indytravel

<u>Who</u>

Two mid-forties men who befriended in college back in the early 80's. We've traveled very well together over the years. As we live 300 miles apart in the US this affords us the opportunity to catch up on each other's lives.

<u>What</u>

A vacation!

<u>When</u>

The first two full weeks of October were chosen. Hopefully the weather would still be pleasant, but the crowds would be down.

<u>Where</u>

Earlier in the year my friend and I settled on these two Italian islands for our annual sojourn to Europe. Australia had been at the top of the list, but we decided that due to the length of travel time to Australia we would wait until we had 3 or better yet 4 weeks for that trip. Being our second trip to Italy we choose something south for the weather and a little less visited.

The itinerary worked out like this:

Sardinia
3 nights Cagliari
1 night Bosa
2 nights Alghero

Ferry
1 night ferry ride Cagliari to Palermo

Sicily
2 nights Palermo
1 night Enna
3 nights Siracusa (possible daytrip to Noto)
2 nights Catania (daytrip to Mt Etna)

<u>Why</u>

Why not?

<u>Weather</u>

I felt I was very lucky with the weather. From the Saturday I arrived until a week from Tuesday it was a beautiful 9 days of sunshine and warm temperatures. Mid 80's in the afternoon making it just warm enough to want to settle into a cafe for a beer. Down into the 60's at night making it very pleasant for sleeping.

The second Monday night in Sicily it rained. From then on it was overcast and cooler. Mid 70's daytime then low 60's at night with high humidity. It did not rain again until the last Saturday evening.

<u>Observations and Annoyances</u>

I ended up with several mosquito bites in Siracusa. Warm weather, coastal town, no window screens, I shouldn't have left the hotel window open during the day and evening. They'd sneaked in before I arrived late and closed the window. They had their way with my exposed arms while I slept.

Traveling with a friend my journal is not nearly detailed as it is when I travel alone. I only take the time to jot a few notes during meal time. Instead I prefer to talk about the day's events with my friend. I did keep a decent track of expenses. Not that knowing makes a difference in what I spend. (See one of my foie gras &amp; alcohol to total trip cost ratios in previous trip reports to realize I've not reformed.)

Fashion. Wow! The 80's live on. I saw the same Polo/LaCoste shirts with upturned collars I saw in San Francisco in April. I also saw the NKOTB, Samantha Fox worn-to-the-point-of- ripped-in-the-thighs-and-knees jeans. Remember the Sam Fox &quot;Naughty Girls Need Love Too&quot; video or NKOTB with the &quot;Right Stuff?&quot; (If you're out of the 80's loop, NKOTB is New Kids on the Block. Coincidentally I was at Kings Island near Cincinnati in the late 80's. NKOTB was the opening act for...care to guess? Tiffany. Not that I was there for the concert. It was for the rides. Honest.) I saw these odd mohawk, mullet combinations. Mohawk on top (though the sides were short, not shaved) flowing into a mullet in the back. Looked nasty but with my incredibly thinning hair it is just hair envy. The biggest thing I noticed was the over-sized sunglasses. Think &quot;Fearless Fly&quot; the cartoon. My favorite fashion accessory was a very thin young man wearing an actual airline seat belt as a belt. We're talking &quot;lift flap to release&quot; here. If only I didn't need the extension to make it work. That extra buckle digging into my spine would be murder.

I ran into the prepay cashier concept in many places: cafes, bars, airports. You tell the cashier what you want and pay for it. With the receipt you go to another counter to get your product. I don't care for this. Honestly, I can't tell you the names of half the pasties in a US pastry shop display case. Are those almond cookies, sugar cookies, ladyfingers, scones, biscuits, blueberry flavored, orange flavored or what? How am I supposed to tell a cashier in Italy what I want from a display case across the room? It was much more convenient at places where I could point and get what I wanted.

Generally I thought taxis were expensive. Most places the flag fall kicked off a 5 euro minimum charge.

