Now that I’ve had my first American visitors, they suggest that I write about what they noticed while in Italy. They noticed three very different things…
Adults making love to their gelatos: This is what they really noticed. They said that it was not normal in the United States to see a grown adult in business clothes “making love” to an ice cream, while walking on the street. I have no photos of this so instead I include a photo of a gelato that I ate… while on the street. As you can see, gelato melts fast so you have to eat it fast.
Note that my gelato has “panna” or whipped cream on it. This is normal in Italian gelaterias. Another thing that is normal is that no matter how small your gelato, you will usually get two flavors.
Peanut and salted caramel gelato.
Swastika graffiti: On the walls. In the United States, it would removed or painted over fairly quickly.
Five inch platform mules: On women. I guess it should be ten centimeter platforms since this is in Italy.
Sapphire blue water, cute old white stone streets, a public beach, and easy access to other places (if you ever want to leave), Polignano a Mare has it all. The city is walled and the old part is pedestrianized. The only wheeled vehicles inside are pedicabs transporting customers and their luggage to the many hotels and B&Bs.
It was hard to get a photo of this door without people in front of it, but I managed to snatch one in the few seconds between tourists.
The old city has many shops but doesn’t feel excessively touristy (even though it is), and once in a while you can glimpse real people living their lives here.
The swimming area is surrounded by cafes on cliffs.The beach is a pebble beach but that’s the only downside.
Since visiting, I have been raving about this town. It just seems too perfect. Even in 95/34 degree heat.
There is poetry dotted all about the town. This basically says, “Happiness is easy when the sea is in front of you.”
We went just for a the day but I could see staying here for an entire vacation.
The access to the beach overlook.
Outside the old city, there are also lots of streets and neighborhoods to explore, or stay in, but we only explored the old town. We parked in the piazza just outside the old walls, helped by old gentlemen sitting in the square (they helped explain the parking sign — lunch is free parking), and when we returned at the end of the day, the same gentlemen were doing their “passaggiata” (daily walk to be seen, see, and catch up with neighbors) in the square.
Try to get that table for the photos. It was a bit windy out there so we ate inside.
We ate breakfast at a cafe, Caffe Dei Serafini, with a jawdropping view. Utterly amazing. The restaurant is in a cave wall of the city on the cliff and has only one table for two/three out on their tiny balcony… but if you are lucky, you can get that table, or, at least, use it for photo ops.
View to the left from the cafe balcony. Around the corner to the left is the swimming beach.
While I thought Lecce was more intellectual, and Otranto had a smaller vibe, I think that Polignano a Mare has a good combination for an overall Apulian vacation. And it has those blue waters.
I’m told that Sicily and Sardegna have blue waters as well, but for now, these have been the most jewel like yet.
A snorkeler seen from the balcony. Photo with an iPhone. No filter.
My photos were taken with my iPhone and I did not use a filter. The water really is that color. Better than on postcards.
The focaccia of Puglia is famous and there is so much olive oil in it that it seems like a fried pizza even though it’s not deep fried. Also, it’s a bread, not a pizza.
A panzerotti looks like a calzone but it’s not one. The reason is that a panzerotti is fried, not baked. Panzerotti are specialities of the central and southern parts of Italy, especially Puglia/Apulia.
Panzarotti are also called calzoni fritti, fritte, and frittelle.
They are much like pizza and pizza is popular in Italy. While American pepperoni pizza is rare to find (not impossible, you just have to call it “con salame picante” to get something resembling it), I was delighted to find that spicy salami was one of the flavors on offer. If you ask for a “pepperoni” pizza, they will think you want a bell pepper pizza.
Let’s be real. People in airports need to sleep on a flat surface. So many airports make this hard to do but Rome and Copenhagen (and maybe others) have furniture that one can lie down on. Thank you.
After all, it’s not like we want to be tired and exhausted when traveling. It just is a reality. If we can rest horizontally for a bit, we will be much better tourists.
