Badly in Bari. Male a Bari.
First impressions are important but they can be very wrong. Such was the case for my brief stop over in the Italian Adriatic port of Bari.
Previously: Tirana, Albania.
My one Day in Bari (Sunday, 27th November 2022)
It was a very early start from Tirana but once I got to the airport it was a very short, and straightforward flight across the Adriatic Sea to the Italian port city of Bari, my next stop.
Bye Bye Art Hotel...
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| Bright lights outside the airport |
I definitely had picked up some form of the dreaded lurgy from my long coach trip from Skopje to Tirana and by the time I boarded the short flight across the sea I was already feeling a bit rough.
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| The short flight from Albania to Italy |
Arriving in Bari...
Upon arrival, the train journey to the city center was pleasant enough but as soon as I left the station to look for my room for the night I was struck by the rain and the cold and a very drab looking city.
Thanks to Google maps I was eventually able to track down my apartment for the night. It had seemed so appealing when I booked it on Booking.com and it had great reviews but the fact I walked past it a couple of times before realising... *this* was it!
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| Welcome to Bari |
I pressed the scrawled out button a couple of times, standing in the rain, feeling very sorry for myself before thinking "sod it, I'm not staying here".
No problem, right.? I was in the center of a big European city. Just find a café, connect to their WiFi and find another room, a bit pricier maybe, but at least it would be more comfortable. Easy, right?
Wrong.
It took me another fifteen minutes before I even found a café that was showing the next match, although even that was a very drab and disappointing affair... more on that later.
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| I watched Japan v Costa Rica in an empty café. |
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| Esspresso miniscolo |
Eventually I did book another room, at $100 AUD a night and trundled over to it. The appropriately named Costa Hotel was also a disappointment but at least it had a bed so I crashed out for a few hours.
So you can see how Bari gave me a very bad first impression.
Why did I go there? Well, it's a city I'd never visited before and it was a logical, cheap and convenient stop over from Tirana to Malta, my next destination.
Game #25: Japan 0 Costa Rica 1 (1pm)
The previously sparkling Japan inexplicably spluttered to a halt in their second game and were suppressed and eventually overcome by Costa Rica (who, remember, had been thrashed by Spain 7-0.)
This would be another bizarre twist in this most bizarre World Cup.
After a very dull first half, Japan pressed for a goal early in the second and Navas had to make a great to keep Costa Rico in it. After a period of intense pressure for Japan, the Central American team took a shock lead through Fuller and then hung on to win.
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| Fuller's (Costa Rican) Pride |
Games 25, Goals 58, Goals/Game 2.32
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| Crashing Out at the Costa Hotel |
I did manage to wake up in time to watch most of the next game in a very nice Pizza restaurant near the old town.
Game #26: Belgium 0 Morocco 2 (4 pm)
This was a heartening experience as there was a table of Moroccan fans next to me all very keenly watching the match. Some enthusiasm for the World Cup - in Italy!
At last!
The pizza was good too and as I washed it down with a beer I started to feel a bit better.
Belgium, another of the great under achievers of international football (like England), started brightly and did have a few shots on target but all were saved by the Moroccan goalkeeper Munir.
Morocco gained in confidence and took a shock lead when Roman Saiss touch a curling cross past Coutois and then Aboukhal made sure with an emphatic second in injury time.
Morocco finished by far the strongest and deserved to win.
The joy for the Moroccan fans was lovely to see,
Games 26, Goals 60, Goals/Game 2.31
After the match I decided to have a stroll the Bari old town and, finally, began to realise the charm of the city at last.
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| Bari Vecchia |
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| Waterfront |
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| Bascilica San Nicola |
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| Inside the Bascilica |
Game #27: Canada 1 Croatia 4 (7 pm)
After Canada's brave, unlucky, but ultimately fruitless opener against Belgium, no-one really game them much chance against the seasoned international tournament campaigners, Croatia, me included.
But when Canada took an early (2nd minute) lead and held it for over half an hour, one started to wonder. But the game took on an inevitable air when Andrej Kramaric equalised and then Marko Livaja belted in a second to put the red and white chequers in the lead.
The second half continued the flow and Croatia ended up winning 4-1.
This result meant a rather unlucky goodbye to Canada and left Croatia and Morocco in poll position in Group F.
Games 27, Goals 65, Goals/Game 2.41
After the match it was back to bed for some quick shut-eye, as I was feeling pretty tired.
Game #28: Spain 1 Germany 1 (10 pm)
For the final match of the day I headed back to the sports bar I went to first and was impressed that they'd set up a big goal in front of one of the bars with an electronic score board above it.
Olmo hit the bar for Spain early on but Germany looked like they'd taken the lead just before half time with a simple header by center back Rudiger, but it was ruled out due to a marginal off side decision.
On the hour though, Spain did take the lead with a flick in from Alvaro Morata.
It looked as if it would be Spain's day but, as often happens, Germany got a late equaliser from Niclas Fullkrug.
This result gave Germany some hope of making it through to the round of 16, but they were still left at the bottom of Group E.
Games 28, Goals 67, Goals/Game 2.39
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| Bumbling around in Bari |
So this was definitely the worst day of the tour so far, but there were still more positive points than negative ones.
Final mood score: 6-5.
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| Where I spent most of my time in Bari |
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