The IC trains were very nice. The local trains were grimier, dirtier and more broken down then any local trains I've seen in Germany or France. A Canadian lady told me that the local trains to the north of Rome are much nicer. She said Sicilians claim that God loves no one south of Rome and gives them the trains to match.

Gasoline worked out to 6.32 USD per gallon.

I did find Canadian whiskey a few places. I even managed to get a couple of properly made Manhattans complete with chilled glass and a dash of bitters. Mostly I had vodka and tonic for a cocktail, Italian wine or beer with dinner and lemoncello as a digestif. My friend was in pastis heaven. Ricard and/or Pernod were everywhere along with several choices of absinthe.

Sicily is the island to go when you can't take your pooch. A dog will be assigned to you. Seriously. Walking to dinner one night with a small group we were joined by 2 stray dogs. A little further along 2 more strays joined us. They were well behaved. Except one didn't like cars or bikes. He'd sort of chase them in the road. From that point on every town I showed up in I immediately saw a stray or two. &quot;Assigned to us&quot; as my friend said. The dogs weren't hungry looking, or sickly. In fact some were rather prosperous looking. They'd be there to greet us at the train stations.

Bidets were in every hotel room I stayed. I thought this odd. In my mind France is famous for the bidet yet I rarely stay at a hotel that has one. I guess I'll have to change my expectations on this one.

Sardinia and Sicily have more of a Spanish feel to their day. Many, many things would close down from 2:00pm to 4:00 or 5:00pm for the heat of the day siesta. Being off season most museums did not re-open for late afternoon hours. Museum visiting had to be packed into the morning hours. Restaurants wouldn't open until 8:00pm or later for dinner. They wouldn't get busy until 9:30 or 10:00pm. One restaurant seated me at 8:00pm with a menu but I was told a waiter didn't start working until 8:15. No problem I like to peruse the menu anyway.

GeoffHamer

It does take a while to get used to Italian bars and caf&eacute;s where you pay at the cash desk before ordering. You do not need to know the names of the pastries - the person at the cash desk may not know what food is on offer. The technique is to look at the food counter first and note the prices of what you want, then go to the cash desk and ask for the items by price: a 2-euro pastry and a 3-euro sandwich for example. Then take the receipt to the food counter and point at the one you want.

wantagig

indy: So far so good. I hope you'll relay more info. Especially because Sardinia is so rarely mentioned on this board.

Did you notice in Sardinia that on the sugar packets you find a photo of a dog with &quot;Non abandonare&quot; in big letters? For animal lovers, it's tough to see these dogs fend for themselves.

I hope you enjoyed your stay.

kybourbon

David - I'm sure you are busy getting caught up with things at home after a two week trip and getting ready to go to France, but we want details and pictures! Start typing!

indytravel

That's an excellent idea GeoffH. I'll tuck that tidbit away for future use. Thanks.

wantagig I didn't see the sugar packets as I rarely use them. I was surprised and saddened to see so many unattached dogs about.

Hey Lara!. As I get very few, sometimes even no, trick-or-treaters I'm typing. I'm typing!

indytravel

<u>Getting to Sardinia</u>

If travel is about the adventure mine started early. It started the Thursday evening before I left. I arrived home to a message on my telephone from Orbitz that my flight from Rome to Sardinia had been canceled due to an Alitalia one day strike. Great.

In the message Orbitz told me to call Alitalia. On the phone Alitalia told me that Delta was the primary carrier for the ticket so I had to call them. Delta told me that the earliest they could get me to Sardinia was Monday night. The flight leg could be re-booked on another carrier but I'd have to call Orbitz to do that.

I would have booked directly with Delta but their website wouldn't allow the connection. So I used Orbitz. I'm not sure why Orbitz didn't have me call them first.

