Trani. So laid back, fiercely hot in the southern Italian sun, languid and confident in its place in history. Its working harbour is like San Tropez’s front on tranqs, no flash cars, no posers.

Trani, Apulia

Trani Harbour

It’s very pleasant to relax by the sea in this small Apulian harbour after a day’s sight-seeing the lovely medieval churches and hospital that formed the base for the early crusaders as they travelled back and forth to the Levant. All is so well preserved in the intense summer heat.

The Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Pilgrim is magnificent.

St. Nicholas the Pilgrim

Started in 1099, it was completed by about 1200. It is made of the local soft pink stone which gives the Cathedral its warm hue in the evening light. The bell tower is the show-stopper. It stands on an arched platform which looks incapable of carrying that tremendous weight. It is a testament to its makers that this beautiful fragile building has stood the test of time.

I wonder if the builders had to cope with the plethora of organisational folk that we have in the modern age: project managers, progress chasers and monitors, prince methodologists. I wonder if they had to cope with the endless stultifying meetings and byzantine decision-making processes that constipate organisational life and kill creativity.

Bell Tower

I wonder if those medieval workers left their discreet marks somewhere on the stonework to show their defiance, as we do in the modern age, against the tirade of abuse that can reign down on you from pumped-up kick-ass higher-ups.

I’m not sure what all this misplaced energy achieves but at least for me, it’s in the past. I’m taking in the view, sipping my coffee and dozing a bit as time passes, just watching the world go by and working out what to be as a grown up.

It will soon be time to go home to my place by the sea and catch up on my veggie boxes, and the café on the beach. I wonder what’s been going on since I started my travels, and whether I can summon up the energy to start the book.