Trani, Italy - Day 3 Continued/Day 4

Catalina, Olivia and Sarah went to the beach. Gaby, who was feeling a little under-the-weather, Sue and I stayed at the apartment. Sue and I worked on the group collage while Gaby drew. Olivia came back to the apartment to do some studying for her final exams (she’s graduating/graduated from high school). Catalina and Sarah finally returned back several hours later, as they had made friends with some Trani residents who spoke only a little English. Apparently the Trani residents were quite friendly and animated.

Sarah and new Italian friends.

Catalina and the same Italian friends at the rocky beach.

Monday, July 2, 2011 –The Ewings left for a week in Scotland. Their oldest daughter, Rachel, is graduating college in Scotland. Gaby has a fever and slept nearly the entire day and night. I had noticed her getting up in the wee hours of the morning, with a cool washcloth on her forehead. Then she moved to the couch and feel asleep. Shanoah the Maine Coon cat stayed nearby Gaby, at times sleeping near/on Gaby’s head. While Gaby slept, Sarah, Catalina and I headed to the Train Station to get tickets to Rome. The Ticket Office (biglietteria) window was closed, we thought for a couple of hours or so. We took photos of ourselves at the train station, bought some drinks at the Tabacci (tobacco store, where you can buy cigarettes, bus tickets and stamps), and then just hung out. Later, it occurred to us the train station was closed (we assumed  the word chiuso meant “closed” – which we were correct). So we decided to walk around, get some gelato and window shop.

Catalina and me at the Trani Train Station.

Outside the Train Station in Trani, Italy.

Trani citta slow = Trani the slow city.

Trani is like a Rodeo Drive/Beverly Hills kind of place. There are dozens of high-end shops filled with clothes, shoes, pocket-books, watches, sunglasses and accessories of all kinds. Mostly clothes, though. All around are masses of beautifully-dressed (mostly thin) people carrying shopping bags. Catalina is amazed at how well all the men dress – shoes, shirts, jewelry, slacks. No baggy clothes hanging below their hineys, no floppy and wrinkled Abercrombie shirts and rarely jeans. It’s so different. The women, too, are thin and dressed to the nines, all pointed and perfected from their hair to jewelry to clothes and shoes. I’ve noticed how the men, women and children have such specific accents with defined inflections, that sound like, “Vorrei COMPRARE un bel REGALO per il mio AMICO.” (Read this statement and draw out the vowels of the capitalized words, giving much emphasis to the vowels, especially the ones at the end.) It’s charming.

We were captivated by the mannequins.

Sparkly shoes.

Later we went out at night, just to walk around again, this time focusing on shopping and getting gelato.