After an hour or so on the phone with Orbitz they'd changed my flight to Sardinia from Alitalia to Meridiana. An extra two hours in Rome's FCO airport and two hours later into Sardinia but at least I would make it late Saturday afternoon. One more thing, my tickets would have to be re-issued as paper tickets at the Cincinnati airport. They advised that I show up a little early to get that done.

Friday afternoon I arrived at CVG airport, Cincinnati's airport which is actually in Kentucky. Not a bad drive from the Indy area especially for a direct flight from CVG to Rome.

I really debated about baggage. My 19&quot; roller board could go with me and my small backpack. With a little over 5 hours in Rome's airport I thought I might pop into Rome for an hour and a half for something to do. I checked the roller board. I should have said a fonder farewell to it. It would be over 48 hours before I would see it again.

It was an OK flight on an older 767 with no individual TV's. OK food, OK movies, fairly smooth ride. I sat next to a lady on her second trip to Europe. She'd caught the bug the year before when she went to Greece on a tour for her 50th birthday. I gently encouraged her into a &quot;do-it-yourself&quot; trip to London as she said she really liked the free time afforded by the tour group.

Being in no real hurry of course the plane landed early. I made it quickly though passport control. Customs would be on Sardinia. With almost 6 hours I thought I would pop into Rome and have lunch and a wander around the Termini. Not exactly Rome's best area, it would still be better than sitting in an airport for hours. The perfect plan until I stepped outside to discover a pouring rain was in progress. Not one of those quickie showers, but a rain that looked ready to last the day. Tired, I wimped out and stayed at the airport.

A cappuccino, a sandwich for lunch, an afternoon beer, some guidebook reviewing, a bit of reading, a lifetime later, it was time to board the plane to Sardinia. It was a short uneventful flight just a little over an hour to Cagliari's airport.

On the flight over the skies cleared and I could see the Mediterranean Sea. Sardinia was pretty from the air with low hills, crags along the shoreline, rocky and sandy beaches. The plane looped around the south side of Cagliari so I had a great view of it. The old town is perched on a cliff and sprawls down to the sea.

Cagliari's airport is pretty new and easy to negotiate. I had to go to the customs bag check to get my suitcase. As mentioned it did not make it. I did find and use a wonderful machine that took 20 euro bills and spit out 20 1 euro coins.

I left the customs bag claim area to find the luggage office. They had me check the domestic luggage belt and go back to the customs luggage belt. No luck. All this time I was drifting in and out of the customs area. I'm not quite sure what the point is. I could have walked out at any time if only my bag had been with me.

Little bit of a trauma with the lady ahead of me at the lost luggage. She stated that she had no money, credit cards or ID as she'd put her travel pouch in her checked bag just before giving it to the agent in Frankfurt. Oh my. What goes through people's heads?

I was given a form to have stamped by customs, a lost luggage receipt and a phone number to call. I went to the customs agent to have my form stamped and returned it to the lost luggage people. That way customs would be over and my bag released.

I walked out of the airport and took a cab downtown to the B&amp;B I had booked. I thought 13 euro including tip for the cab ride was very reasonable as far as airport cab rides go.

As I'd missed my scheduled arrival time by 2 hours, I had to call the lady running the B&amp;B the start of another adventure. The phones did not want to take my euro coins. I never did figure out why. I went to a tabacchi and bought a phone card. It didn't want to work either. I shoved that thing in 17 different ways and it would not work.

Jetlagged and a little frustrated I sat at a cafe and had a calming beer Ichnusa to be exact. It's the local Sardinian brew. Refreshed and looking at my phone card I noticed I'd bent a corner of it. Looking closely I saw there was a perforated line in the corner of the card. I tore it off. Lo and behold with my very next attempt at dialing the phone card worked. What a time to learn something new: you tear the corner of the card off to activate it.

