What a lovely little break!!
Biagio, Mima and Luca have done a lovely job renovating the Trullo. From first contacting Luca on Air BnB to Biagio collecting us from the airport the Guarini family were friendly and ran an efficient operation!
We paid for Biagio and his friend Giuseppe to pick us from the airport for our five person party. They were there prompt, on time and waiting for us in the arrival hall. When we got to the trullo, Mima had prepared us a wonderful delicious cold meal spread. It included a selection of cheeses, cold meats, bread, cooked aubergines and artichokes as well as an artichoke tart, mince stuffed aubergines and more than enough local wine. However the star of the show was her Apple Cake.
Biagio and Luca had also arranged for us to hire a car which they had waiting outside the trullo when we got there! Biagio is a charming man and was more than helpful explaining how the pellet fire worked and Mima gave us the thorough lowdown of our meal and how all the kitchen appliances worked.
The trullo is well placed to visit the towns of Alberobello, Ostuni and Martina Franca and we made it to the beach at poligano a mare, the harbour of monopoli and the casttelana caves quite easily despite a few wrong turns on the unfamiliar Italian roads! It is worth noting you do need a car to make the most of the Itria Valley, even though we took the train for a day trip to Lecce.
However make sure you don't get the two different stations Cisternino (on a different train line and a good few kilometres north of the trullo) and Cisternino Cittia (walking distance from the trullo to the station) mixed up like we did! The lines are also run by two different rail companies and the train conductor didn't like us paying the fare to the rival train company instead! The other thing of note should be the Trullo patio is rather popular with the Cisternino cat population; they're of great entertainment but maybe not the best if you have a cat allergy!
The whole trip was wonderful, thanks Luca, Biagio and Mima for a wonderful holiday!!