Jun 20, 2011 - Porto Rotundo, Sardinia

June 20, 2011 Porto Rotundo on the Island of Sardinia was easily the youngest town we would visit on this cruise. Started in 1965 by a wealthy Italian family, it caters to the rich and famous, with a feeling similar to our New Years visit to St. Barts in the Caribbean in 2006. A comparison I would make is to “Whistler on the water” as the design and layout of the town flows together with a consistent look and feel. The integrated landscaping of Bougainvillea and Oleander provides a beautiful softening touch to the wood and stone...

May 21, 2011 - Bread making, Nuragic Village, and Lunch with Shepherd

Entry #8 May 21, 2011 As you can see, we had three completely different experiences today. We began early at Giovianna's small family-run flatbread bakery. Flatbread is a staple in Sardinia because the shepherds would take a large quantity with them into the mountains for their daily meals. The amazing thing about this bread is how long it stays fresh - up to 6 months! It keeps so long because there is no moisture in this crisp, paper thin bread. It is a yeast bread, but it is rolled flat and two pieces are joined at the edges for baking...

May 20, 2011 - Sardinia - Mountain Climbing and Cooking Lesson

Entry #7 May 20, 2011 At 9AM our new driver and local guide greeted us in his 4-wheel drive Land Rover. Fabrizzio is a bubbly, although cautious driver and full of the local information. We drove up and up and up the roads in a local town near our hotel and then began the switchback route up the mountain. At a government checkpoint, we reported the number of people in the Land Rover to a person who counts the people all day. There was some envy about his "job." These are some of the rugged mountains in Sardinia and over 3000 feet high. At...

May 19, 2011 - Classic Journeys Corsica & Sardinia

Entry #6 May 19, 2011 The last day in Bonifacio, Corsica was short since we were traveling by ferry back to Sardinia. We arrived at the port at 11 AM for the noon sailing. Tom had leftover pizza from last night all ready for a lunch on board. Anne had her favorite granola bars and the others had a "punt" lunch from the ferry dock snack bar. The crossing was a bit smoother than the one we had from Sardinia two days before since the winds had calmed down and the swells were much smaller. There were many sailboats near the harbor as we...

May 16, 2011 - Classic Journeys begins in Alghero

Entry #3 May 16, 2011 After a great breakfast at the hotel, we rested again and were pretty much over jet lag when we met with our group and Luciano our Classic Journeys tour leader in mid-afternoon. After a brief orientation and introduction to George andChris who are lawyers from Iowa , we proceeded to see Alghero in a horse drawn carriage. We walked to dinner and back. Another good night's sleep and we were ready to set off on our exploration of Corsica the next day.

May 7, 2011 - Last few days in Sardinia

Tuesday 3rd May. Today was a driving day. We went north to the town of Palau, population around 3,300, which is base for the ferries to the Madelena Islands and also Corsica. Wandered around the town looking at the shops and then drove on to St Teresa Gallura, where habitation dates back to the Roman times in this area. Wednesday 4th May. Julian and I went for a walk around the harbor to look at a yacht flying the Canadian flag. The owner was from Montreal and was planning to cruise the Mediterranean for a couple of years! After lunch we...

May 3, 2011 - Nice weather in Sardinia

Sunday 1st May. Finally, a beautiful sunny day around about 24C. However, we spent most of it being lethargic and enjoying the warmth. I did wander down to a restaurant where we had eaten on Friday night and used their wireless network to catch up with my email. Later on Gill, Gilly and Julian did the same. They discussed with the restaurant owner whether we could be fed somewhat cheaper than we had the first time we went there! “Tell me what you want to spend and I serve you appropriately!” So we will see what we can get for the...

May 1, 2011 - Sardinia

Thursday 28th April. We had a relatively uneventful trip from Gatwick Airport to Olbia Airport in Sardinia. The only ‘interest’ was the well known female journalist sitting in front of us who was drunk when she got on the plane and proceeded to get drunker on the flight and kept insisting on turning round and talking to us. Our only defense was to close our eyes and pretend to be asleep. Thank goodness it was only a 2 hour flight! On arrival we picked up our car and drove to our home exchange in Porto Rotondo on the north east coast of the...