After slowing dialing fewer and fewer numbers I was able to reach my hostess. 10 minutes later she was giving me the keys to a two bedroom apartment that was the B&amp;B. As no other guests were booked for that week, my friend and I would have the run of a two bedroom apartment with bathroom, kitchen and dining room for 3 nights at 80 euro a night. Well if my friend ever made it. He was supposed to arrive earlier than I. I was 2 hours late. (A veritable bonanza of trash cans in the B&amp;B: one in the kitchen, one in the dining room and one in the bathroom.)

I went to find an internet cafe. Just up the street I found one. I e-mailed my friend who had his Blackberry with him. He was in a taxi on his way from the airport. He mentioned the heck of a travel day he'd had. I replied that when we got together we could grouse at each other over who had the worse travel day.

He arrived 15 minutes later. Over an Ichnusa he told how his plane's cargo was mis-loaded at Philadelphia. He'd missed his connection at London Heathrow. He was routed through Rome to get to Sardinia. Counting his home airport of St Louis he'd been to 4 in a 24 hour period. His luggage didn't make it either. I think he had the worse day. I liked his statement, &quot;If I knew throwing a coin in that damn fountain would get me back to Rome like this I wouldn't have done it.&quot;

LoveItaly

LOL indytravel, loving your report!! Haven't been to Sicily but was fortunate enough to spend a week on Sardinia. Fantastic island! More details please..

indytravel

Thanks LoveItaly! 5 printed pages into this report and I've just arrived at Sardinia. Jeez. I may have to pick up the pace.

LoveItaly

No, no, don't rush! Just give us all the wonderful details, especially how you fellows dealt with the missing bags LOL. But seriously, I hope you will share your trip in detail regarding Sardinia. Hope you will tell us how you enjoyed the food also.
I was only on Sardiania once and have such beautiful memories. Best wishes.

kybourbon

For the next time you have a long layover in Rome - you can take an R train from the airport(station is Fiumicino aerporto on Trenitalia) to Trastevere(Roma Trastevere) or St. Peter's(S.Pietro). The station in Trastevere isn't in the touristy area though. Cost is 5E and the ride is 20 minutes. To go to St. Peter's you change trains at the train station in Trastevere and it's another 5 minute ride to S. Pietro station. From there it's a few blocks walk to St.Peter's.

I had the phone card problem the first time in Italy too! I took it back into the cafe to tell them it wouldn't work and the guy broke the corner off. At first, I wondered why he was breaking my card!

wantagig

Hi Indy,

Please write more, more, more!

cigalechanta

David, type faster, Barb has finished hers now we need yours

ellenem

David,

I've een waiting for your report and glad to see it well underway. Keep the details in.

Yes, Italy is not France. I've had bidets in rooms that didn't have toilets.

And the prepay system has more to do with sanitation than money: a person who handles your food should not handle your money, therefore the separate cashier located well away from the food service. Regulars often pay after, just telling the cashier what they had.

More, please!

Barb

Now that mine is finished - phew - I can start enjoying other reports. This is great and I'm anxious to hear about Sicily!! Keep it coming and don't worry about it being long, lol.

SRS

This report is looking great! Keep going, keep going! Thanks!!

Sally

indytravel

Thanks for the encouragement everyone! I have another section done.

<u>Cagliari</u>

Pronounced KAL-ya-ree.

Being around 8:00pm it was the perfect time for a Saturday night dinner in Cagliari. Heading over towards the harbor I noticed a seafood looking restaurant. It turned into a seafood extravaganza. The first of a couple of times when my thin friend went way, way overboard (to stick with a nautical theme) in seafood ordering. The antipasto course was cephalopod four ways: sauteed squid, squid and potatoes, sauted octopus and octopus with bell peppers &amp; capers. The last dish was my favorite. The octopus had been sauteed until a few edges were charred. That crispy, blackened taste went well to offset the texture of the octopus. The main course was a plate of all manner of tempura fried sea critters, anchovies, sardines, a little more octopus and mild white fish along with the other main of a plate containing a huge filet of grilled skate. A bottle of white wine made this extra large meal total 66euro. Barely 1/2 of it was consumed. Well, all the wine did disappear.

