Getting around Rome was pretty easy, as we did a lot of research. There are so many YouTube videos; it makes visiting Rome a snap. Bari, not so much. We loved the Tap & Go in Rome, I messaged our host asking about the buses. Nope, you have to use an app or buy a ticket. We each bought a day pass. I asked if they had a map of the buses. The attendant said no and pointed to a list of buses on the wall. Not helpful. So we looked at the buses in front of us and where they were headed on google maps. We chose to head to Torre a Mare; it was a route that ran along the sea. We saw several fresh fish markets – you’d have to go catch it yourself to get something more fresh. We could not for the life of us figure out how to validate our tickets on board. We saw several people with cards do like a tap motion and the card was read. We used that same motion to no avail. We finally gave up. The next time we got on a bus, a girl had mercy on us. You hold it UNDER when it is a ticket and it is scanned. Aha!! Now we know.
Initially, we were going to rent a car. I am SO glad we did not! Big city driving is pure mayhem. Divorce papers would be drawn up daily. It’s much more relaxing to let someone else do the driving! We are still marveling at how naive we were to think we would drive in this traffic! We are renting a car for northern Italy. We won’t be doing any big city driving.
In the image on the left, those cars next to the bus are double parked, a woman just got into a car with a baby on her lap in the front seat! (car with the door open on the corner). That pedestrian should watch out as no one is going to stop for him! In the right photo, the car on the left is parked in a no parking zone. That bus is going to show him by tearing off his bumper.
The route we chose was pretty rural, so we just stayed on the bus until we returned to our starting point. We hopped off in search of some lunch. Jim is dreaming of having a porchetta sandwich, like the one we sampled in Rome. We chose a sandwich shop, and while it was good, the search will continue.
We enjoyed a stroll through the shopping district. Back at the main bus hub, we chose a bus that would show us a different part of town. The crowds ebbed and flowed. There was some sort of kerfuffle upfront; all the passengers were rubbernecking to see what was going on. We never could figure it out, just a lot of shouting. The folks that understood what was going on first looked concerned and then amused. Sometimes I do doubt the wisdom of public transit and google maps. We walked through some pretty sketch parts of town in our day and rode on some buses that had Jim and I looking at each other, what are we doing here?
We enjoyed the tour; hopped off and did some shopping for dinner and headed back to our perch. We didn’t quite have our 10k steps in, it felt like a lazy day! I don’t have our days planned, just a general idea of what I would like to happen.
We had our happy hour out on the terrace and enjoyed a lovely relaxing evening.
paleremo presto.