We walked into the local town of Bisceglie today and what a pleasant surprise it was. It was about a 2 mile walk, each way, all along the sea front. Most of the sea fronts we have seen in Southern Italy have been very tatty affairs. Badly maintained with an assortment of either scruffy occupied, or half built unoccupied houses and apartments. Not here. Smart, well maintained properties the whole way.
It was not just the private owners who had made an effort, so had the local council. The whole promenade was beautifully maintained. The sea wall, all two miles of it, had been reconstructed in natural stone. A broad footpath had been built and next to that a special cycle route separated by a large curb from the road.
Bisceclie unofficial athletics track (The Promenade)
As we walked in we were surprised to see dozens and dozens of “power walkers” and joggers using the footpath and cycle lane. This was at 10.30 am, not before work. I have never seen so many people taking exercise at the same time in a town as small as this. It was still continuing as we walked back 3 hours later. I don’t know whether they were training for a special event, but it didn’t look that way, because some were walking, in sports gear, and others were jogging. Is this Italy’s fittest town?
Half way into to town we came to an interesting facility which appeared to be processing mussels. They had huge plastic cubes filled with mussels on a rope. They were cutting this mussel filled rope into sections and spreading them out in a large tank. Later, on our return journey, the tank was filled with water. I know cultivated mussels are grown on ropes and this is presumably how they are processed ready to be sold.
We finally reached Bisceglie, a town so non descript that it doesn’t even warrant a mention in either of our guide books. It had a pretty harbour. The part nearest the old town was given over to fishermen, each with a small colourful open boat. Planks were set out in such a way as to allow the fishermen to get into their boats without getting their feet wet and manual winches were dotted around the edge of the harbour to enable the small boats to be dragged out of the sea for maintenance.
Bisceglie Harbour
Fisherman mending nets with spectators
A separate part of the harbour was set out as a marina for modern boats, but none of the super yachts we had seen further north in France.
Bisceglie Marina
Bisceglie has a small but picturesque old town, with the usual warren of meandering streets. But again money seems to be being spent to smarten it up. I hope it doesn’t lose its character.
Bisceglie Old Town
We visited the 11th century cathedral and I was pounced upon by a verger who was keen to explain the history of the old building to me. I explained to him that I was English and did not speak much Italian, but that didn’t stop him. He chatted away to me in Italian and some random German as he showed me round. He got his keys out to take me into the crypt and showed me a communal grave full of skulls and human remains, who he said had been the victims of Napoleon’s army in 1806.
Bisceglie 11thC Cathedral
He then led me into the private family vaults of the nobility from the cathedral’s origins and again each vault was full of human remains!
The Cathedral Crypt!
I thanked him for his help and gave a donation to the cathedral. I hope my money finds its way into the cathedral’s coffers, but if it doesn’t good luck to the man.
We finally discovered the market and bought as much produce as I could fit into my rucksack. 3 punnets of strawberries for €2 and a kilo of the sweetest, ripest, on the vine cherry tomatoes I have tasted for €2!! We just don’t ever get such tomatoes in the UK, and for €2 I’m lucky to get one tomato in Waitrose!
I also bought some fresh orecchiette, a small ear shaped pasta common in this part of Italy and some greens that seemed to be selling well. When we got back to Basil I discovered the greens are turnip tops, not something we eat at home. But my investigations on Google tell me that these are one of the healthiest vegetables on the planet. Who knew.
We will eat them the Italian way – steamed and then mixed with the pasta, olive oil, garlic and anchovies. Delicious.
We are definitely going to Greece tomorrow, barring any unforeseen events. We have booked our crossing from Bari to Patras which cost €301. We will sleep in Basil on board. Apparently there is a special section set aside for motorhomes and caravans and you are provided with an electric hook up, showers and toilets. The only thing you cannot use is the gas cooker. This should be something of an adventure. We sail at 7.30 pm arriving at 1pm the following day.
There may well not be a blog tomorrow, unless I can get a wifi connection on board.