Coast along

We’ve been here before, in full backpacker mode a few decades ago, viewing the southern Italian city of Bari fleetingly before catching a ferry towards the Greek island of Corfu.

Subsequent shifts in borders and international geopolitics have now added Croatia, Montenegro and Albania to the destinations reached from Bari’s terminal, but instead of segueing immediately from a four-hour train journey from Rome onto an overnight ferry, we’re embarking on a road trip around Italy’s southeastern region of Puglia.

Tightly arrayed on a compact peninsula and framed by the city’s old and new ports, Byzantine, Romanesque and Norman influences all combine in Bari in a collage of tree-shaded plazas, an imposing castle, and more than