Holiday in Sardinia - Part 1

We left Milan on a Sunday afternoon to catch the ferry scheduled to depart at 10pm. It was only a 1.5 hour drive to the port in Genova. The sun was setting as we joined the queue of cars waiting to board the ferry.

Before long the ferry arrived and it was huge! We estimated about 800 cars waiting to board. We were directed up the ramp into the parking area in a fairly orderly way. The cars are packed so close that there was barely any space to move between the cars to get to the stairway.

We made sure to remember where we parked and then went to look for our seats. All the sleeping cabins were sold out when Stef had tried to buy tickets a month before. I was told that ferry tickets in August had to be purchased in March. It turned out the seats were pretty uncomfortable. No wonder most people opted for just the passage ticket instead. Everywhere you looked, you could see people spreading out their sleeping bags to settle in for the night. On the stairway, waiting areas, hallways... Someone even had an air mattress. It just looked much more comfortable than the seats we had to pay extra for. I vowed next time we would set up a small tent so we could sleep comfortably!

Ten hours later, I was rubbing my sleepy eyes as we pulled into the port of Olbia. We had arrived. It was 8am in the morning. We stopped to check in at our agriturismo in Luogosanto, and then left to visit the town of Santa Theresa on the north tip of the island.

I was amazed to see the clear and bright blue water of the sea at the rocky Capo Testa. Sardinia is known for it's exceptionally clear blue water. The weight of the sand sinks to the bottom leaving just crystal clear water.

We spent the afternoon napping at a sandy beach nearby. Not bad for our first day on the island!

Catching Up

I haven't posted in ages! I want to blame in on our lack of internet access in Milan, but I can't. We still don't have broadband internet access at home, but that's no excuse. It's been 2 weeks since we got home from Sardinia. This is our second weekend at Stef's family house in Sondrio. Fall has definitely arrived here in the mountains. I wasn't quite prepared last weekend and had to layer up since I didn't really bring any warm clothes.

We had spent part of last weekend doing chores around the house. There was lots to be done since we had been away for 3 weekends and Stef is the 'man of the house' here. His mum had written a list: fix window, clean and install pipe for the woodstove, fix Tata's (the dog) doghouse, pick apples from the trees in the backyard, and cut the grass. I helped some. ;-)

We also visited his sister and two nephews, Luca and baby Federico. Federico is still the cutest little thing. Stef is very proud of him, happily pointing out how Federico has his uncle's blue eyes, ears, shape of his head, and of course he would have his uncle's intelligence too. haha.

We also found time before our big Sunday family lunch to go riding on the bicycle trail that passes through the valley. This is actually a really nice trail, spanning almost 45 kilometers, so that you could go on a 90km bike ride without having the share the road with motorists (except for a couple short sections, I was told). I really enjoyed the beautiful fall weather then.

Which brings us to this Saturday. We woke up this morning to rainy weather, so we're pretty much staying inside all day. I studied some Italian, ate lunch (spaghetti con vongole and fritata con papate) and here I am taking advantage of the broadband internet access.

I just uploaded a picture. Look who's making silly faces while picking apples. It was hard to reach all the apples so he used the 'shaking technique' a.k.a. grab on to the tree and shake it as hard as you can. I was skeptical but it worked!

In Vacanza

Hello there from the island of Sardinia.  This is our 4th day here, and it feels like we've done a lot, including lots of down time on the beach.  It's beautiful here!  We're staying at a bed & breakfast outside of Palau, which is on the northern tip of the island.  We have this amazing view of the bright blue sea and the coast of Corsica (the nearby French island) from our window.  Ahhhh... bliss... 

I'll write more and post pictures when we get back.  Tomorrow we head to Alghero to see some friends Stefano met at the sailing school in Caprera.