The first time that I ever heard of Polignano a Mare was during a long Facebook feed scrolling session. I came across a promotional image of cliff-side restaurant called Ristorante Grotta Palazzese. We were overwhelmed by the natural beauty and interesting architecture.
Amanda and I looked at each other and both said, "Let's go!"
We happened to be in England at the time visiting her family, so it was a cheap quick flight from London to southern Italy. Truth be told, the Facebook pictures did not do it justice; so I had to take some of my own!
As soon as the sun came up, we rushed down to the restaurant to see if we could get a reservation for the evening. Sadly, it was closed for renovations. I guess we should have called ahead! Anyway, as you can see in the above picture, we were able to have a peek at the balcony from a ledge further along the path.
All was well, though because this town has a lot more to offer than just a cliff-side restaurant. There are countless hidden gems. Interestingly, we didn't see a single English speaking tourist the entire time we were there. It seems that Polignano a Mare is mostly unknown to people outside of Italy.
Here are some amazing views of the beautiful coastline.
One interesting character that we met on our walks was Antonio Cavaliere. A local man with loads of great stories to tell - if you can sort of understand Italian that is. I might add that we didn't meet a single person in town who would speak more than a word of English. So be prepared to do a lot of hand signing!
This town would be great to grow up in; with endless tunnels, nooks & crannies to explore.
About this time we started to get a bit hungry. Time to find out what this little town has to offer in the way of food! We were not disappointed. but first, a walk around town. The streets are very narrow, and all one way. I'm glad we weren't driving.
One thing that made it easier to not get lost was the fact that the entire town is in a perfect grid. If you get lost, just head in the direction of the sea!
Polignano a Mare is one huge grid of walkways. You could never accuse this town of not making it easy to get around!
There are so many paths to get back to where you started that a wrong turn doesn't necessarily get you that far out of the way.
One of the more peculiar features of Polignano a Mare is the tiny doors. At first I thought that these doors were just small storage units on the side of buildings, but it turns out that they are the actual entrances to peoples' homes! I watched people duck in and out of them all day. Some people had shutters open and you could see them talking and drinking cafe.
Keep in mind that the woman in the above shot is exactly 5 foot tall! We were so fascinated by the doors of Polignano that we took dozens of pictures around town. We plan to publish a book of these doors. What do you all think? When we were there, we got the distinct impression that the residents went to a lot of trouble to give their family's door it's own personality and style. Perhaps because the city-block sized building are all so similar in appearance.
What was I originally talking about? Oh yeah! Food. Interestingly, it looks like I already took a chomp out of this yummy snack. I knew that waiter was looking guilty. The food was fantastic. I couldn't get enough bread, cheese, pizza and wine.
After lunch, we had a walk along the coast where we came across this beast:
Whoever drives that hot-rod must be really popular with the ladies! It seems there were more post-apocalyptic areas of town to explore further down coast. Well, more like where the cool kids go to vandalize abandoned property. Check out this rusted out door. Wow!
Then there is this tap. I was really worried about the brown thing in the bowl until I realized it was just a plastic bag.
Here is another interesting view along the coastal path. It looks as though there was something under construction that never quite got finished.
Although there are many more great shots that I could put in this post, I think that will be enough for now! I will leave you all with my favorite spot in town. We sat out here for hours at a time just relaxing in the breeze and listening to the waves crash on the shore. I will never forget this beautiful little town in Southern Italy. I hope you all enjoyed!
Closing note: This is a repost from my 2nd ever entry; right after my introduction post last year (with a few tweaks).
I was quite disappointed that it only got about 4 upvotes which leads me to believe that no one saw it. This place is an absolute hidden gem in Italy and deserves recognition! Please upvote and resteem to get the word out!