"Puglia?  Puglia who? Where's Puglia? In what country?"  That's what most people asked when I told them where our next destination would be. "You know," I said, "the heel of the Italian boot."  That they understood. "In the far south, right?" "Yes," I said "It's south, but it's actually farther to the east and is actually the most eastern part of Italy." "What's there to see?" they asked me. I told them, "As a province, it's the largest producer of wine in Italy and and also one of the largest producers of olive oil. And best of all, there are hardly any tourists there. There are "sassi" and "trulli" and a city called the Florence of the south!. All in all, a very interesting place..."

During my research for this trip, I saw Puglia referred to more than once as the "next Tuscany". Tuscany it's not, and it's highly unlikely that it will ever be. It's too far from the center, (400+ KM from Rome), the countryside is not nearly as dramatic as Tuscany's (or many other places in Italy), it doesn't produce internationally renowned wines (no Brunello or Barolo here), and the Pugliese kitchen is basic and based on a poor man's diet. Its culture and traditions are the result of many different invaders who were here - the Greeks, the Spanish, the Ottomans.  However, all these things make it appealing to people who really love Italy and who have been to just about everywhere else in Italy. Puglia is raw, it's real. It's authentic. It's a restaurant in a converted apartment where there's no menu and the cook comes out to chat about what she's making and says,  "...here, have some of this too." It's vast tracts of ancient olive trees on the coastal plain and nearby hillsides covered completely by grape vines.

Back to the Pugliese kitchen. It's based on plenty of pasta, and whatever vegetables are available - fava beans made into a puree, artichoke, potatoes, celery, fennel, often cooked together in improvised dishes. The best restaurants here are the simplest family restaurants. The only disappointing meal we had was at a modern kitchen, trying to improve on the basics.  In one of the articles I read, I found the following terrific comment: "Who wants to sit at a table next to a besuited Milanese banker and his wife, (which we did once or twice) in a region where the humblest, cheapest trattoria is unfailingly excellent?"
The diet varies from seafood and fish along the coast, including bass, swordfish, shrimp, mussels, squid, and sea urchins. A few kilometers away from the coast the diet turns to meat and the prices drop, but all over you will find hearty fresh pasta dishes, particularly, the trademark pasta of the region "orrecchietti", or pasta in the shape of ears. Also, you can find anywhere and in all sorts of flavors the "taralli", or local crispy bagel. We brought home 4 kilos of pasta and 3 bags of taralli.

We split our time among 3 bases with one night in Matera, which is actually not in Puglia, but is rather in the neighboring province of Basilicata. The 3 bases we used were a B&B in Lecce, a masseria near Ostuni, and a hotel in the center of Trani and we spent 3 nights in each.  Here's a map below showing the region and its location within Italy.

Lecce is one of the largest cities in Puglia. It is known as the Florence of the south and it really stands up to its billing. Its architecture is baroque and it is full of incredibly decorated buildings. Check out the two pictures to the left of the Basilica di San Giovanni Battista. Here's a site with more pictures of the incredible facade of this church, as well as other pictures of Lecce's incredible buildings.  Lecce also has a variety of local art-forms which apparently are only found here. The most extraordinary is the papier-mache. Check out the 2 pictures to the right showing papier-mache creations and one of the dwindling number of artists who still practice the craft.
We were there during "art-week" and the city was filled with children and older students who come to visit the city to see its art.  It was a lot of fun.
We stayed at a B&B called "Palazzo Rollo" which was just super. It is located a few steps from the Piazza Duomo, and is a converted palace. We stayed in a spacious double room which had a fully equipped kitchen corner. They have 3 double rooms as well as several apartments and suites. This is a B&B which is even nicer than the pictures on its web site. 

The Salento peninsula is the very tip of the heel of the Italian boot and includes the easternmost point of Italy, Capo d'Otranto, which is just south of the town of Otranto, as well as towns of S. Marie di Leuca and Gallipoli. There is a very nice ride to take around this peninsula. We started in Lecce drove south to Maglie, and then turned east to Otranto. We then followed the coast around the peninsula and finished at Gallipoli. We had a beautiful day and it was a lovely ride.
Otranto is a lovely seaside town, and its most famous attraction is its cathedral, built in the 11th century and whose incredible floor is completely covered by mosaics of animals and historic figures. Here's a site with descriptions and lots of pictures. The cathedral has another minor attraction which is a tiny chapel in one of the naves with the skulls of 800 martyrs killed by Ottoman invaders in 1480.
We enjoyed walking around Otranto. To the left are 2 pictures. The one on top is obvious, but the bottom one is of another art-form found in this area. All the pieces in the store window are sculpted from the very beautiful sandstone found in the area.

