The Little Port City In Italy's Puglia Region With A Street Famed For Fresh Homemade Pasta

One of the best things about traveling to Italy has got to be the food. Every region is steeped in a unique culinary tradition with a focus on high-quality ingredients and surprisingly simple but very flavorful dishes that make for top-tier comfort food — especially when it comes to pasta. But who knows pasta better than an Italian grandma (or "nonna" in Italian)? In Bari, Puglia, you can enjoy an authentic Italian food experience complete with freshly made, local pasta by a "nonna" if you walk down a particular street in one of the oldest parts of this ancient city.

Puglia (or by its Italian name, Apulia) is located in the southern peninsula — the "heel of the boot," so to speak. Though it's not exactly a hidden gem, Puglia also features cities with whitewashed homes, just like in Santorini, but without the crowds. Bari, Puglia's capital, is in the middle of this region along the coastline of the Adriatic Sea. Aside from its rich history, beautiful churches, and lovely seaside views, Bari is most known for inventing a famous pasta shape called the orecchiette.

The perfect place to find fresh orecchiette is on a particular street in Old Bari (Bari Vecchia). The street is called Strada Arco Basso, which is colloquially known as Strada delle Orecchiette or Via delle Orecchiette ("Orecchiette Street" in Italian). Strada Arco Basso is named for the small tunnel on the street, but now it's more well known for the women living there, sometimes called the "nonnas," who make and sell orecchiette right outside their homes.

Bari, and Puglia in general, is a great destination if you're trying to avoid the overrated tourist traps in Italy, but that's not to say that Oricchette Street will be free of other tourists. Plan to visit in the morning when the women are just setting out to make and sell their pasta, so there are many sellers to choose from. You may still find some women still selling orecchiette in the afternoon, but numbers start to dwindle as the day goes on.

As you stroll down the small street, you can see how orecchiette got its name. The small, round pasta is cut and rolled with a knife and then pressed with the fingertip to create a dome-like shape that resembles a tiny ear — which is ideal for holding sauce. Its origin isn't known for sure; however, many historians think the pasta was invented (or perhaps arrived in Italy from elsewhere) sometime in the 12th or 13th century, but there are a lot of theories about it.

Of course, you can simply buy a bag of pasta (which come in different colors!) from any of the women who are set up in Strada delle Orecchiette and take it home to cook as a souvenir. You might also get a demonstration and enjoy legends about the pasta's origins when you shop. Or, if you would like to try your hand at making the orecchiette yourself, book a food tour or lesson with one of the nonnas (though it's important to note that not all of them speak English fluently).

Since Bari's main attraction has to do with pasta, it only stands to reason that the city is a dream destination for foodies. You can find many upscale eateries, but you can also find lots of budget-friendly types of restaurants in this part of Italy, like a trattoria or an osteria. Be sure to try other famous Puglian dishes besides orecchiette, like focaccia Pugliese, local burrata cheese, and, of course, fresh seafood.

The city center dates back hundreds of years and is home to several sites for art and history lovers, such as the Basilica di San Nicola, a church that claims to house the remains of Saint Nicholas (the city's patron saint). And if you're looking for breathtaking sea views, you can easily walk to Lungomare di Bari, a path along the coastline where you can see out onto the blue waters of the Adriatic that leads to Teatro Petruzzelli, one of the largest opera houses in the country.

Outside of Bari, you can visit the nearby Alberobello, which is less than an hour's drive from the city. This small town is a UNESCO World Heritage site because of its trulli, which are white limestone houses with cone-shaped roofs that date back to the 14th century. Its location and size make it a lovely day trip in Puglia. Several other seaside towns in Puglia — like Trani, Matera, and Conversano — are also worth visiting, with their unique architecture and proximity to excellent beaches with clear, turquoise waters.