Puglia - Daunia in September - Canosa di Puglia and Bovino

It's our last morning in Trani and we finally make the effort of waking up at 6.20 to get to the cathedral in time to see the sun rise. There's some low cloud on the horizon but the light is magic, the air has the adrenaline of dawn and the fishing boats are coming into the harbour followed by crowds of agitated seagulls crying loudly. There's hardly anyone around - I notice an elderly man with a camera heading for towards the lighthouse, from his fast walk hoping to catch the dawn too, when a fiery pink sphere finally appears it's worth it.

We go straight for our last breakfast at Biancaneve and then back to the B&B to pack up. By just before nine we are back outside the castle. Restoration work has nearly finished and a visit to walk around the ramparts is free for the time being if you book. There's not that much to see, the castle is like many castles, massive and square and defiant and we peer into the empty rooms through the windows. It's nice, and in the usual beautiful Trani stone and the contrast with the blue sea behind is striking.

By half past ten we are on the way to Canosa di Puglia where we visit the cathedral with its fine mausoleum, tiptoeing cautiously around the last minute preparations for a wedding. The man who seems to be a custodian and beckons us on to look at the church and the mausoleum later turns out to be the priest officiating.

Canosa also has a surprisingly beautiful archaeological museum. The vases dating back to the 4th century B.C. from local Daunian burial sites are superbly decorated and painted and it's almost unbelievable that they can be so old.

We pay to park almost outside the museum, the car is full of our stuff and although right in the middle of the town centre should be safe I play safer still and take my computer with me. We picnic in the small park behind the cathedral on the delicious calzone which we bought in Trani and find somewhere acceptable for a coffee.

In the end we arrive at the castle in the small town of Bovino where we will be staying for three nights at exactly three pm.

The ravens are making suitably castle like accompanying noises in the trees as we wait. The castle rooms are run by a cooperative and while I wasn't expecting a fanfare our host is almost too quiet and unobtrusive. I would have liked perhaps a bit more information - it's the first time we've stayed in a castle! Nevertheless, our room is suitably impressive... ,

and the view from the top of the hill is good too. Once we've settled in we stroll around Bovino, interspersed with a little work, Bovino looks promising in the daylight but is positively magical by night.