AN OFFBEAT SITE ABOUT SALENTO - CHECK IT OUT!

SCENIC SALENTO

THE ADRIATIC COAST OF SALENTO

THE CUISINE OF SALENTO

S. MARIA DI LEUCA

S. Marie di Leuca is at the far end of the peninsula and here we ate lunch at a disappointing fish restaurant. The town is a pleasant place but has the atmosphere of a town at the end of the world. To the left is a picture of the seaside promenade. Far more interesting was the town of Gallipoli which is another beautiful seaside town and has been the scene of many battles through the ages. To the right is a picture of the Gallipoli harbor.

GALLIPOLI

Brindisi is the city we flew into from Rome but we didn't visit it on the day we arrived. We returned for a visit while we were staying in Lecce. It is the "gateway to the east" and is the terminus for many ships which sail to and from Greece. It was a nice day when we visited Brindisi and we had a pleasant visit. We had a very fine lunch in a seafood restaurant on the seafront and took some nice pictures. To the left is a picture of the local monument to fallen Italian sailors. Maybe it's not obvious but it's in the shape of a ship's rudder. To the right is a picture of a local Pugliese sweet. It is a crusty oval pastry filled with lemon or custard flavored cream. It's really tasty and even Alisa (who doesn't care for sweet desserts) liked them. This picture was taken at a bakery in Brindisi.

CHARMING MASSERIA OF PUGLIA

IL MASSERIA DI FRANTOIO - PUGLIA AGRITOURISMO AT ITS BEST

To my mind, Valle D'ItrIa is the heart of Puglia and the most interesting area. It includes Ostuni, ("the white town"), Alberobello, (the home of the trulli), and a chain of small charming hill towns like Locorotundo, Martina Franca, Cisternino, and Ceglia Messapica, as well as several seashore towns like Monopoli and Polignaro a Mare.
We stayed at the Masseria San Martino. The "masseria" in Puglia is the southern equivalent of the agriturismo" in Tuscany and other areas in the north. It signifies a fortified farm or estate and today many have been converted into tourist accommodations. They are common in the south including Sicily. Here's a site describing them and their history in Sicily. The Masseria San Martino is a very nice place located between Ostuni and Fasano. It's been totally renovated, restored and expanded and even has its own tiny chapel which is still occasionally used for weddings. All the rooms are new and well appointed, with kitchens.  The owner, Connie speaks perfect English (she spent 30 years in Canada) and was very helpful in all respects. Just keep in mind that it is several KM from the nearest town and requires that you have a car. Here are two pictures to the right, the lower one of the grounds with one incredible ancient olive tree and the other of the entryway to the rooms.   There are lots of very nice masserie in this area and to the left are links to a few.

ALISA ADMIRING THE MEAT AT THE  PORTA GRANDE RESTAURANT IN CISTERNINO

We made short visits to several towns. We were in Ostuni for an evening and had dinner there (it was the most disappointing of our dinners - see below), we passed through Locorotondo (see the picture to the right) and Martina Franca looking for a restaurant to eat lunch on an Italian holiday (unsuccessfully) and we visited Ceglia Messapica after a hard rain and were treated to a beautiful double rainbow. We also visited Cisternino for dinner, (also on an Italian holiday) and the restaurants we were looking for were all closed. In the end we ate at a restaurant that I would call a "meat market". Alisa barely eats meat so she had meatless pasta. I had the mixed grill and it was really good. Check out he picture to the left of the butcher counter where you pick out the meat you want. The place is called "Porta Grande" and there are 3 different restaurants one right next to the other, each with the same name and menu. Diego, our host, explained to us that the family members "don't get along", so they opened up separate restaurants. I liked Cisternino best because of the nice views, but Ostuni was probably the busiest and most interesting. We didn't like Martina Franca, because when we were there, it was deserted and dirty.

MAYBE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CHURCH WE VISITED - THE CATHEDRAL IN LOCOROTONDO

We visited the seaside towns of Monopoli and Polignano e Mare. In Monopoli, my GPS took us right to the Tuesday market which was huge and we found quite a few items to buy - a new Italian espresso maker, some clothes for the 4 year old grandson, and some fruit for snacks. Monopoli was nothing to write home about and after we found the other side of the market, we drove to the center to see what it looked like and then left.

