Day 31: super long morning

view from the ferry room . . .

Our ferry left the port on time but for some reason we arrived an hour late . . . which meant we arrived in a town at 10:35 PM last night and without a hotel reservation or any knowledge of a hotel . . . bad planning on our part. So what were we to do? Get in the car and drive back to Germany . . . sounds easy doesn't it? Well, what was suppose to be a 5 hour drive turned into over 7. Needless to say we were exhausted when we arrived home and poor Alex drove the entire way. Colin was a real trooper since I know sleeping in a booster seat is not very comfortable . . . only one 'moment' where he needed some love and back on the road we went. At one point we spent an hour going through major road construction and took the exact same wrong turn twice and almost three times . . . I tell you when you are driving that late and with that many trucks on the road you make silly mistakes.

Along the way we realized that between the two of us we had less than 15 euro and still had to pay the Italy tolls which would be about 35 euro . . . hmmm, so not easy to find a cash machine in the middle of the night and we debated if they would take credit card. After making three unsuccessful detours, we held out that they would take credit cards . . . Alex was much more optimistic than me and she was right. We laughed about it and knew that both of our parents would be less than thrilled that we set out with that little cash. Yes, I know . . . lesson learned!

The rest of the day I spent packing and getting ready to head to the hotel for the night . . . we fly tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn so wish us luck that the return flight will be as easy as the departure and that Colin will be just as good . . . I know he is SO ready to see Papa!

Guess I need to get some sleep . . . have only had 4 hours in the last 36 hours and a super long day ahead of us tomorrow . . . see you on the other side of the pond!

Day 30: good-bye Sardinia

Today is our last day in Sardinia . . . while I did enjoy myself, it is not a place that I have a desire to return . . . okay so I would but would go to a different part of the island. We loaded up the car and headed back to the port in Olbia to board the ferry back to Italy.

Old church in the middle of nowhere/somewhere . . . it was really beautiful inside and it always amazes me how Europe has such beautiful churches.

waiting to board the ferry . . . this one was HUGE compared to the ferry we took over to Sardinia and this time we have a room with a window!

Good-Bye Sardinia . . .

Day 29: more beach

We came up with a plan with Colin . . . one girl activity and one boy activity . . . it really did work well. This morning we spent some time in Alghero visiting the sights and shopping (girl activity) and the afternoon at the beach, mini golf, and pool (boy activity). It was by far the nicest beach and clearest water we had seen this trip but it was windy and a little cold for me but you know kids and water! Oh and it did not help when I was helping build a sandcastle that Colin dumped a big bucket of ice cold water down my back . . . I mean talk about take your breath away. By the end of the day Colin had purple lips and was way tired.

Day 28: changing locations

After much thought, we decided to change apartments . . . I guess I am getting a little tired of the 'off the beaten path' travel. While we really did enjoy the great location of the apartment and lack of tourist, we decided to depart early and head north to explore the island a little more especially since we keep hearing how amazing the beaches are in the north.

Out came the travel book to see what was between Portoscuso and Alghero. Since I have spent a lot time dragging Colin to museums and him telling me, "no more museums" . . . we decided that exploring some ruins might be nice. It was my day to drive and man were the roads curvy but the views were nice. Since I do try and be a nice mommy, we made a short stop in Bosa so Colin could play in the water and beach . . . that was short lived as it was really windy and big waves and I was not in a swimsuit. He was less than happy and right before he got out swallowed a huge mouth of water . . . talk about major gagging but maybe next time he will listen when it is time to get out.

We spent some time wandering around Tharros which was nice.

The new hotel is okay . . . I bet in the 70s or 80s it was hopping BUT the shower works so we are happy tourists again. Colin loves that it has a pool and a mini golf course. Once again for dinner it was pizza and eis . . . tonight's flavor was Belgian Chocolate and it was super rich. And just a few weeks ago I made an off hand comment that I thought I would not gain much weight this trip . . . and then I remembered the food of Italy and Germany are so my weaknesses.

Day 27: another island

This location is starting to grow on me . . . I mean the town isn't that bad but it really is isolated and not much to do so we decided to find the ferry to another island off the coast. The Island of San Pietro was recommended but had low expectations since the same person recommended other places that we were less than impressed with so we decided to give it a go. As we walked out the door, our nice sunny day turned to very windy and cool . . . not the best weather to take a ferry but it was Sunday so we were sticking to our plan. It was a less than ideal ride but our first impression of the city was great. We once again arrived around rest time . . . but several shops were still open since it was a tourist area . . . found a very nice store that had all handmade, local artist goods . . . love supporting local artist so bought a few things. After a few hours of strolling around we boarded a larger ferry back to Portoscuso. Today I had pistachio and coconut ice cream . . . coconut was YUMMY! It was a nice low key day of hanging out and enjoying our area.

