{"id":1694,"date":"2021-10-08T10:33:31","date_gmt":"2021-10-08T10:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/setyourownscene.com\/?p=1694"},"modified":"2021-10-08T10:43:57","modified_gmt":"2021-10-08T10:43:57","slug":"back-to-bari","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/setyourownscene.com\/?p=1694","title":{"rendered":"Back to Bari"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When I first arrived in Bari early in January 2020, it didn\u2019t feel conceivable that I\u2019d still be here almost two years later and in a relatively<\/em> settled state.  However, a series of events, namely Covid and a re-evaluation of certain life priorities, has meant that Bari has begun to feel strangely like home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Some of the most familiar sights from around Bari; September 2021.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I finished teaching in the final week of July and immediately embarked on a five day-long road trip back to Britain via Northern Puglia, Emilia-Romagna, Switzerland, the Rhine-Neckar region of Germany and the Hook of Holland (Covid restrictions at the time meant that driving through France was a no-go).  I spent nearly a month back in the UK in August and despite having weather that was mediocre at best, had a great time seeing old friends and family after 18 months of enforced estrangement.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were\u00a0two<\/em>\u00a0festivals (Soul II Soul headlining South Facing Festival<\/a> in Crystal Palace Park and Green Man<\/a> in Crickhowell, South Wales), a boozy Mexico-inspired South London barbeque courtesy of my mate Mark, a Newbury reunion of \u2018The Dream Team\u2019<\/em> (a somewhat ironic moniker that my friends Anna, Jen, Matt and I created for ourselves, aged 17), a sojourn to Southend-on-Sea with Virginia to meet Rufus, Emily and Matt\u2019s one year-old baby, an evening putting the world to rights at The Bowlers Arms with my old bassist and all-round-good-bloke Roger, a trip to a Thai restaurant in Surbiton with Chris, Jenny and Scott and lots of other catch-ups with old friends with whom it has been\u00a0far too long<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was also a chance to spend some quality time with my parents at the house I lived in from the age of 11 until 18 in Highclere on the Berkshire \/ Hampshire border and to see my sister, brother-in-law and nephews at their home in Buckinghamshire.  My sister Rachel and her family had a trip to Italy planned for Spring 2020 but this was obviously shelved due to the pandemic.  Never did I imagine upon leaving the UK that it would be nearly two years before we saw each other in-person again.  It was particularly fun to meet her new dog Sandy though; a very cute, lively and mischievous golden Labrador puppy with a penchant for stealing running shoes and food from plates on the table\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>
\"\"<\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>
\"\"<\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>
\"\"<\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Fun times back in the UK, August 2021.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My return journey was a more leisurely trip through Northern France (restrictions had been lifted by this point), deliberately avoiding Switzerland (my unplanned overnight stop in Lucerne on the outbound trip set me back a small fortune) and travelling through Germany, Lichtenstein and Austria instead.  It was more eventful too; I went to an electro-pop night at the curiously-named Le Bistrot de St So<\/a> in Lille (it is definitely<\/em> not a bistro), had an incident with an incompetent hotel in Saarbr\u00fccken, Germany locking me out at 3am, left my favourite leather jacket behind in a wardrobe in Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg (it has thankfully now been posted back to me in Bari) and even made friends with the friendly owners of a newly-opened Celtic medieval re-enactment bar Taverna Le Madragola<\/a> in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna (highly recommended to anyone visiting Ferrara looking for something unusual).  It turns out that the region has Celtic roots and that there\u2019s even a Welsh-speaking town nearby called Baldi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parts of the drive were really stunning though and had an almost meditative-like quality; particularly the remote mountains of Lichtenstein, the area surrounding Innsbruck in Austria and the Alpine countryside near Salem and Friedrichshafen in South Germany.  After travelling through Trentino (I stopped overnight in the pretty town of Lagundo), Emilia-Romagna and final stops in Vasto, Abruzzo and Mattinata in the Gargano National Park, I arrived back in Bari in early September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>
\"\"<\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>
\"\"<\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The highlights of the return journey back to Bari; Highclere > Lille > Saarbr\u00fccken > Salem > Lagundo > Ferrara > Vasto > Mattinata.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first, it was a little strange to be back. The novelty has well and truly worn off and the city now feels very familiar. After the excitement and merry-go-round of constant socialising whilst being back in Britain, it\u2019s a somewhat grounding experience to be back in a country where you still have limited ability with the native language and where the network of people you know is far smaller.  However, I decided that the solution was to re-immerse myself in Italian culture\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within a few days of being back in Puglia, I had been to open-air concerts by\u00a0Niccol\u00f2 Fabi<\/a>\u00a0in Molfetta\u00a0and\u00a0Max\u00a0Gazz\u00e8<\/a> in Mola di Bari; both established and much-loved names from the canon of Italian popular music over the past 25 years.\u00a0\u00a0Along with Daniele Silvestri, they also perform as the\u00a0Fabi-Silvestri-Gazz\u00e8<\/a>\u00a0group and whilst virtually unknown in the UK, are national treasures in Italy.\u00a0\u00a0Fabi\u2019s music is more delicate and sincere, whilst\u00a0Gazz\u00e8\u2019s live show was more muscular and leant a lot on the earnestness of Springsteen, as well as some more electronic influences.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n