Discovering the city of Bari
part 3
The new city…From the old quarter, passing under
the arches of Piazza Chiurlia, you can arrive in the Murat Quarter, the heart of the
city with its shops, offices and fashionable restaurants. The streets of the
Murat Quarter are on a grid pattern, but is very easy to orient oneself.
Via Sparano is worth mentioning: it’s famous
for its shops of luxury goods, such as the wonderful Palazzo Mincuzzi.
Corso
Vittorio Emanuele is rich in restaurants, a large tree-lines road ideal for
walking leisurely. Here you can find the Palace of the Prefecture near Piazza Massari,
which is the terminal of many buses and taxi ranks.
Opposite
the Palace of the Prefecture stands the Town Hall and the Piccinni Theatre with its
“Doric” arcade; the Palazzo Fizzarotti is farther on. This place
is the remains of a Venetian work of art dating back to the XXth century and
it’s a sign of the popularity of Venice that can be seen in many towns on the
Adriatic Sea. Piazza Garibaldi stands at the end of Corso Vittorio Emanuele and
divides it from the Libertà Quarter. Corso Cavour is one of the sides of the Murat
Quarter, at the beginning of Corso Vittorio Emanuele. Here you can find the Margherita
Theatre built on piles in the sea.
Following
the tree-lined boulevard of Corso Cavour, on the left we have: the buildings of
the Bank of
Italy, the Chamber of Commerce and the Petruzzelli
Theatre.
On the right side of the theatre you have Via Cognetti with
the Palazzo
dell’Acquedotto Pugliese built in 1932. Inside the decorations of
Duilio Cambellotti celebrate the important symbol of water and the Apulian
waterworkd, which is the biggest in Europe.
The modern airport of Bari-Palese, rebuilt in 2005 and dedicated to
Karol Wojtyla, is the terminal of many airline companies, while the road links
are guaranteed by buses and other public transport.
The harbour of Bari is one of the most important ports
of call of the Mediterranean Sea fro passengers and holiday cruisers. It has
direct sea links with the Balkans, Greece and Turkey.
Shopping
The marked
commercial ability of the city of Bari offers cheap and high quality shopping:
from the top brands to the famous bookshops of the publishers Laterza or
Feltrinelli. The centre of the town is rich in shops. We suggest you go
shopping in Corso Cavour, Via Sparano or Via Manzoni, especially when the sales
are on with good discounts. We also suggest you see the various products in
ceramics and try the typical specialities such as the fine wines and olive oils
or dairy products and foodstuffs (such as bread, sweets…).
Gastronomy
The
gastronomic tradition is part of the culture of Bari: here you will eat very
well. We suggest you taste the “orecchiette” woth turnip tops. The “braciole”
(horsemeat, beef or veal), the raw sea urchins in delicate sauces, the raw
anchovies served as a fine tartare, the sea food salads and green olives or
fried olives, worth mentioning are the eating grapes and typical sweets made
during the religious feasts.
At
Christmas you can taste the “cartellate” which are crisp fritters with a
wine dressing made of grapes or figs. For the day of San Giuseppe “zeppole”
(fried doughnuts) are usually made.
At Easter you can taste almond paste
sweets, the “scarcelle”,
loaves of shortcrust decorated with hard-boiled eggs. A particular speciality
is the very thin pizza of many different flavoured types. The elegant
restaurants in the centre of the city and the typical trattorias in the old
quarter offer genuine products at very cheap prices compared to other big
cities.
Source:
Flash Tour, printed in Italy on 2007.
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