Puglia - Bari in April - Trani

The next day is Saturday and we go to look at another small fish market right on the promenade. There are quite a few tourists there, perhaps because it's right in the centre, but we decide that the usual market is better for choice and price.  Shopping for fish to survive until Tuesday is a must and since we take it easy and stop to chat and look at the home-made contraptions used to 'beat' the octopus (a speciality of Bari) and then pop in to a butcher's for some typical 'bombs' for Monday and stop by at an enoteca to stock up on wine for Andrea by the time we get back it's time to cook. Pasta with prawns today.

Bari to Trani is about half an hour, but the local wine at lunch was quite strong and we are partly sleepy and partly tipsy as we head down towards the harbour. We wander the old centre a little and almost unexpectedly arrive at the far end of the harbour where there's the cathedral. The cathedral is in a panoramic position right next to the sea and surrounded by flat open spaces where it can be appreciated in all its splendor. 

Unfortunately it's closed but we find the opening times and decide to hunt for coffee in the meantime. We find a really nice place right on the harbour with a delightfully comfortable sofa in the sun at the top of some steps and a good view. One of our best coffee stops ever. It's Saturday and so there are quite a few people eating outside the various restaurants along the harbour. We go to the public park Villa Comunale for a stroll, it's a very nice park with landscaped gardens, a long wall with seating incorporated all around where you can sit right above the sea and enjoy the warm sun. 

We are tempted out only for an ice-cream in the Gelateria near the entrance. In the meantime Trani has been invaded by loads of people out for a Saturday afternoon stroll. We go back to the cathedral and are struck by it's beauty. Clean light coloured stone, Trani Stone, so similar to the cathedral in Bari but an even greater sense of verticality and uplift, 

the crypt is a magic place too. The original 12th century bronze relief door panels are now kept inside the church and worth peering at in detail. There's a copy on the outside. All in all it's one of the most beautiful churches I've seen.

It's getting late so we reluctantly head for the station, hoping to return at some point in the future.