the agriturismo (farm holiday) has boomed in the last 10 years in Italy, mainly because of a lot of requests for affordable accomodations and some helping legislation. Now, the original farm holiday (guest rooms in a building inside a working farm) covers almost everything, from an apartment in a small town to a restored barn or a renaissace castle. The only thing they share is agriturismo hasn't a traditional hotel service (concierge, bar, room service etc). Some of them are self-catering, others offer B& B or half/full board; the simple ones are just a room or an apartment, while others have pools, horse riding and excursions. A word of caution: while I've been happy many times at agriturismos, you have to be careful in making your choice. Some things could spoil you fun, like being in line of sight with a noisy motorway, having poor heating in winter, being stuck out of the world at the end of a dirt road etc. My suggestion is to check as many details as possible, cross-referencing with as many websites as you can, writing to the owners and asking questions etc. Needless to say what looks wonderful on the Internet (or a tourist agency catalog, for what it's worth) sometimes can be a delusion when you see it face to face. if you find some informations in Italian you're not sure you understand correctly, just ask the Zine and I and my fellow countrymen will be happy to help. About John's specific question about allergies I'm sorry but it's out of my field of expertise; I know the blossoming time (April-May) is a hard one, but maybe our friend Leonardo, who's both a Ziner and a MD, has a professional opinion to share. And for GTG in Italy, I'm more than happy to meet any Ziner, but I'm located a bit out of hand here in the Northeast, as the closest big tourist spot is Venice, 150 km west of here. Bye

Paolo Trieste, Italy