Our last day in Puglia, the Framarino crest

After a good nights sleep in our respective chambers, although Tanya, it turns out was a little wary of the guy in the metal suit in the corridor outside her bedroom, we gradually get ready ( our first sleep- in till 7am) and head out for breakfast included in our Palazzo accommodation.

I still can’t believe the little parking spot we have as we head out. It will be an interesting maneuver to get out tomorrow!

A fresh croissant and a nice caffecito at the local cafe to brave the morning wind and we decide to explore further afield to Bari.

This is the grand stairway into our apartment looking at the cathedral. I program the GPS to give us a walking route to the train station as Lorenza mentions parking in Bari is very challenging and recommends the train. For some reason we are taken down a very back and  uninhabited way.

The saving grace is we come across a business dedicated to us, so out comes the selfie stick. When we get to the station a big fence separates us from it with warning signs not to cross the tracks. Tanya is sure this is wrong but the GPS says it is still 10m to go and  we do pop up next to an underground pass to get us to the station. Why it took us the way it did, I am not sure. I get some tickets, get warned by the computer lady in the dispensing machine about pickpockets on the train and off we go to Bari.

This is our first experience of a regionale train, based on what we have been told (thanks Erica) , these are notoriously late and unpredictable. As we wait for it to arrive we see, hear and feel  why they don’t recommend crossing the tracks as a Frecchiarossa train flys by at 300km /hour. Our train is on time, it’s only 20min down the road to Bari. Our experience on the return train will be a little different, so I guess we got too smug Erica.

Bari proves to be a big, sophisticated and clean city, obviously doing very well economically. There are grand offices for the Bank de Napoli and a number of beautiful Theaters.

Entrance to the mall by the sea is being converted into a light creation which we have seen a little in Matera and Giovinazzo, it makes a place look whimsical and fairy like.

We explore the Centro Istorico ( Historical Centre) and find some cute little shops tucked in the alleys.

A nice little deli catches our eye, but we are also singled out by a Senegalese man wanting me to buy some of his hand drawn books that he claims he has made. I do not want the book but clearly this is a tourist ploy to distract, he appeared from nowhere and when I turn to Tanya to give me 2 E as I do not want to be reaching into my pocket for a wallet, she steps in takes me by the hand and firmly tells the man no! He vanishes just as quickly as he appeared, we check all our pockets and all is good.

By now it is mid afternoon and breakfast is long gone. We would like to find a seafood place in the seaside port. A panini will not do today.

We do find a nice restaurant, it looks busy and we realize a large group of teenagers is also seated waiting to be served, what tips the balance on not staying is the table next to us lighting a cigar, I don’t think so. We exit to the main square and find a funky seafood place, both of us attracted to the pacheri with monkfish and red prawns. The sauce is so light , really a simple tomato base but it  is really delicious.

That out of the way we immediately come across a gelateria that can not be resisted. Prices again are very reasonable so we try a couple of new flavours each.

We also find a cute little shop that looks like it is serving sweets, in fact they are all candles, my kind of candle.

The slower journey back home happens because there is a medical event on the train and an announcement we hear is requesting medical assistance at the back of the train. I feel we are still in Bari so if its serious an ambulance will be better equipped to deliver assistance. The train does not move for an hour, no one disembarks and when eventually three ambulance men arrive , they slowly saunter to the back of the train ( I am assuming a defibrillator is not required) and shortly after they assist a young, somewhat wobbly man onto the platform. We are good to go, you are right Erica, things happen that do make the regionale run a bit off schedule!

Back in Giovinazzo it is sunny and peaceful. This is the style of some of the new buildings. We are having a quiet night in as Tanya has a bit of a sore throat, we hope it is not my germs that have jumped across. It would  seem a bit late for those to be of my origin.

Fingers Crossed everyone that Tanya responds to some lemon and honey home treatment and an early nights sleep.