Written by Day Seven and we have already covered so much terrain. On the move again, we head to Catania airport via bus after a bowl of cornflakes, an espresso and some leftover pizza from a couple nights ago. We board our plane around 9am and snack on chia pots and Nutella smothered rice cakes. After dropping our bags at the hotel, we checkout the town of Bari.
A light shower passes over as we settle into an eatery, namely Astrobar, in one of the squares. The guy running the joint was super happy, making our lunch very enjoyable. Jord and I shared a small platter of mixed charcuterie, breads and other condiments.
Whilst galavanting the streets, we stumbled onto one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen, Cattedrale di San Sabino. This cathedral was my favourite that I had seen on the trip so far. Something about the extremely tall ceilings, majestic wooden beams, marble pillars and many sandstone arches dazzled me. Downstairs you can view the crypt and walk through an excavation site that has uncovered layers of ancient Roman ruins. Here lies the beautifully restored Mosaic of Timoteo.
A short walk and we were on our way to checkout a Norman-Swabian Castle, Castello Normanno-Svevo. It was built in the 1100’s and has since been destroyed and transformed multiple times. Now it is used for exhibitions and cultural events. We had a look around the halls and courtyard, then strolled around the esplanade, taking in the salty, fresh air, in pursuit of somewhere for dinner.
There ended up being very limited eateries and the best we could find was some kind of food truck, so we decided to eat back at the hotel in their restaurant. It was actually pretty good! I had confit duck leg, Jordan had some braised lamb shanks and Pop had some kind of beef dish with beetroot chips. On the way up to the room, we asked reception if there was any gym facilities and they said yes! Of course we caught the lift down to the basement to check them out. There was a large, fully equipped, clean, empty gym! Off to bed for a good nights rest, for an early morning workout!