POLIGNANO e MARE SEAVIEW

The next town up the coast was one of the highlights of our stay in Valle d'Itria -the town of Polignano e Mare. This is a lovely town with a very unusual old town and we strolled about the town for 2 or 3 hours. Then we found one of the best restaurants of the entire visit, which was called "Grotto Ardita". To the left is the view from just outside the restaurant,   and to the right is a picture of the restaurant interior which was absolutely beautiful. More about this delightful restaurant can be found below in the "restaurant section".

GROTTA ARDITO RESTAURANT

IT WAS A COLD & WINDY DAY WHEN
WE VISITED ALBEROBELLO

No visit to this area is complete without a visit to Alberobello and its "trulli" buildings. Tulli ("trulli" is the plural and "trullo" is the singular.) are round (generally round) structures with roofs made of interleaved stones with no mortar. The roofs can be taken apart quickly and most historical accounts ascribe the design to the ability to avoid paying taxes on a built structure as it could be quickly dismantled overnight before the tax man visited in the morning. In any case, for whatever reason, the only place these structures exist is in Puglia, and the only place in Puglia is the area around Alberobello. To the right is a picture of the "Trulli Sovrano Museum", which exhibits the trulli way of life and is situated in a rare building - a 2 story trulli structure.

THIS IS A MUSEUM DISPLAYING LIFE IN A TYPICAL TRULLO.

ALL ABOUT TRULLIS

TRULLI LODGINGS FOR TOURISTS

ALBEROBELLO TRAVEL GUIDE

THE TRULLI OF ALBEROBELLO

Alberobello is a pleasant enough town, but the main reason people visit is to see the trulli. There are many in the surrounding countryside, but the main concentration is in the trulli village right in the center of town. See the picture at the top of this page. Here there are several hundred of them all clumped together, and the whole site is filled with trulli dwellings with people living in them, trulli stores selling all kinds of souvenirs.  and other more exotic merchandise, churches and fruit stands. Many of the roofs are painted with various symbols, mostly religious, and the area has been adopted by UNESCO as a world heritage site.  To the right is a picture of a 2 story trulli church.
If you're interested, you can also buy a trullo. Check this  this site.

THIS ONE IS  A TRULLI CHURCH

THE SASSI OF  MATERA

Matera is also a very special place. Here people live in "sassi", dwellings built into the rock of the mountainside. People have been living in the caves of the area and later, in the sassi for thousands of years. Until 1952, the sassi dwellings had no electricity and no indoor plumbing. The Italian government decided on a resettlement program and forced the labyrinthine community into the 20th century by building infrastructure for basic utilities. Today, people live in the sassi although many of the dwellings have been converted into B&B's as tourism has become the number one business here. The town is a UNESCO heritage site, and it gained even more notoriety when Mel Gibson picked it as the setting for his movie "The Passion of Christ."

MATERA CHURCH CARVED IN THE MOUNTAIN TOP

OUR B&B, THE
DOMUS BARISANO

We stayed in a B&B called "Domus del Barisano". The entire sassi neighborhood is called "Barisano" and there are more than 50 B&B's there, and it wasn't easy finding our B&B. The streets are narrow and there are no real addresses. I dented the rented car when I was forced to make a u-turn by backing up a flight of steps. Check the picture to the left which shows the great sign on the balcony of the B&B. Parking is interesting too, and I was expertly guided to park the car about one inch from the wall. This B&B was just fine, and Fabio was a great host. Our only complaint was the sugar explosion for breakfast, but that's the Italian standard, and Fabio laid out all the best cookies and cakes of Matera.  In my opinion, the best way to visit Matera is by staying overnight. We really enjoyed Matera. Check out some links to the right for more information about this incredible place.  There are also a few hotels in town, 2 of them within the Barisano.

THE ANCIENT STONES OF MATERA:  INFO AND PICTURES

NICE SITE ABOUT HISTORY AND CUISINE IN MATERA

THE UNESCO SITE

A SITE WITH GOOD GENERAL INFO

WORLD HERITAGE ON MATERA

EARLY MORNING IN MATERA

There's a lot of history in Matera and the best way to visit is to take a guide. There are several available, and the contact information was provided at the B&B. We called and had a guide for 2 hours the same afternoon. Our guide was Pasquale. He spoke reasonable English and spent 2 hours with us in every corner of the city. The cost was 30 Euros. There are several guides working in Matera and the information is readily available at every B&B. Here's a picture of him and Alisa in the modern part of town. To the left is a nice picture I took in the early morning.

