Bari...

We landed in Bari around noon. We walked off the boat, not knowing exactly what we were going to do during our time here. We ended up joining a little tram tour of Bari. It was fun. Bari is an old industrial town.

The big cathedral is the Cathedral of St. Nicholas. St. Nicholas was from Turkey and after a conflict, some sailors from Bari who were Christians stole St. Nicholas’s bones from Turkey and brought them to Bari. I don’t get the whole steal-someone’s-bones-and-build-a-church-around-it-thing. St. Mark’s bones were stolen and brought to Venice also. It just doesn’t seem like something worth stealing. Anyway, this St. Nicholas was THE St. Nicholas as in St. Nick, also known as Santa Claus. We all became a little more interested when we heard that connection.

Our tour led us through some of the city streets...

and to an old castle. The kids liked seeing the old moat surrounding the castle.

We even watched some local women make orecchiette (little ear) pasta. They were so fast!

We ended with some great gelato on our way back to the cruise ship!