Sunday morning I awoke at a reasonable hour of 7:00am. Not bad for a first jet lagged morning. I was helped awake by a trash collection at that time. Sunday morning? Oh well it didn't kill me. Sans luggage I had a fresh change of clothes in my carry-on. My friend had 3 days worth of clothes in his carry-on. All I have to do is ask him about the unnoticed chocolate bunny from turn down service in Nuremberg in 2000 when his luggage was lost for 3 days to get him going about the virtues of extra clothes in a carry-on.

Unfortunately it was going to be a busy first full day in Cagliari on Sunday. Getting nothing accomplished on Saturday due to late arrivals and a &quot;ferme lundi&quot; mentality stuff needed to be seen and needed to be done now. I climbed the elephant tower for the great views over the city. Next was the cathedral museum. Lots and lots of religious objects in silver. Several oil paintings very unusually painted upon copper are also in the collection. Next was the climb up the Torre San Pancrazio for more views.

Down the hill I went to the Cagliari coliseum tour. It was very interesting. The stadium was updated a few years ago to be an outdoor performing stage. The tour took you under the modern stage to show an entrance that animals and gladiators used, waiting rooms, an infirmary (like anyone ever recovered from a massive sword wound inflicted by a non-sterile knife back then) and parts that were an old cistern.

After this was barely time to see the Archeology Museum. Rocks and blocks, rocks and blocks abounded. Carvings, door mantels, pottery and all manner of, you guessed it, rocks and block.

Being past one now lunch was at a simple bar in a small plaza near the cathedral. The irregular thump of a soccer ball hitting stone accompanied the meal. Kids in the plaza were getting in their Sunday afternoon practice. Two plain but delicious ham and cheese paninis and 5 beers (2 heinekin and 3 draft Krononbergs) came to a total of 16 euros.

After this the museum complex was open again. The religious art museum was very nice. It had several large oil paintings. The kind with saints and their symbols so you can pick out St Peter and St Paul. St Sebastian pierced with his arrows was a common element.

After this was a stroll down to the bastions. The old city rampart had been converted to a nice, flat open space with views over the city. The bar on the lookout played rave music has children and dogs scampered about with their parents and owners. One little terrier mix in particular would go flat out for a ball before fetching it back.

By now it was after 5:00pm. I used my new-found phone dialing expertise to call the airport. Our luggage had arrived. Rather than be stuck at the apartment waiting for an undetermined delivery I decided a cab ride to the airport and back would be in order. Not a bad cab cost anyway at less than 15euro including tip. (Later cab fares would surprise me with their cost.) Heading to the nearby train station my friend and I were waiting at the taxi stand when a man approached us. He was offering us a ride to the airport as no taxi was nearby. I at least asked how much, he said 10euro. As we walked across the parking lot to his car I asked my friend if he'd read the part in the guidebook about gypsy cabs. He shrugged his shoulders and said the guy was there.

Positioned in the gypsy cab to not look as such, i.e. my friend was put in the front seat and me in the back, like a group of buddies going to the 'port. As my seat belt wouldn't fasten I asked my friend if he felt safe with his working seat belt and airbag in the front seat and oh, by the way, do you think this man has liability insurance? He laughed. We arrived at the airport safely against my darkest fears, collected our bags and used a real cab to get back to the B&amp;B.

Dinner was at a little mom &amp; pop pizza place up a few blocks from the B&amp;B. Two excellent pizzas and a liter of house red wine was 21euro. My pizza was a simple one with ham. My friends had seafood on it. I was sitting where I could watch the man through the pizza dough for real.