ALISA & PASQUALE OUR GUIDE IN MATERA

On the way to Matera, we had one of the more humorous encounters of the trip. We stopped for a break in a small town called Noci (nuts in Italian). We found it to be a tiny little town preparing for a festival on the upcoming weekend. City workers were putting up lights, cleaning streets, and repainting the blue lines marking the parking spaces. We parked in one of the parking spaces and the painters literally painted around my car. We were surveying the scene of activity in the town center, when a senior policeman who was on duty stopped us and in a friendly way started talking to us. "Where are you from?", he asked, as he could see we weren't locals.  His second question though was the highlight. "Why did you stop here? There's nothing here to see. Even the Pope never visits!", he explained, and then continued that nobody stops in this little town although it does have a few minor attractions. He advised us to buy some of the local cheese and that's what we did. We had a good laugh with him.

NOCI

THE OFFICIAL WEB SITE OF NOCI

TRANI CATHEDRAL

Trani was a terrific base. It's a nice little seaside town with lots of activities and restaurants. In Trani we splurged and stayed at a beautiful 4 star hotel called The Regia Hotel, which was located within the cathedral square and a few steps from the port. Surprisingly, this upscale hotel has only 20 rooms but no home page of its own, but here is the email address. Since it was within the cathedral square, we had to get the hotel staff to open the barriers which were in place to keep cars out of the square. They had an unusual parking arrangement. We were directed to park on the street right outside the cathedral square during the day, and in the evening we were allowed to bring the car into the square and park in the parking area of the hotel. The hotel was really beautiful. See the picture to the left for a view of the cathedral from our room window, and to the right for a nice shot of the port.

TRANI PORT

SOME MORE INFORMATION
ABOUT TRANI

Trani has a lovely little port and we were there until the very last moments before their biggest festival of the year. On the first Sunday of May, they reenact the return of the Colonna Crucifix which had been stolen by Turkish pirates several centuries ago. The cross is brought onto town by boat at noon on May 3 and then paraded through the town and brought to  the Monastery of Collona from which it was stolen. The cross arrives at around 12:30 and we had our flight home from Bari at about 2 PM. The town was filled with cars and people streaming to the port area to welcome the cross. Our hotel, as I mentioned above, was right at one end of the port and I could see that in a few minutes we wouldn't be able to move our car anywhere, so we got up and left at about 12 noon. We didn't see the arrival of the cross but we did see the marching band practicing next to the cathedral, the church priests and altar boys all dressed up for the occasion and townspeople flowing towards the port in droves. Check the picture to the right.

TRANI PREPARATIONS FOR THE CRUCIFIX FESTIVAL

The first day in Trani was rainy all day and we couldn't do much, but in the evening we had  a wonderful meal at a very nice restaurant called "Trattoria da Miana" located in the old Jewish quarter on Via Sinagoga. You can find more about this restaurant below.

CASTEL DEL MONTE

On the way to Trani, we visited the Castel del Monte, an unusual hexagonal castle (and one of the few castles in Puglia) built by Emperor Frederick II in the 13th century. It is perfectly preserved, but also perfectly empty. There is even speculation as to why it was built at all. See the picture on the left of this UNESCO world heritage site.

BARI SEAFRONT

We visited Bari on May 1, which is a holiday in Italy. All the stores were closed but the sun was out. It was a beautiful day, and the city was busy preparing for the first of May festivities scheduled for that evening. We visited the old city, the castle (just from the outside), the cathedral, and the Basilica of St. Nicholas. Despite Bari's somewhat shady reputation, we enjoyed the visit and one of the highlights was lunch. We ate at a restaurant called "Ai 2 Ghiottoni", (according to my Italian dictionary - "at the 2 gluttons") which is one of the best restaurants in the city. Lunch was wonderful and we had a very lively and interesting conversation with our neighbors (Bari natives) at the next table. To the left and right are views of the Bari seashore. Here's a site about dining (and other things) in Bari.

