Trani, Italy - Day One

We've been in Italy for one day. I haven't been able to write due to incoherency. Sleep deprivation made me weird(er).

July 28, 2011 - We left Hartford, Connecticut early evening of June 28th on a tiny prop plane. I think Sarah was a little unnerved by the small plane. I read a little and drew a little on the plane while Catalina and Gaby chatted with each other. Catalina took photos of the small plane itself. She was amazed with it. It brought us to Montreal successfully, though quite late.

Getting through customs and making our connection was going to be iffy..so I flagged down a gentleman driving one of those go-carts for disabled folks and he drove us to customs. Thank goodness, it was a LONG walk. Really long. The gentleman had a lovely French accent and was wonderfully accommodating and nice. Customs Agent took a long look at Gaby's passport. She looks significantly more grown-up nowadays, while her passport was taken a few years ago. Not sure what would've happened if she wasn't able to get through customs.

On the connecting flight, I sat next to an Italian woman who had finished up a cinematography project in NYC. She was put out at having to travel economy class, and sad about leaving New York, but her visa had run out. She made me feel awkward several times as I had finished up a sentence, but she continued to stare at me for several seconds directly in the eyes without acknowledging what I had just said. "What you do?" she asked me. "Graphic design," I replied. No response of any kind, just quiet staring. I adjusted in my seat. It occurred to me to pretend I had something wrong with me just so she'd stop staring.

July 29, 2011 - I slept for a couple hours on the plane. I peeked out at Spain, France and the Mediterranean and then Italy as we flew over. I couldn't believe what I saw, it just didn't seem real. The sea was brilliant blue, not like going to the islands, but a nice cerulean blue, that made me think it was clean and healthy. Flying over Europe the landscape was a patchwork of farms. I saw clusters of towns, but it seemed that there was mostly agricultural lands - which surprised me. Already I saw the beauty.

Sue Ewing met us at the airport. A trooper, that Sue. She had stayed overnight in Rome, and met us outside baggage claim where we piled our bags and bodies in her BMW wagon. It was nice to see a friendly familiar face first thing. We drove through the amazing Italian landscape, from just north of Rome toward the Adriatic Sea to a town called Trani. We stopped at a couple of Autogrills on the Autostrata. First we needed something to drink then later we got some pizza, baguettes with mozzarella (sandwich) and esprino fredos - I LOVE ESPINO FREDOS - Coffee-creamy-cold (kinda like ice cream) served in small cups. Very yummy. The drive to Trani was 4 hours. A long drive, but all throughout we saw small farms, lots of agricultural areas, old abandoned stone buildings, lots of windmills and finally beautiful hills and mountains. We passed Mount Vesuvius.

Sue and Rick's apartment is gorgeous. Trani is gorgeous. It's a "spiagia" (beach) city with lots of high-end shops and old buildings. We walked a few minutes to the beach and stayed a bit. Then off to have a coffee. Again, more espino fredos. Later we had small thin pizzas (diablo, vegetable, 4 cheese, margherita). The Ewings have two cats, I've only really seen their Maine Coon cat named Shanoah. Below are photos of the Ewings' balcony, looking towards the beach; Shanoah the Maine Coon cat, and an amazing sunset outside yet another balcony outside the kitchen.