Tea for Two

Peter's parents got us a 'tea for two' voucher to use at Eastwell Manor  for our second anniversary. Since we took an entire week off for Sardinia but came back on Thursday, we decided to make the most of our time off and enjoy this treat on the Friday. It was so nice coming to this gorgeous estate for a reason. We'd come once before to look at their services as a potential gift for his mum, but otherwise had no reason to come back. It's beautiful, inside and out. I felt so posh sitting in that tea room looking through the pricey menu. We ordered a pot of normal English tea and our voucher came with the finger foods- they were the yummiest sandwiches, cakes and scones! Surprisingly, the cucumber sandwich was my favorite - it was with a dill cream cheese and tasted so good. I've already tried to replicate it. It was a really nice experience; one that I probably wouldn't have ever treated myself to otherwise, so I am very happy to say I've now had a full English tea for two experience!

Beach Day

Day 3 in Alghero:
We woke up around 8.15 and had breakfast around 8.45. I had two cakes...the banana chocolate (two thumbs up!) and course, the ricotta coffee cake. 

We chatted with Bruno during breakfast about his career aspirations then came back to the room and P took a short nap while I got ready/social networked. Then it was on to the grocery store for more water (2L) and a plum = € .47! The funniest man came into the shop, listening to his music singing to all the shoppers in the checkout line! Peter managed to get some of it on video which gave us something to laugh about afterwards. Then it was on to the beach! There were so many beach options, but we ended up settling for a spot pretty close to the main hub. It didn't feel like it, but we stayed there, laid out and reading for nearly 4 hours!!! (I desperately needed that!)

We took a break and walked across the street for another focacceria sandwich and I ordered a coconut gelato in a cone after lunch...yum.We walked slowly through town and into the cathedral while taking tons of pictures. On our way back to the B&B we picked up our bus tickets for the following morning and saved €1 by getting them in advance! (So instead of €3, they were now only €2!!) We got back, took a quick nap, showered and got ready for our fancy dinner at Kings. We still had about €110 left since everything was so much cheaper than we budgeted for, so we decided we would treat ourselves a little tonight and we did. We ate through our basket of bread in no time at all then ordered our mains. In Italy, they have 5 course dinners...(another affirmation that I was secretly supposed to be Italian, haha) so we were kind of confused which number course we should be ordering from!! I ordered the tagliatelle with king prawns, peppers and tomatoes and P ordered the tagliatelle with lobster. Both were so delicious. We ordered Sardinian wine, too - I changed my mind at the last minute and switched from red to white to compliment the seafood - and it did. Both wines were truly amazing. The owner was there, sitting outside with his family and newborn baby girl, showing her off to his customers. We liked him. It was the best dinner, with an incredible view of the waterfront. I would go back in a shot.

 After our perfect dinner, we had a slow walk around town and stopped near the gelato place and couldn't decide what to do next - it was only 9.45. So...we shared two scoops of gelato and sat peacefully outside and just watched. If there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that I really wasn't ready to say goodbye and go back to the cold rain of the UK. It was absolutely the perfect getaway that I would recommend to anyone. We will definitely go back one day, and I already can't wait.

Alghero day 2!

After my first journal entry in Alghero, I wrote a letter to Peter while he slept. 

My sweet meems,
I love traveling with you. I love seeing new things and experiencing brand new adventures with you. I am so happy we found each other and still have our whole lives still to look forward to so many more exciting times ahead. What did I do to become so lucky? You're my best friend; I wouldn't want to be here, and in this moment with anyone else in the world. I love sharing these special moments with you. Thank you for making these adventures possible, and so wonderful. I love you!

Day 2:
This morning, I woke up 10 minutes before our alarm went off. They are doing work on the buildings outside and unfortunately it was pretty loud. We got ready and went into the kitchen for OMG, the best breakfast buffet. Bruno had put out 2 homemade cakes, one was a ricotta coffee crumble and the other was a banana chocolate cake which I didn't actually try (but I will tomorrow). There was an italian couple that seemed really friendly having breakfast - we joined them. I tried a small (so delightful) slice (of heaven!) of the ricotta coffee cake, a small bit of salami and a few slivers of cheese. Then we shared a banana. with black coffee. YUM. Bruno came out and chatted with us for a little bit and he couldn't believe we were about to ride our bikes to the Neptune Grotto. After breakfast we went straight to the information office to make sure the caves were open since the wind had made it difficult the day before. They were open. The man who helped us was so helpful and so friendly. Peter and I both agreed that his voice was really calming and relaxing. He gave us a few maps and pointed out the bike paths. And he suggested a shop to rent the bikes from. We walked there, eventually finding it, and started our ride. My bike had a basket, which I really enjoyed in the end, although it did get really heavy with all my stuff in it. After we got off the bike path, not long after we started, my chain fell off! Course both of our hands were so gross after we put it back on. While I got situated again, Peter ran across the street to find a spot to go pee....when he came back, he had pee all over his shorts!!!! Apparently the leaf he peed on sent it straight back at him!! haha! I guess they don't have palm trees in England!!! ;-) 

It turned out that the entire journey was uphill. It wasn't too bad but it did feel like it took us forever. I loved the views and the temperature. We stopped off at the panoramic view point just before the Grotto for a few snapshots and had some fruit and pistachios. We ended up seeing the couple who sat next to Peter on the airplane which was funny. They also ended up on the same Grotto tour as us.

When we made it to the Grotto, we had to walk down 35 flights of stairs to get to the caves. It was the most beautiful walk!

