Down in the boot of Italy, Romans, Greeks, Byzantines, Saracens, Normans and Swabians took turns to enjoy the fertile land, the sea overflowing with fish, the pleasant climate, the warm winds, the beautiful women and the easy proximity to the East. The old city of Bari is a mixture of ancient Roman and Byzantine buildings of the 10th century, characterized by round arches, sturdy pillars, thick walls, barrel vaults and decorative arcades. The center of the city reflects a neo-classic style architecture built in the early 19th by Joachim Murat, the “flamboyant dandy king” and Napoleon’s brother in law. The buildings downtown are all very symmetrical, the forms are defined in the simplicity of their order.
This is the city with a view on the blue-green Adriatic Sea, this is Bari, my native city in the boot of Italy, a door opened to the Mediterranean basin through which trading with the Orient, Middle Eastern and African countries has been a way to live since the beginning of time.
This is a place where people eat bread and tomato for breakfast, and raw shellfish on the bank of the Sea at 10:00 o’clock in the morning. This is a place where mature women make handmade pasta, real masterpieces, in the streets outside their homes and wash the floor of the streets every morning as the streets are an extension of their homes.
In Bari, the balconies are full of flowers and laundry drying in four winds of the Mediterranean. In Bari people love the alleys with cobblestones where fried polenta, crispy focaccia and panzerotti (a type of closed pizza) fill the air, along with people talking out-loud thinking no one is listening and women walking graciously on stiletto shoes.
It’s the usual story of an emigrant, we leave in search of better things and always find what we were looking for in that same place we left.
Dan Antion keeps offering this Thursday Door Challenge. Please visit with us and discover many stories beyond beautiful doors in the world. Ciao,
Valentina
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Copyright © 2022 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved
Valentina Cirasola is an interior-fashion consultant, author of 6 published books, a storyteller, and a blogger of many years. Her books are non-fictional practical ideas to apply in the home, fashion, cooking and travel.
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Valentina Expressions 
Aug 02, 2022 @ 05:10:17
“It’s the usual story of an emigrant, we leave in search of better things and always find what we were looking for in that same place we left.” Words that make complete sense to me, Valentina. Thanks for another interesting post and door.
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Aug 03, 2022 @ 02:37:22
Thank you for the visit, Robbie, you are very kind.
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Jul 30, 2022 @ 23:52:18
A beautiful country, beautiful people that care and work to preserve their neighborhoods full of traditions!
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Jul 31, 2022 @ 07:43:36
I hope it stays that way, we have so much to guard and preserve. Thanks for the visit.
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Jul 30, 2022 @ 17:15:21
Owning the street! And why not?! I love it!
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Jul 31, 2022 @ 07:41:55
Exactly, why not? Thanks for the visit.
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Jul 29, 2022 @ 11:49:57
That life sounds pretty good to me. I know everyone dreams of a better place, but there’s something about home. The Palazzo sulla muraglia is a work of art. I could stare at that, inspecting the tiny details around the windows, for a long time.
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Jul 29, 2022 @ 16:32:11
Thank you Dan, as it been said “there is no place like home”. That beautiful building is a private home, it faces the Sea, was built at the very beginning of last century and still stands. In Italy anything in all the downtown areas are not taken down, they get restored if something goes wrong.
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