A True Gem: Polignano A Mare, Italy

A day trip from Matera

The Puglia Cave Restaurant at Grotta Palazzese is what brought my sisters and I to spend the day in Polignano a Mare. We had not done any research on the town, or even heard of it for that matter. Driving into the area, things looked a bit sketchy and run down. We were worried that we may not be in the right place. But as we got closer to the coast things started to look up- in a big way. Tiny cobblestone streets lined with charming white buildings took over the scenery and we become more and more delighted with our decision to visit this place. Bright flowers in full bloom were bursting out of window boxes and quaint little pizzerias were sighted on every corner.   And at last, the big bright blue and untamed ocean crashed wildly onto the bases of the homes and buildings that were built into the cliffside.

After many attempts, we succeeded at parallel parking our car on one of the teeny tiny streets and set out to explore. (Let me re-iterate TEENY TINY STREETS as driving on them is a daring and blood boiling experience to say the least.) After walking for a few minutes we heard talk of a beautiful beach and a delicious authentic pizzeria. YES PLEASE! First stop? Pizza of course; and it lived right up to it’s description. Best. Pizza. Ever. For those of you who don’t already know, pizza is my one true weakness- I always give in to it!  

With happily filled tummies, we set off to find the beach. It wasn’t before too long that we found ourselves sitting oceanfront with a nice cold San Pellegrino and a million dollar view. Happy as can be, we sat there for hours talking, laughing, people watching and doing backbends with strangers. Yes you read that right.

When the sun began to set we hurried over to the cave restaurant for our dinner reservation. I thought that this dinner would be the highlight of our trip to Polignano a Mare, but as it turns out, it was not. Read more on my experience at Grotta Palazzese Restaurant here. The real highlight (and unfortunately the hardest to photograph) was walking two streets down from the restaurant and finding an entire street decorated with beautiful lights, smiling faces, and live music. It was so vibrant and unique. I could truly feel the culture of this little town and thanked my lucky stars that I was able to experience this unexpectedly wonderful spot first hand.