We have stayed in Trani several times before, as you will see if you put Trani into the search on this blog. We haven't travelled for pleasure all winter, small jobs in the house, wood cutting, I published a book (a mystery set on Lake Iseo in Italy), a trip to the UK for family problems which are still ongoing and seem to have been taking up that part of my brain previously dedicated to planning trips....Just the other day I started to think maybe a week in Tuscany near Piombino to see the sea and spring flowers and maybe a town in Tuscany on the way down. All well and good. Then a word came floating into the back of my mind with an ache of nostalgia......but Trani?
So why do I like Trani so much? Why is it my favourite town in mainland Italy? Trani is beautiful. The word you're not supposed to use because it's banal, but.....
1. For the cathedral in that pale stone with blue sea in the background, the inside of the cathedral towering unadorned verticality, the crypt, sitting on the stone bench outside the main door to watch the sunset towards the castle.
2. For the historical centre in that pale stone which makes everything seem clean and light, wandering up and down, interesting corners, churches. Our few days this year were a little damp so we roamed the streets in the evenings sometimes, the narrow streets glistening gold.
3. The harbour perfect even in the dark with the lights of the restaurants and people wandering up and down
4. The lighthouses and the molo where people go for jogging, walking, fishing, sunbathing, chatting.
5. For the Villa Comunale, that is the park, overlooking the sea with the highly technological clock (somebody changes the date in stones every day......)
6. There's the sea.....a must in my favourite place. I live in the mountains and I love the mountains but when I travel I need to see the sea.
7. A trip ago we also discovered the rest of Trani sea front, heading south after the Villa Communale, it isn't special like the rest of Trani but it makes a good walk, or a run and there's even a beach: spiaggia libera Colonna.
8. Trani isn't too big and isn't too small. Big enough to be able spend a lot of time just walking around and there's good choice of shops and a fantastic open air market on Tuesday morning, but without the chaos of bigger cities like Bari. It's just the right size for me. Perhaps you need to remember I live most of the year in a tiny village without about 80 inhabitants at 1000m altitutude......
9. The food. Focaccia barese: everywhere, a whole 'ruota' for 3 or 4 euros, doused in excellent quality olive oil, or calzone from the bakeries. Local fishermen selling the remains of their catch down at the harbour (paranza....). Local farmers with their Ape or vans in the street selling local seasonal fruit and veg (or greengrocer's shops). All at low prices. Butcher's shops that seem boutiques with a mouthwatering array of 'bombette' or other prepared meat products ready to fling in a frying pan. (I don't eat much meat but I'm not vegetarian). Take away pizza, everywhere, at half the price of a pizza in the north. Each time I go to Trani I say we must try a restaurant, but so far we haven't managed it. To prepare my own food or get a takeaway is just so easy and so good and so cheap......
10. Trani is on the main train line along the coast so it's easy to take a day trip to Bari or Barletta or anywhere going south without having to use the car.
11. Did I mention the open air market on a Tuesday? (As long as it isn't raining.)
12. A stroll in the evening. As you may have gathered if you've read a little of this blog to say we are not 'movida' people is a serious understatement. For most of my adult life I taught English in the evenings so it is really difficult to get me to do anything after suppertime that doesn't involve a computer and a sofa. Not so in Trani. There are people strolling around until late, so it feels safe and natural and fun to join them. Trani has a cosmopolitan feel.....lots of local people (meaning from Trani), lots of people out for the evening from Bari, or the area, a few Italian tourists, a few foreigners. And Trani is so beautiful in the dark.
13. The people. A question of luck maybe? Our host at B&B Germinario who always has time for a chat. The staff at the bar where we go for breakfast who always remember our order by the third morning. People in shops, or at the market, who've got the time to ask where we're from and exchange a few words. They must see perhaps too many tourists but you feel welcome.
14. Good value accommodation.
15. I just feel good in Trani. It's a place I go to in my mind when I need cheering up, too.
P.S. We always go in spring and autumn. In high summer I hide in the cool of the mountains and I haven't made it down there in winter (yet), so I can't comment.
Also, it's wise to park your car safely. We pay extra for secure parking.
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