Trani

We sailed into Trani in the dark. Some have said Trani is the "most beautiful harbor in all of Italy." That someone was the Harbormaster so we must take that claim with a grain of salt. Though I must declare it is the most beautiful thus far. With its parks, forts, castles, fishing boats, cathedral, ancient Jewish ghetto, restaurant, tourist attractions and nightlife makes Trani a worthwhile destination.

The harbor was full so locating a stern-to mooring in the dark was difficult. Once located we found ourselves greeted by a harbor official named Luigi and his girlfriend. Luigi was a medium built man with a mop full of dark curls upon his head. He immediately did not like our choice in berths, but was not able to offer an alternative. His girlfriend, Cinzia, who spoke broken english which was much preferable to Luigi's attempts at our language which was as bad as his assistance. His attempts at guiding proved to be unhelpful and confusing. At one time he took our entire stern line and as he tried to detangle the line he dumped it into the water. To the non-boaters reading this please understand absent of actually damaging your vessel there is no greater violation. After landing, Luigi took us to the hut at the marina entrance. Here we had to show documents and sign in. This is where they retained our boat papers until we were ready to leave.

Cinzia turned out to be helpful by obtaining us reservations for dinner. As it turned out we landed upon quite the hotspot. All restaurants were packed and required reservations. Who would of thunk? We had a very authentic Italian dining experience amongst many Italian families. The picture of the kid below is one Italian boy who's unruly behavior seemed to get under Serge's skin.

In the morning we walked through a park, visited the fishermen, scaled a 258 step tower within a cathedral and visited the Jewish ghetto. Then we set sail for, a 36 mile cruise south down the coast.

Setting course to Monopli...