Today we woke up in Barletta, in a wasteland right in front of a church. The place wasn't exactly a spa of silence: trains passing by, bells marking time as if there was no tomorrow… but hey, we slept pretty well. I, at least, slept like a log. When you travel, you sleep where you can, this isn't a five-star hotel.

In the morning we got in the car and entered the traffic of Barletta. Chaotic is an understatement. It was more disordered than a group of cats trying to agree on crossing the street. Even so, we managed to park near the centre, almost touching the coast, and we set off to explore on foot.

The old town is one of those that looks like a maze made without a plan. Narrow streets, buildings with history and a lot of life. A lot. Clothes hanging everywhere, full balconies, people talking from one end of the street to the other… very lively, nothing like a set.

We entered through the Porta Marina, which is like an old door that welcomes you to the good mess. Then we saw the Colosso of Barletta, a huge statue of a very serious Roman gentleman, who seemed to be watching over the whole neighbourhood. I looked at him for a while to see if he moved, but no. Very still. Suspicious.

We also passed by the Basilica Cattedrale Santa Maria Maggiore, which is large, solid and looks like it's been there all its life watching dogs like me go by. I didn't go in, but it was already quite imposing from the outside.

We continued wandering aimlessly, which is the best way to see these places. And we arrived at the castle of Barletta. It's inside a kind of very nice park… where dogs are not welcome. That's very ugly. So we saw it from outside the fence. I did what I could, which was to look with a face of “this is mine too”, but it didn't work.

Afterwards we went back to the car and headed towards the coast. We stopped for a while at the beach and there, yes, moment of maximum happiness. I ran like crazy, turning around, accelerating for no reason, braking sharply… the typical thing. More turns than a dog chasing its own tail, but in a professional version.

Then we continued going down towards the southeast. Near Giovinazzo we stopped again, ate and rested a little in the camper. I took the opportunity for a quick nap, which is always welcome.

We went through Bari and it was time to refuel. And here comes the drama of the day. Diesel is very expensive, about €2.20 a litre, and we've seen it even worse. According to Papi Edu, it's the fault of wars and important human problems. I don't understand much about that, but I do know that paying that to fill the tank hurts more than stepping on a stone barefoot.

We found a petrol station at €1.99, but there was no diesel left. Wonderful. In the end we found another one on the SS16 at the same price. Mission accomplished, but with suffering.

It was already late, but we still wanted to see one more thing: Polignano a Mare. We parked near the centre, in a paid but reasonable area, and went to explore. The place is amazing. White houses hanging directly over a cliff, right above a cove of blue water. Very spectacular.

The town has small streets, very close together, full of souvenir shops and restaurants. Lots of people, lots of movement. It looked like Venice… but without canals, without gondolas and with more ice cream parlours. Very touristy, yes, but we still liked it. It has that nice point that compensates for the chaos.

We spent more than an hour walking around, looking at corners and dodging people, and then we went back to the car. We moved away a little from the coast and went up towards the interior, to a picnic area near Cisternino.

We arrived at night, so no views. We know there's a viewpoint, but we'll see it tomorrow. There's another camper, people coming and going, it's not super quiet, but it doesn't bother us either.

So here we are. Parked, with the day already done and ready to sleep. Tomorrow we have to wake up and see what's out there… that with a bit of luck will be something more interesting than an iron tree in the middle of a boat.