“Tranincorsa “is the name of the big race that took place here Sunday morning.  It was a half marathon that attracted about 1.500 people from all over Italy; and we could watch it from our window (if we leaned out a bit).  The music (OK–the loud music from the clubs and the piazza, has been a problem for us in this place) started at 8:00 am. Loud.  With an announcer. So we got dressed and went down to see the runners taking off, running down the port.  There were lots of clubs running in similar uniforms and many age groups.  There weren’t any really young kids because there were races for them the day before. We went to get our coffee and to walk around and immediately it began to rain.  Light weight travel umbrellas work fine except when the wind whips around the corner.  I thought mine was dead a few times but it’s now dry and OK.  We made it to the duomo just damp, hung out a little, and then watched the runners a bit more.  Cool sight seeing them running by in their new neon shoes outside of a church that was built around 1100.

And I loved how they were so supportive of each other.  I caught this guy offering his hand to another runner just behind him.  And all along the route you heard cries of “Dai”  (come on!)  and Forza!

The duomo is really interesting in the essentially complete absence of art inside the beautiful building.  The beauty is in the local Trani Tufa stone that was used to build it so many hundreds of years ago.  

We got pretty wet by the end of the walk and decided to lay low for a while.

It stopped raining in the late afternoon and we went for a nice stroll in the nearby park. Ken is thinking a lot about the ancient engineering of the arcs, like this one:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The views are really nice and there’s a definite air of celebration in town.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We don’t know if it’s from the race or because it’s officially “Festa die Nonni”, grandparents day, or just a normal Sunday, but there are lots of people out and about and lots of families.

It kind of reached its peak around 9:00–under our window were just hordes of well dressed people of all ages, strolling.  Was it a special passegiatta?  Is it like this every Sunday?  We just don’t know.