BARI SEAFRONT

The area of Puglia farthest west (and therefore closest to the big cities of central Italy) is the peninsula of Gargano. Gargano is a popular seaside destination for Italian vacationers in summer. It's got seaside, mountains, forests and a few interesting towns. However, we didn't visit Gargano for the seashore. We went to visit the town of Monte Sant' Angelo, a town located at an elevation of 1000 meters and the site of a sacred shrine known as the Sanctuary of St. Michael the Archangel. The town itself is a typical mountain town with winding streets and no parking. We arrived on market day and miraculously found parking right near the market area. We strolled the market and walked through the town (all uphill) to the sanctuary. If you do visit, there is parking right at the sanctuary. The sanctuary is located at the top of the hill, but is located 2 floors below ground level and is reached by descending a long flight of stairs. To the right are two pictures of the sanctuary. It is crowded with visitors and is an important site for pilgrims. The way up to the sanctuary is filled with souvenir shops, pasta stores, and plenty of stores with a variety of local delicacies. See the 3 pictures to the left.

A VERY UNUSUAL BREAD

We ate at an interesting local restaurant. We asked a local lady walking in the street for directions to the sanctuary, which she gave us, but she also told us to eat at the "La Caravella". La Caravella is a restaurant mainly for locals with a 3 course lunch menu for 15 Euros. For your 15 Euros, you get 3 courses of really basic home made Pugliese dishes. I had lamb, and Alisa had baked cheese.
At the end of our visit, we experienced a ferocious wind which nearly blew us off the mountain. It created absolute chaos with the refuse from the morning market and covered the streets with paper and garbage.

ALISA LEANING INTO THE FEROCIOUS WIND

MORE ABOUT GARGANO

PUGLIA AND GARGANO - A PLACE APART

The ride from Trani to Monte Sant' Angelo is long and boring. It goes through a long stretch of vacant wetlands and the first town you come to is Manfredonia, not much more interesting than the wetlands along the way. That all changes once you pass Manfredonia and the ride up to Monte Sant' Angelo is a twisty mountain road with a new beautiful view at every hairpin turn.

A BLOG ABOUT A VISIT TO PUGLIA

THE SANCTUARY OF ST. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

STEVE EATING AT CUCINA CASERECCIA

"CUCINA CASARECCIA" is probably the one restaurant in Puglia which completely typifies the region and shouldn't be missed.  This is a restaurant in a modified residential apartment in Lecce, with  no menu and which serves whatever is available. The food is prepared by chef Anna Carmela Perrone who is the daughter of the founder, who ran it for more than 40 years. The food is classic Pugliese cuisine -  fava bean puree, sautéed artichokes, onions and potatoes, root vegetables, chic peas, and whatever else is available in the market. She is assisted by other members of the family including 2 of her sisters. Alisa chatted with her in the kitchen and got some pointers on preparing Pugliese food. Needless to say we enjoyed the meal very much. They have a web site which is empty and under construction and is named "Le Zie" which means "the aunts" in Italian and is how the locals refer to the restaurant. Here's a site with a short description and the restaurant particulars. Check the pictures to the right and left.

THE CHEF AT CUCINA CASERECCIA

"ALLE DUE CORTI" is another restaurant in Lecce which specializes in basic local cuisine, but its slightly more refined than the Cucina Casareccia. It has a menu but not the homey atmosphere of the Casareccia. It even has a web site. We enjoyed the meal here as well and had a classic local dish of chicken, rice, cheese and eggs all baked together in a casserole. 

"SPARACIMA OSTERIA" in Ostuni, serves Pugliese food with a modern flair.  I mention it mainly because we were somewhat disappointed. The antipasti selection was excellent but the main dishes were off the mark. We felt the chef tried to do too much with the basic Pugliese ingredients and the results just didn't work. Some things are best left alone. The chef is talented, and maybe we were just there on a bad day.

WALL HANGINGS IN L'ANTICA IN BRINDISI

"L'ANTICA MARINA", in Brindisi, is a restaurant that we walked into almost by accident, and weren't disappointed.  While strolling in Brindisi, we found a restaurant we wanted to eat at for lunch. We knocked on the door at around 12:15, and the boss told us to come back in 30 minutes as the family and staff were eating lunch, very typical in Italian family owned restaurants.  We did as instructed, but when we returned, the restaurant was about half full, and the same guy told us he had no table for us. This is not typical of Italian family owned restaurants and we were kind of upset. We went out on to the main street to scout out another restaurant. We found L'Antica Marina which is a seafood restaurant right on the seafront and looked pretty good, and it proved to be just that. Alisa had a great dish of langoustine, and I had a tasty pizza. This is a typical family seafood restaurant with a plasma TV at one end, and all the other walls covered with plates, stuffed fish, and other sea motif hangings. See the pictures to the right and left. We were pleasantly surprised by this restaurant. As far as I can tell, It doesn't have a web site, but the address is Via Regina Margherita 15, Lungomare Porto.