Now it was time for a relaxing &quot;ferme lundi&quot; in Cagliari. Museums closed for Monday it was to be a gentle day of drifting about on a whim and a prayer. I saw the cow heads on the exterior of the Exma building. It used to be an old slaughter house but now is a performing arts center. Walking on was St Satuno. The oldest Christian building on Sardinia. Supposed to be open it was not. I went on around the corner to one of the city's cemeteries. On a hillside it had lots of mausoleums and graves. They ran the gamut from super-well tended to neglect.

Out the back side of the cemetery we went to a church. There was a wedding in progress. A wedding at 10:00am on a Monday morning? That seemed weird. Yet I ran into a few other weddings at off times on this trip. Going back through the cemetery I ended up at St. Lucifero. Lucifero? You gotta be kidding. What's up with these names? Lucifer and Saturn as saints? It was closed.

I did make it into St. Antoine's church. A few of the side chapels looked like the raw stone of the side of a quarry. It was very unusual looking. Next was a quick duck into St Sopolcro with it's empty crypt. Not quite empty though a local artist was having a photo exhibit in the crypt. There were some really old looking frescoes on the ceiling of the crypt. The church was also interesting as it had changed its orientation from north/south to the more traditional east/west over the course of its history.

Plopped down at a little cafe for a late lunch. I had my first tremezzini sandwich: one thin slice of ham (parma?) mayo and fontina cheese on crustless white bread. I found it enjoyable. Sitting at lunch elementary school groups started going by. It was like watching gangs. One group was in blue smocks, another was in blue berets. I kept expecting them to rumble but they didn't. They loaded onto busses and went on their way.

Walked out to the botanical gardens and St Michaels, both closed. Made it back up the hill to the cathedral. Under heavy restoration it still was beautiful. It has that incredible inlay flooring of white, red and green marbles.

Dinner was an excellent affair at Marios on the hill. I started with the carpaccio. Simply served with olive oil and tomato slices it was a gentle start to the meal. My first course was the pasta carbonara. It arrived piping hot with grated parmesan cheese and black pepper. It was a real treat. My second course was a filet entrecote with a prune reduction sauce. It was an interesting combination of flavors with the steak very rare and a pretty decent cut of meat too. Desert was a wedge of the juiciest pineapple that had been enhanced by a severe dousing with cointreau. A digestif and desert all rolled into one, what a way to end the meal.

Being a beautiful evening I walked over to the St Remy Bastion to enjoy the views of the city.

<u>Bosa</u>

This was the start of drive time. Being a weenie I opted for the additional cab fare and a rental car from the airport instead of downtown. At the airport I was given the keys to a sport Smart ForFour with the Passion trim option. Oo-la-la was I to be a babe magnet in this little silver cutie!

I took the highway north towards Oristano. The highway was not quite an autobahn. Occasionally it would narrow to one lane in my direction instead of two or there would be a weird interchange with a stop light. Overall it was easy driving. The Sardinians must not be as crazy as the drivers I read about on mainland Italy. I was driving along at 120kph. A few people passed me; I passed a few people. Trucks were slow. Sports cars were not. There was one crazy lady zipping along at all of 90kph. At least she kept to the right lane.

North of Oristano the real navigating began. Off the main road onto secondary roads with my Michelin map. At the first nuraghe I yelled and pulled the car off the road. (There were a few in the distance from the highway but this was the first close-up one.) Picture taking ensued as people surely thought &quot;stupid tourists&quot; as they careened along their way. It was an impressive ruin standing a good 30 feet high. I loved the first one. It was special. By the time I say my 6th I was just another jaded local. Let's face it, the island is littered with over 7,000 of the things still remaining.

I followed some green roads marked as being scenic by Michelin and they were. Pretty low rolling mountains, dipping down along the coast for a while then back into mountains. On a whim I followed a sign to St Antioch. Odd little church in the middle of a park. Next to a small stream that was formerly the site of a mill, the endless hum of water pumps buzzed as water was lifted into the local water system. It looked very lonely on a late Tuesday morning with just the two of us.