The caves were pretty spectacular though maybe not €26 worth. But it was fun and really stunning. They date to 3 billion years ago which is amazing. Then after our tour was the death walk back up the stairs (don't forget we'd just ridden 15 miles up hill to get there!). It went quick though. We stopped off at the shop for a water and a coke before our ride back. The ride back was also a lot quicker (obv) and we ended up stopping at some ruins to have a quick look. After returning our bikes, we could barely walk - haha. We made the walk back, super slowly, showered, had a quick chat with Bruno while he ironed, and got ready for our dinner hunt. We took two of Bruno's suggestions; the first was fully booked and so we tried the second and were so happy. The server was so sweet (mind the language barrier) and that makes a huge difference. I ordered a pasta dish with lots of yummy seafood.

After dinner, we walked along the seafront to find Kings (the really nice restaurant we decided to treat ourselves to on our last night) and made reservations for the following evening - again, I practiced making these reservations in Italian for nearly the duration of our walk. They understood English but it's obvious that they appreciate the effort! Then we got gelato. Obviously. We sat, watched the glorious sunset, then went back to our favorite server at the skybar for a drink. Perfect!!

SARDINIA!

A few months ago, when the weather was cold and wet and I was missing home, Peter and I discussed two options to bring sunshine and happiness back into our world:

1. Send me home solo for a dose of sunshine, family and friends, or
2. Find cheap flights in Europe to somewhere warm and within our budget

Since our savings is currently on hold for my next visa application, his "send me home" fund would be coming out of his hard-earned photography account. This is the sweetest offer and I am so lucky for that, but I wouldn't have it. 

We looked at Spain and the South of France for a few weeks but I wasn't really convinced. Honestly I wanted to go even further south for the most sun possible. Malta. Morocco. I would have even said yes to Africa! (That's how desperate I was feeling). 

Then one afternoon I opened my skyscanner alert and saw that the 'lucky dip' that week was to Sardinia. After a quick Google image search, I was convinced and had to make this happen. We worked out dates, got them quickly approved by both of our bosses and booked them. £39.99 round trip, each, Thank you very much. 

We flew from Luton (slightly more out of the way than Gatwick or Heathrow) but we had an early flight so we left early anyway and missed any sign of traffic on the M1. I took my journal with me and wrote in it each night to remember everything we did (and for the purpose of this blog), so I'll swap over for more details.

Day 1:
We made it! This morning was an early one for us. Last night, I packed my little suitcase full of the summer dresses, swimsuits and sandals that I've been so excited to finally wear. This made me so happy and also made for a surprisingly light suitcase, perfect! This morning our alarms started buzzing around 3am, I was out of bed around 3.15 and we were out the door by 4. We got to Luton quicker than anticipated - 5.30 so we parked on the road and waited for a half and hour since our car park ticket wasn't scheduled to start until 6. After parking and getting out of the car, I was in shock at how cold it was outside. I'm not joking, I was shivering. Once in the airport, I had my special security check (non-EU) and we headed to security where we felt like we were attached to a ball and chain in the endlessly long zig-zagged line. We grabbed a coffee and headed to our gate once we were through. On the plane, we sat in row 23 and Peter let me have the window seat. When we came above the clouds and into sunshine and blue sky (this sounds really dramatic, I know, but...) I literally got emotional. Peter slept during the flight and I was relaxed and warm with the sun on my shoulder. When we landed in Alghero, we realized the ticket machine wasn't working to print out bus tickets. Looking back now, this was our ONLY bad experience in the entire 3 days we were there. At the bus stop, I stood and quickly learned how to say "two single tickets to Via Catalogna please," in Italian. Go me! Only, when I tried to pay for the tickets, the driver was obviously annoyed and frustrated with something. Since I was only second in line, I couldn't figure out why. It was after watching him have the same reaction to a handful of others that I quickly realized what it was. Our tickets came to €3 and I paid with a €5 note. Apparently he was trying to tell me that he wanted me to pay in change because he didn't have enough spare change himself. Annoyingly, I thought he was trying to tell me that each ticket was €3 so when I offered him another €5 (equaling €10 now!) he took it!! And only gave me €2 back! After I realized the tickets were in fact only €3 , I went back and got my €5 back and didn't care how annoyed/frustrated/upset he was!

Our bus ride wasn't long when we made it to the Lido and heart of Alghero. And it didn't take us very long to find the B&B since it's just on the main road, a few blocks away from the high street. Bruno, our host, came out to greet us and carried my suitcase up to the second floor where we were staying. He welcomed us into his lovely place, it smelled amazing and had the coziest feel to it. I noticed lots of attention to detail, it was so clean and just perfect for us. We chatted with Bruno for a little and eventually we found out that he'd lived in London AND SAN DIEGO before!! Apparently he knows the owner of Heaven Scent desserts in Northpark! Small world or what!

We put our stuff away in our room, freshened up and asked for his advice on where to head to for food. He gave us tons of suggestions and we went on our way to find one and explore. We found the focacceria he'd suggested and couldn't believe the cheap prices. We could see the size of the sandwiches around us and really couldn't believe they were only €2.50

After our late lunch, we went back to the B&B to grab our sweaters so we could stay out and explore the rest of the evening. We found the high street and marveled at the sweetness of the shops and buildings. Of course, we couldn't help ourselves to trying out the gelato (it's hard not to when it's everywhere!!) and that was amazing too. Then we headed to the sky bar that Bruno suggested for a panoramic view of the town. Seriously, stunning views up there. I was in awe and felt so darn grateful to be there at that moment. Everything about that moment was so perfect. We ordered drinks and were pleasantly surprised to find that our drinks came with traditional tapas. Again, we were shocked by how cheap it was...€7! I honestly would have been happy to pay that much just to sit up there. On our way back, we stopped in a grocery store and grabbed a few snacks for our bike ride the following day then went back to the room to relax and sleep! My overall thoughts on Alghero: I love the climate. It feels like home and is SO ME. I love Italian food. I love prosciutto  Gelato. Everything. I love how gorgeous Alghero is.