There was a little trepidation as this was the first time my family have been over to visit after three years of seeing the photographs and hearing the long drawn out saga of the purchase and the building works. You know the sort of thing: I hope they like it, I hope the weather holds, I hope the flights are on time, etc.
As it turned out all went as well as I could hope for. Jane and Sarah gritted their teeth, forsook their cleansing lotions and unguents and went hand luggage only which helped a lot. We flew out Friday night, Ryanair Standsted to Bari, picked up the hire car and went straight to Locorotondo, walked through the town and got to the restaurant Centro Storico about 10:15 pm for a late supper.
Rear view of Trulli
Saturday morning was the usual flurry of workmen. Daniele's collaborator, Stefano, arrived to oversee the locksmith, the heating engineer and the blacksmith. Meanwhile we awaited delivery of the last piece of furniture - a cabinet for the bathroom.
Blacksmith fitting Pizza Oven door
Mary stayed behind while I took the rest over to see Alberobello, a whole town of Trulli. Then back for lunch on our new dining table. After a siesta we took them in to see Cisternino, our other local town, and settled up with the furniture shop. We went back into Cisternino for the evening meal at Osteria Sant'Anna and it lived up to all that we had told them about it.
Jane, Mark, Ian, Sarah, Pete, Mary
Sunday morning exceeded the weather forecast so much that we were able to breakfast al fresco. Then it was a trip to the coast for a tour of the archaeological site at Ignazia followed by lunch in a seafood restaurant overlooking the Adriatic. Finally back to the Hovel to pack up and set off for the airport
Sounds like a superb weekend! And the "hovel" is looking wonderful. Must be nice to see your hard work finally coming to fruition.
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