June 12
We cracked a 100 degrees today. Not in a million years would I have expected it to be this hot so early in June. I admit, though, the heat is still better than the rainy, cold weather we had last year in Portugal and Spain.
We had a slow start to our day as Giovanna (Alberobello host) was coming at 9am to check us out. Since we had such a great internet connect, I decided to take time after breakfast to FINISH the project I had been working on intermittently through our trip. It took less than an hour and now it is done, at least what I need to do while we’re in Italy.
We loved our Trulli house but both agree that we wouldn’t want to stay much longer than one night. Any longer and one of use would either get a concussion or need stitches from hitting our head on the stone archways or would break our neck (or other body part) from falling down the stairs.
Once on the road we headed for Bari. The only thing Peter really wanted to see there was a WWII cemetery outside of town and the Basilica of San Nicola. First up was the cemetery which was locked but we were able to grab a pic or two from outside the gates.
Then, according to Gracie, we were only 20 minutes away from the Basilica. Not sure what happened to her today but she was acting quite schizophrenic. She would tell me to turn left then change her mind and tell me to go right; except of course I had already made the left turn. That happened so many times that Peter finally shut her off and we simply followed signs. After about 45 minutes (to go less than 6 km) we finally reached the port where we miraculously found parking. We only put enough money in the meter for one hour as the Basilica was quite close.
The Basilica of Saint Nicholas is actually two churches in one. The main floor is Catholic and the lower floor is Greek Orthodox. It was built between 1081 and 1197. It was built to house relics of St. Nicholas who had chosen Bari as his burial site. The Basilica was quite crowded with not only tourists, but there was a service going on in the Greek Orthodox part and a wedding was just about to start in the Catholic portion. We saw the bride pulling up in a Rolls Royce just as we were leaving.
After stopping for a snack on our way back to the car, we headed for Trani where we are spending the night. For some reason our host wanted us to check in at 2pm instead of the usual 4-5pm so we had to cut our day in half to accommodate her. Of course when we got there the flat wasn’t ready but she showed us around and gave us all the pertinent info before we headed back out.
We drove about 40 minutes to the Castel del Monte which is a 13th century citadel and castle. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is in magnificent condition. The castle is engraved on the Italian version of the one cent Euro coin. Of course that coin is so tiny it’s hard to see, but it’s there.
We scored another free entry with our handicap placard so we’re up to about $80 in savings. That will just about pay for all the gelato we’ve eaten while we’re here.
After the Castle we drove back to Trani to settle into our flat. We have no food so we’re going to walk out a little later to grab some groceries. Unlike other trips, though, we can only buy what we can eat before we leave. It’s too hot in the car to carry food from one city to the next. Yesterday I threw away some cheese I found in our grocery bag which had been in the back of the car for at least 3 days….eww.
Tomorrow we’re heading to a beach resort in Martinsicuro where we’ll stay for 3 nights. We’re starting to reach the saturation point for churches, castles and other old things so we thought we’d hang out at the beach for a few days. It’s about 3 1/2 hours from here and it’s supposed to be beautiful. We may “go quiet” for a few days but I’ll post if anything exciting happens.