Weekend #1

You like 9-5, I’m the weekend :) We kept the good times rollling this weekend, as we hustled and bustled all around the west coast of Sardinia and even some islands. I understand that those verbs may sound a bit aggressive, but 4 boxy land rovers were revved up and ready to go at 8:30 Friday morning. We loaded up and locked in, embarking on our journey to the Sulcis region. Our first stop was Porto Flavia, an old mine overlooking the ocean. We learned about impressive mining technology and the unfortunate fate of Cesare Veceilli, the brillant Italian engineer. Motorcycles are dangerous kids; you do not want your daughter to wind up alone in a nursing home without any claim to a mine bearing her name. Anyhoo, we boarded our jeeps once again and headed to the shore for lunch: squid ink pasta with prawns and mussels for the first course and fried shrimp and calamari for the second. I am still questioning this planning, but after lunch we went off reading for about an hour to reach the largest desert in Europe. Yes, it was rough on the old tummy, but a singing along to a skipping track of “Eye of the Tiger” and some “Your Love” got me through it. It was beautiful by the way. At night, we travelled to the countryside and stayed at the agriturismo, where we made our own pasta and desserts, and I had one of the best meals of my life. Completely homemade Italian dinner, simply amazing (sorry Dad). 

In the morning, we headed off to visit a cave. Here I learned that my life is merely a centimeter of a stalagmite, and engineers study with their heads but archeologists use their hearts. Looks like I have to switch my major now. Then we headed to San Piedro island. It was so cute and beautiful, and there were flamingos! It has everything: beaches, mountains, friendly cats and amazing food. We watched the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen, I could not even take a picture to give it justice. Once again, we all had dinner together in typical three hour Italian style, full of great memories of course. 

Sunday we went on a light-medium hike which culminated in a few cuts on my hands and a slit down the fabric of my right sneaker. Don’t worry, we all went for a swim in the little cove at the bottom, so it was worth it. Some “light” hike though. We hiked back up and headed for the beach where we soaked up some sun and had the most incredible picnic. The extensive cheeseboard and locally-grown produce set a pretty high bar above the Jax and Gatorade I used to bring to Carson. Don’t worry mom, I only got slightly toasted. It’s alright though, we headed back on the ferry, this time to Carloforte, where I cooled down with some gelato. Finally, we made like JJ’s at closing and wrapped it up, went home.

 

TL,DR:  I am full of carbs, at this point, all of the bread, pasta and lack of running has me feeling more stuffed than a twice-baked potato. It’s all good though because I like potatoes and I like to have fun. Sardinia is very fun and full of very yummy food, and everyone should come visit.