ALISA WORKING ON HER LANGOUSTINE AT L'ANTICA

THE VIEW FROM INSIDE GROTTA ARDITO

"GROTTA ARDITO" in Polignano a Mare was a real find and turned out to be one of the nicest restaurants we ate at in Puglia. It's a beautiful restaurant in a beautiful setting and it has a beautiful web site as well. It's located right at the end of the street along the sea with the best view of Polignano's coast. See the pictures left and right or the pictures above.  We had a wonderful antipasti selection, seafood pasta, grilled Saragossa, and a half bottle of chardonnay. It was a lovely meal in a lovely setting.

PART OF OUR ANTIPASTI SELECTION

"WINECOUNTRY" ON PUGLIESE WINES

UNDISCOVERED AGLIANICO

ABOUT AGLIANICO DEL VULTURE

THE WINES OF SALENTO

"IL CANTUCCIO"  in Matera features a very talented chef called Misha. It's probably the best restaurant in Matera. We had antipasti, a pasta dish and a lamb dish. Everything was excellent. It was here that we had our first taste of the most popular wine of Basilicata province - "aglianico".  The main grapes of Puglia (which produces more wine than any other region in Italy) are primitivo, and negroamaro, both heavy, rough, full bodied wines which take getting used to. We much preferred the aglianico which is known as the best undiscovered wine of Italy. The wine we had was Carato Venusia - (del Vulture), 2004 and was recommended to us by the diners at the next table. It was so good, we brought two bottles home.  To the right is a picture of Misha with us at our table. To the left a few links about wines of this region.

MISHA, THE IL CANTUCCI CHEF WITH US AFTER DINNER

MIANA ANTIPASTO
ZUCCHINI WRAPPED AROUND PORK AND ALICI

"TRATTORIA TIPICA DA MIANA" is located in the old Jewish quarter of Trani on Via Sinagoga. The owner, maître de and part time chef is Lorenzo, who was very happy to have guests from Israel. He even found a small Israeli flag to make us feel at home. There is a very nice menu, but we were there when the restaurant was still empty, and Lorenzo was able to spend lots of time with us. He suggested a menu for us and we had a lovely meal.  We had a nice selection of antipasti, baked pasta and seafood, and twisted pasta with fish. We even had desert here which was also excellent. The antipasti medley is very popular in Puglia's good restaurants, although each restaurant does it differently. I will describe this one because it was one of the best. It included  calamari grilled and then baked in a tomato sauce, artichoke soufflé topped with cheese and crushed almonds, shrimp encrusted with almonds, and thinly sliced zucchini rolled around pork and alici (marinated sardines - a local specialty).  All in all, an excellent meal, and for a bonus, Lorenzo recommended the excellent restaurant we ate at in Bari described below.

LORENZO OF TRATTORIA DA MIANA PREPARING OUR MAIN COURSES

DESSERT CART AT
AI 2 GHIOTTONI

"AI 2 GHIOTTONI" is one of the most popular restaurants in Bari. We were lucky to get in as it was May 1 (a holiday in Italy), and the entire city was out enjoying the sun after several  cloudy and rainy days. We got there early for lunch when it was still nearly empty, but it was completely full by the time we  left. It's a very big and noisy restaurant with lots of waiters running around and a big refrigerated seafood display as you walk in.  The food was excellent and we learned a lot about Bari from our neighbors at the next table. On every table was a dish with balls called "pizza del cipolle", literally onion pizza. They are more like calzone as they are baked dough filled with onion. They were delicious, as was the rest of the meal. What I remember best about this meal was that we were sitting next to the incredible dessert table, and the giant bowls of candy which were put on the table along with the bill. To the left is the dessert display, and to the right is our table with a tray of Lindor chocolates and a stemmed bowl full of licorice.

LINDOR CHOCOLATES FOR DESSERT IN BARI