Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 080 424 24 76;
www.ristoranteantichemura.it
;
Via Roma 11; meals €20-35)
This delightful little
restaurant features a vaulted cavelike interior with lanterns and bells adorning the walls.
Unsurprisingly, fish is a speciality, with sea bass, octopus and lobster on the menu.
Getting There & Away
Although there is a twice-daily bus service from Bari, your own car is the best way to
reach Polignano.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Promontorio del Gargano
The coast surrounding the promontory seems permanently bathed in a pink-hued, pearly
light, providing a painterly contrast to the sea, which softens from intense to powder blue
as the evening draws in. It's one of Italy's most beautiful areas, encompassing white lime-
stone cliffs, fairy-tale grottoes, sparkling sea, ancient forests, rare orchids and tangled, fra-
grant maquis. Once connected to what is now Dalmatia (in Croatia), the 'spur' of the Itali-
an boot has more in common with the land mass across the sea than with the rest of Italy.
Creeping urbanisation was halted in 1991 by the creation of the
Parco Nazionale del Gargano
. Aside from its magnificent national park, the Gargano is home to pilgrimage sites and
the lovely seaside towns of Vieste and Peschici.
Along the coast you'll spot strange cat's-cradle wood-and-rope arrangements, unique to
the area. These are
trabucchi,
ancient fishing traps (possibly Phoenician in origin) from
which fishing folk cast their nets, 'walk the plank' and haul in their catch.
