. She makes the best cappuccino's with hers and I was excited to have my own. Gigi managed to haggle the price down so that a 1 cup coffee maker only cost us $4. Bargain!

Our wanderings ended in the food section of the market. Everything was starting to close down but we still managed to try some almonds and other seeds/nuts on offer and I finally found a present for Anthony (hot spice). I was sad to leave but we didn't go straight back to the apartment. We stopped off at a small restaurant to buy some deserts for after lunch. We helped pick out the deserts and we came away with a tray full of pretty sweet things.

Lunch was a kind of aubergine lasagne thing that was so good, I had third helpings of it. Anyone that knows me in real life will understand how big of a deal that is, since I can barely finish first helpings normally. Unfortunately, the deserts looked a lot better than they tasted so it was just Anna and her family that ate them.

I managed to nap until 6pm that evening and woke up feeling a lot fresher than I had done that morning. That turned out to be a very good thing because we went out shoe shopping not long after I woke up and that ended up being quite stressful. I can't actually remember why it was stressful but in the diary I kept while we were away I wrote "Shoe shopping. Stress." so I'm just going to go with what I said. We did manage to find shoes that all three of us were happy with in the end and Gigi even managed to get money off two of the pairs! That man is a haggling legend.

After dinner, the 6 of us met Simona and Dominica for drinks. We ended up stood in the street with our drinks, lots of different groups mingling together. I was stood with the boys and they kept me entertained with stories about what happened when they were alone. My favourites always involved them in the mornings. I would ring McPake every morning to make sure they were both awake and ready to go out. One morning, McPake didn't answer so I tried Samuel instead. As he was reaching for his phone, McPake called out "Don't answer it Al, it's not important." He just accepted what he said and rolled back over to sleep. When McPake was telling the story, he still sounded surprised that Samuel had just accepted that McPake knew who was ringing him and why. It may not sound funny when I tell it (or write it down) but picturing it in my head had me cracking up.

We were given another (free!) shot from Luigi the barman and then made our way back to the karaoke club. It was a normal club night tonight which meant no more karaoke and no more creepy DJ (yay!). There was a lot of Sex on the Beach's drunk, too much bad dancing and even a few English songs that we could sing along to.

The second shot was no better than the first..

We left the club in a big group of Anna and her sister's friends at 3:30am and set out to find some breakfast. Somehow the group got split in half and when Anna and I arrived at the breakfast bar, it was just us and her friends. We weren't too worried and ordered our food and coffees anyway (I'm sure that we're good friends, I'm sure of it). It wasn't until we our order had been brought out and I was half way through my croissant that I rang McPake to find out where they were. What followed was one of the funniest conversations McPake and I have ever had. It went something like this:
Me: McPake! I'm eating a croissant! Where are you?!
McPake: Chloe, I'm in a warehouse eating a croissant.
Me: ...what?
McPake: I think I'm in an illegal bakery. They told us to be quiet and I've got a croissant.
Me: Why are you there?! Come here!
McPake: I'm scared.

All of us met up again within the hour but we never found out whether it was an illegal bakery, why they went there, why there was a bakery inside a warehouse or whether it was a drugs front or not.

There was one great moment in the café that happened while Meryn and I were waiting for the toilet. A group of 3/4 Italian boys came over to us and tried to chat us up. They knew a tiny bit of English but the conversation was a fail before they even started really. They kept asking where we were staying (it's so much easier to brush off that question when neither of you can understand the other) and why my boyfriend wasn't with me. It was so funny, especially because we'd had a bit to drink as well. We managed to lose them by hiding and running away, although I think it was more obvious than we thought at the time.

For some crazy, unknown reason, I decided I didn't want to go home with everyone else at half 4. I was adamant that we should stay out and so me, Meryn, Anna and Dominica ended up in Simona's car having an early morning drive around the town. It was so strange seeing people out and about at that time (I swear the Italians hate sleep) and we even got to see some shops begin to open!

We admitted defeat and were in bed by half 5. Despite spending some time rolling around the bed in a weird, drunken dance thing, I was very very glad to be in bed and have time to sleep. I was exhausted!