Internet cafes were not very much in evidence in Sardinia - or at least we didn't really go looking for them, hence the lack of an update while we were away!
We had a lovely relaxing holiday. After my last update, we picked up the car (a silver Lancia) and drove from Cagliari up to Baia Sardinia at the very top of the island. The drive was pretty straightforward - the main roads are very good and it was easy to find our way up there with minimal maps! Middle of the island was very hilly with lots of greenery. Motorway went as far as Olbia, the main town in the north east and then the roads were a bit smaller (and windier!) until Baia Sardinia.
Baia Sardinia is a resort that's in the Costa Smeralda area - some towns in the area, especially Porto Cervo, are very posh and are seen as the Monte Carlo of Sardinia. We just visited for a drink one morning, and sadly got around to shopping just when all the boutiques had closed for siesta! Probably just as well...
Highlight of the visit was a trip out to the Maddelena Islands on a boat. We drove to Palau where quite a few of the cruise ships and charter boats are moored, touting for custom. We initially put our names down for one boat, but then realised that there were going to be over 100 people on this boat, and so we ended up on a much smaller boat with four other passengers and Pietro, the skipper. There was a lovely area on top of the boat for us to lounge around and get sunburnt (in my case). The four other passengers were two Italian couples our age. We visited a couple of beaches and had a gorgeous three course lunch with antipasti, pasta, fruit and Mirto, the Sardinian spirit to finish off with! We also visited a beach with pink sand - well it was actually normal white sand but with little pink organisms in it. Very lovely! It was quite a long day - Pietro was a bit of a character and seemed to spend the whole day visiting his mates! But the sea was gorgeous.
We also saw the Maltese Falcon, the world's largest (and newest) privately owned yacht. We'd seen it in the distance a couple of times with all three sails in full expanse, looking a bit like a Chinese junk. But we managed to get up close to it on this trip and had a good look. A Google search later on revealed that the yacht belongs to Tom Perkins, who used to work for Hewlett Packard and was once married to Danielle Steele. It was a truly beautiful vessel - would love to go on it one day (in my dreams...)
After four nights in Baia Sardinia, we drove back down the island to Villasimius, in the wilder south east. We thought that the landscape was much more like Australia and New Zealand - the road down there was very windy and the beaches were much more suited to surfing that lounging. We tried to lounge on the beach a couple of times (didn't even try to swim!) and were nearly blown away! It was fascinating though.
Our last night we stayed in Cagliari again, in a lovely B&B in the heart of the old town. We'd gorged ourselves on seafood most of the week, but for our last night asked our B&B owner to recommend a place which specialised in suckling pig, a Sardinian delicacy. He directed us to a place just down the road (can't remember the name but will add it) which was a gastronomic delight! More food than we could ever eat - about five different courses with great antipasti, pasta and of course the pig. The amaretti for dessert were also delicious - gorgeous!
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