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Best Bits Luxury Villa Review: Trullo Gauro in Ostuni, Italy

A trullo house in puglia

How lucky can one girl get!  I swear it could not have gotten any better. It was the height of luxury and I never wanted to come down.  One of my dearest friends was spending four weeks in Europe this summer with her family, traipsing through Austria, Germany and Italy. My luck was that I invited myself along to join them in a luxury villa in Puglia.  

A trullo house in puglia

No, I didn’t have any hand in the planning! Yes, I may have agreed when asked if Puglia were the perfect choice for a short July break. Yes, I may have hinted that I had five days free to spend time with them. But I promise, it was my friend’s dream to stay in a trullo and that’s the reason why I found myself by the pool eating orrechietti at the divinely luxurious Trullo Gauro!

⭐ Best Bit – Don’t miss a special recipe below directly from Puglia!

I could have never expected what I was in for when I got off the slow, stop-everywhere, second-class train from Bari.  The Ostuni train station was less than inviting and I was the only one who got off.  My friends were there in their SUV to greet me and we crammed inside for the 15 minute ride back to their pad. Following along a rather nondescript road, I hoped to catch a glimpse of the sea, but, alas, no sea was seen.

Trullo Exterior


However, the land on either side of the road was overgrown with fantastically shaped olive trees. Thank goodness it wasn’t dark out yet, or I would have mistaken them for the infamous Benandanti (italian medieval ghosts) of old. Turning into a tiny driveway and through a metal gate, we were here and what a place!

A trullo is a little stone hut that the Italian farmers of the southern region of Puglia used to reside in.  Many of them have been all gussied up and Trullo Guara is apex of the bunch. Hidden nearby the small town of Ceglie Messapica, a foodie hotspot, and close-ish to Brindisi airport, this special place is practically perfect.

My friends chose it from the many choices on the ThinkPuglia website and what a stunner it was.

Trullo - Puglia Food


We arrived just in time for dinner and after a quick dip were treated to a selection of local treats by the home-grown cook, Vitalba.  I learned that stracciatella, isn’t just the name of chocolate-chip ice cream in Italian, but also a creamy burrata-like cheese.  

Barley Salad with lemon, tomato and arugula, pastas with all difference kinds of sauces, eggplant parmesan, spinach and meat pies…the list of amazing foods we were being stuffed with went on and on. Every night brought us a different menu.  

Only the peach-dunked rosé was a constant, oh, and also the very, very dangerous home-brewed Latte Limoncello.

After five days,  I left much tanner and heavier than I came and that is pure luxury.

For all those who need to know more about Latte Limoncello, here is the recipe I begged Vitalba for:

Latte Limoncello

Latte Limoncello

Prep Time: 1 day
Total Time: 1 day

It's so simple to make and tastes so good, this recipe is directly from the villa!

Ingredients

  • 300g sugar
  • 600g skimmed milk
  • 250g Pure Alcohol 95% proof: Cinque Stelle in Italy, Everclear in the USA, or Waitrose Vodka in the UK
  • Peel from 4 unwaxed lemons, Sicilian if you can get them!

Instructions

  1. Peel the lemons and put them in a jug
  2. Add all of the other ingredients
  3. Mix well
  4. Let it sit for 24 hours
  5. Drink!

Disclosure: As I stated above, I was the guest of people who rented through Think Puglia.  I loved it so much that I called Think Puglia to tell them I had to write this post.  They provided me with a few of the photos above.

9 thoughts on “Best Bits Luxury Villa Review: Trullo Gauro in Ostuni, Italy

  1. Ryan Zieman says:

    That cover photo is breathtaking! I haven’t made it out to Italy and it’s at the top of my list for this next year living in Europe. I will definitely look into Puglia.

      • Ad Pugliam says:

        Well we are able to arrange tours in Puglia in which we allow guests to really appreciate the Apulian way of life by meeting locals, visiting producers of our superb foods and wines during our gourmet tours, discovering from the most renowned to the best hidden places, spectacular views and even practising everyone’s cooking skills through cooking classes held in local Masseria.
        What makes all of this truly special is our passion and knowledge of the region, plus a dose of cool weather during most of the year…
        It would be amazing to put togheter a small group of Best Bits readers to travel to Puglia with us!

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