Today on the way out of Venosa we visited a church and ruin site just on the out skirts of the town. We were greeted by a hoard of Italian high school students, who immediately thought we were Americano, when we said Australiano they were delighted. They surrounded us and laughed, chatted, and even patted us a little too. Our guide got a little annoyed with the kds as he was trying to explain the history of the site and the ruins to us. He yelled at them in Italian and they calmed down.

Funnily enough the site is called Il Computa (not sure if I have spelt this correctly) which made me think of a computer, so naturally I pulled out my iPhone just to check something and noticed it had the strongest wi-fi connection I have had while being in Italy. Im not sure if thats the locals having a tongue in cheek joke with the tourists?

After that we went to a Castello (castle) called Castel del Monte in Puglia. It was originally a kind of hunting lodge, so it was built more for comfort rather than to protect anyone. Its very beautiful and its hexagonal in shape with towers at each point.

From there we went east to the coast to a town called Trani. Because we arrived at 1pm everything had closed down for lunch, so we ate what we had in our backpacks in the town garden by the sea. This garden is gorgeous, and a real hidden treasure. It made me think of what central park might be like, and one of the others suggested it was similar to the gadens near the Eiffel Tower. It was really lovely. I sat on a bench and ate my snacks and shared some with the local pigeons. Slowly one krept closer to me, I placed a little of what I was eating on the ground near me, bringing the pigeon closer to me with each piece of food, with it ending up eating from the top of my sneakers. It was another lovely moment.

After lunch I went for a long walk in the gardens and found a fountain with lots of fish and around 50, and Im not joking when I say 50, tortoises in it. They were lying on the rocks and doing a litle swimming. I have never seen anything like it. Then I went to the endge of the garden and watched the ocean for a bit.

After lunch we went around the harbour, past all of the posh yachts to the cathedral in the centra historica (historical centre) of Trani. It was so white and clean in this part of the town. You can really tell they take a lot of pride in their city. I think they were also in the middle of restoring parts of it too.

Now we have arrived in Barletta, which is home for tonight. I am not sure what Barletta is famous for. One of the other suggested is was for Bartlett pears, but I am pretty sure he is pulling my leg. My room here overlooks the ocean and in most hotels in Italy you can open the windows all the way. The salt air is great. Im off to have a caffe and a look around.

Ciao
Giordano