Twenty years ago, Puglia was not on the tourist radar. In fact, many had never heard of Puglia, but from a backward and neglected region, it is now the rising star of the south.

Known as the “land of the two seas”, Puglia has the longest coastline of any region in Italy. Lapped by the Ionian Sea to the west and the Adriatic Sea to the east, it stretches over 800 kilometres.

Two years ago when I arrived in Bari to pick up a hire car to discover Puglia, my first impression wasn’t great. In hindsight, that was an unfair judgement as you can only understand and appreciate a city by walking its streets and taking the time to notice and observe.

A major trading port since ancient times, Bari reached its high point in the medieval era and by the eleventh century was the most important Adriatic port. Today it is the capital of Puglia, the main to city to fly into in the region and still a busy port with ferries travelling to Greece, Croatia and Albania directly across the Adriatic.

Tourists who arrive here are often travelling through, on their way to more famous places with alluring names like Alberobello and Locorotondo, unaware that Bari is no longer a shabby port. Reinvented Bari has become a more welcoming, cosmopolitan city offering chic shopping and lively nightlife as well as history, culture and a fascinating historic centre.

Bari Vecchia is the old town. It huddles on a promontory between the old and new ports and is an inviting maze of medieval alleyways, small courtyards, shrines and churches. Meandering around it is easy to get lost in the tangle of streets - for a little while, but you are never far from a landmark. My go-to fruttivendolo is Alberto, who smiles at my Italian and has a chuckle when I mix up my words. When the owner of the Salumeria is busy serving customers, his mates hanging out in the shop help me find salsicce di maiale e finocchio - pork and fennel sausages. I have found beautiful handmade pasta bowls for Sam’s apartment and my favourite washing machine liquid brand - Felce Azzurra in a hole-in-the-wall grocery store.

As I walk the streets, I glimpse nonnas through doorways hand-rolling orecchiette (ear-shaped pasta) to be sold in the street, whilst music that we all love from the eighties is heard from tiny apartments and shops. It makes me smile and feel nostalgic, hearing the songs from my “aerobic instructor” days.

Most days I walk the same route because I’m intrigued by what my ‘busy nonna’ will be doing each morning. If she’s not hanging her own washing to dry in the sun on the street or climbing on a chair to brush cobwebs from a grate over a window, she’s helping her neighbour fold sheets directly from the clothes line . . . in the street. She works with such purpose.

Citta Nuova, or modern quarter, sits alongside Bari Vecchia. It is laid out on a grid plan with wide, straight avenues and pedestrian only boulevards with elegant shops on Via Sparano. Here you will also find the famous Teatro Petruzzelli, Italy’s fourth largest opera house, inaugurated in 1903. In 1991 there was a disastrous fire that totally destroyed the theatre. The reconstruction, completed in 2008, remained true to the original design and reopened in October 2009.

My early morning walk takes me along the seaside esplanade to see the daily catch arrive off the small fishing boats, continuing on to a sandy beach (yes, sandy) and a park with workout bars. The rowers are skimming along the sea, making it look effortless; the fishermen are casting their lines; the dog walkers are out and it’s good to be alive!

There is an abundance of fresh, local and seasonal ingredients. The diet is a very simple, healthy one, based on vegetables, fruit, fresh fish, top-quality olive oil and healthy pasta made with durum flour. Seasonal, slow food and farm-to-table are not new here - it’s how things have been for centuries.

The signature pasta dish that is hugely popular is orecchiette alle cime di rapa, translated as orecchiette with turnip tops, but actually more like a leafy broccoli. It’s no surprise that seafood is abundant. You can feast on raw sea urchins straight from the fishing boats, tuck into bowls of clams or mussels or savour steamed octopus or stuffed cuttlefish.

Not to be missed is focaccia barese. Sold at any bakery, it is a soft flatbread made with flour and mashed potatoes for maximum fluffiness, topped with fresh tomatoes, olives and a sprinkle of oregano.

I’ve become a huge fan of panzerotti, a local street food staple. They consist of hand-sized, half-moon-shaped pockets of pizza dough, traditionally filled with mozzarella and tomato, but also available with dozens of other fillings, and deep fried in seed oil.

A lot of willpower is required on a daily basis when it comes to sweet things - bakeries on every street corner filled with so much tempting deliciousness. Pasticciotti is a breakfast sweet that can be enjoyed all day long. This wicked pastry traditionally comes filled with lemon flavoured egg custard, but there are many varieties including chocolate or pistacchio cream, ricotta or almond paste.

More on Puglia next week as I continue my research on small towns you may never have heard of, but will want to know about!

Ci vediamo la prossima settimana.

Deb