Day 26: out and about

I am going to start by complaining . . . the one thing that I look forward to after spending time at the beach is a shower . . . nothing like getting all the sand and grit out of every crack of your body . . . well, that has not been possible with the shower at the apartment we are staying at . . . I mean it takes forever to get it off and then the water is 'recycled' from the sea so you can imagine how counter productive the process is.

Today we ventured to the 'big' island, Sant' Antioco, off the coast of Sardinia. Doesn't that sound funny? In my opinion it really isn't an island since there is a causeway that connects them but whatever. We arrived at the town during 'siesta' and this town completely shuts down . . . nothing is open even the grocery store closed for 3-4 hours. So we decided to go on a search for a beach . . . it was super windy today. We found many beaches and twice we convinced Colin that we should keep looking . . . he was not impressed at having to get back in the car but finally we found a sandy beach with only a few people so we backed the car up and had a couple hours of fun. Colin never noticed the topless lady laying in the sun but he so clinged to a fisherman and his family. One thing I have noticed while here is the Italians love children and are so sweet to them. Yesterday Colin was building sand castles and an older man got up and went to help him. I tell you he really loves the attention. Today I noticed him walking towards me with a banana . . . the fisherman's family had them and they gave him one . . . the mom came over to ask if it was okay. Again so kind the people have been . . . oh and the pizza and gelato (ice cream) have been fantastic too . . . today I had pistachio; YUMMY!

Day 25: beach or bust

So we arrived in Sardinia and the overnight ferry was really great . . . Colin loved it too especially his bunk bed he slept in most of the night. I think I need to find another island to take one of these ferries to next summer; maybe Sicily? Yes, already planning for next summer, LOL.

Now the real adventure was trying to get from the port of Olbia (northeast) to Portoscuso (southwest) . . . no easy task especially when the navigation system in the car tells us that it will take us 12 hours to go 300 kilometers. Finally after much frustration trying to figure out the directions and from a not so cooperative, very tired little boy in the back seat, we finally made it. We met the lady who was giving us the key to the apartment . . . very nice lady but here are some funny tidbits from the first day in town . . .

--We asked the owner what would be considered a local souvenir? canned tuna fish . . . I did not know whether to laugh or if she was that serious. Of course there were many other questions and answers like this . . . I could not look at Alex because I knew I would bust out laughing.

-- After a 5 minute introduction to to the new local digital tv that is being tested in the area due to under population she asked us, "do you speak Italian?" We both answered NO and were told that there is BBC somewhere on here but not sure where and oh this is the Italian Radio station. After she left I decided to scan the channels . . . there were only three and no BBC.

--She warned us there might not be any cold water . . . thought that was odd since all water is cold. The explanation was that the hot water was good but the pipes that carry the cold water to the house are under the street and since it is so warm the street heats that water. Really? There is less water dripping out of the shower than I can spit . . . I mean seriously . . . so I decided there was no sense to even attempt washing my hair.

--There is a beach less that 200 meters from our apartment so we decided to take the little boy to the beach since we have been telling him for two weeks we are headed to the beach . . . we arrive and are the only Americans/Germans there . . . all locals and we were so very white compared to the others . . . I could so see all the eyes staring but never did feel uncomfortable. One old lady continued to tell me in Italian to take my babies shirt off . . . I put one of those swim sun shirts on so he did not totally sun burn the first day.

I am sure there will be more stories over the coming days but I will say it is really nice to be off the beaten path and not in the middle of the hoards of tourist BUT when one is at a beach you really need a properly functioning shower. Oh well . . . guess who is having the most fun?

Day 24: last adventure begins

Today we started our last adventure of the trip that would take us 24 hour to reach our location . . . our first stop was Pisa, Italy . . . you know every tourist has to take these photos but we were not so successful as someone was less than cooperative.

It was day time when we arrived but as we departed Livorno it was dark . . .

It is a big take the car on ferry because when we woke up we were at the island of Sardinia . . . so where is Sardinia?

I guess it is good to get our bodies ready for the Texas heat . . . but for the next few days we are totally relaxing and enjoying some fun in the sun!