The shopping street and a Christmas walk

We are now preparing for Christmas, everywhere there is a light that illuminates something, even the sky this evening is starry, after a week of cold and rain. For this weekend my family and I went to the nearby city of Bari, a large metropolis which in this period shines more than usual due to the Christmas lights.

Buildings, shop windows, squares... Any surface is beautifully decorated or covered in lights. The facades of the historic buildings are illuminated by projections that draw snowfalls where there is stone, a wonderful effect of the magic of Christmas. The streets are pervaded by the scents of frying, typical at this time of year, as a result of the local culinary tradition: the focaccia filled with onions, fish and other local ingredients fills the nostrils.

If you are a lover of Italian cuisine, you should try the stuffed focaccia and I'm sure you won't regret it (maybe your digestion a little). The scent is even more intense in the streets of the historic center, the women are skilled at cooking indefinite quantities of food without the slightest effort.

We walked through Via Sparano, known as the shopping street because the shops of the most important fashion brands are located here. Christmas music accompanies people during their journey, an invitation to go into shops to give something to the people closest to them. Despite the not exactly simple period we are living in, people's happiness is the first thing I noticed, the festive atmosphere helps you forget almost everything and even the most unpleasant person deserves, perhaps, a small gift.

In the beautiful Piazza Ferrarese there are many American bars, here the kids spend most of the day, a few steps from the seafront, from which it is also possible to observe the large Ferris wheel. We walked along a stretch of the seafront despite the wind and the cold, a very pleasant walk but at a certain point we were forced to return towards Via Sparano, passing alongside the large Petruzzelli theatre, restored a few years ago after a fire which torn apart the stands. It's really a pleasure to see people queuing for a theater show!

A Sunday spent in Bari fills the emotions very much but empties the wallet a bit! Life in the city is not cheap and even a drink for the whole family and an aperitif has a significant cost on the kids' pockets. There are certainly cheaper places but if you are a tourist you certainly want to have lunch in the shopping street or a few steps from the Petruzzelli theater or the castle. We also bought some gifts, impossible not to give in to temptation, as well as some good books from the great Feltrinelli bookshop! Culture always deserves to be supported!