I finally arrived in Bosa around 1:00pm. The hotel was on the main road, easy to find with free parking. Checking in I found a pleasant lobby with a large open stairwell. The room on the 2nd floor was two level. A decent sized bathroom, a little balcony overlooking the busy street and one smallish trash can. Where exactly am I supposed to dispose of all the clutter I collect during the day?

This was the first place I encountered the &quot;thin towels.&quot; The B&amp;B in Cagliari had nice, regular towels. I'm used to the thin towels in France. These were thinner. So thin my friend called them &quot;bandanas.&quot; Literally I have dish drying towels that are more plush. I don't think they soaked up much water. I think they wiped it off my skin onto the floor.

We walked across the town's one main bridge and found a cafe still open for lunch. Actually it was a bar with a separate sandwich shop next door. The bill came in two parts, one for the sandwiches and one for the Ichnusa's. We walked the small town enjoying the ambiance. It's beautiful with color facades and palm trees facing the river. Crossing the river on the only pedestrian bridge I continued to walk the banks of the Temo River, Sardinia's only navigable river. All 6 kilometers of navigable water way. My friend decided to rent a plastic canoe and paddle inland. How far could he go? Keeping his shoes for him, I explored more of the town, watched people fish and settled into a cafe. About 1.5 hours later he paddled back in sight. Getting out of the canoe he was soaking wet from the waist down. He said the water was brackish. Sure I did not want to know how he knew this I asked anyway. Well with all the paddling and splashing I guess water gets everywhere including a sample taste. Ewww. Once again I'd managed to avoid an unwanted brush with nature.

Walking the river some more I saw a young man really, really working a fishing pole hard. He had an unbaited, heavy triple hook he would heave into the middle of the river. He would start vigourously yanking the rod and bringing the hook in. He did this dozens of times. I didn't see him catch anything but he did have a sack full of bloody fish at his feet he was lugging around. Maybe he was gigging for a mullet-type fish? The kind of fish that won't ever take a baited hook?

Having a big dinner the night before I wanted pizza for dinner. The quest began. I could not find a pizza joint anywhere. They're everywhere when I don't want them. Where do they hide when I do want them, the same place the police go? Eventually dinner happened at Ristorante Borgo Sant Ignazio. My first course was a cheese course. The parmesans were incredible. One was softer and a little more creamy, another was as biting and hard as nails and delicious. The bottle of wine was an inexpensive Araja red. My penne in meat sauce was al dente, hot and extra good. Again way too much food was order. I actually got a break. One of my courses was not delivered. Not on the check either. Maybe they knew I didn't need the lamb. Oh, by the way, this is where my friend decided to leave his credit card. Maybe he thought they needed an extra tip of a shopping spree. (Which did not happen. Then next day he used his blackberry to call MasterCard and cancel it all out. No extraneous charges incurred.)

Barb

Oh my mouth is watering - keep it coming, it's great.

indytravel

Thanks for the encouragement LoveItaly, kybourbon, wantagig, SRS, cigale and ellenem. I appreciate it.

Barb, wow. I think you're going to set a record for responses to a single post. I'll say here 'cause it'll be lost on your thread how much I enjoyed reading it. I think you did a wonderful job with the situation.

Ellenem. Hey! I'm going to try to make it to the next NYC GTG in June. I never thought about the sanitation thing. I remember several years ago that White Castle here in the Midwest ranked very high with sanitation inspectors because the cashier never handled food.

Mimi!

indytravel

<u>Alghero</u>

Awoke and started the journey to Alghero. Stopping in Bosa Marina I walked out to the old stone lighthouse, next to the WWII looking bunker of a lighthouse that had machine gun pill boxes around it. Pretty water, pretty boats and a very nice looking sandy beach.

I drove the coastal road north to Alghero. What a beautiful drive. Hills and steep slopes near the water with mountains on the other side. The road wasn't the least bit busy. Putzing along slowly I was only passed a couple of times. I made it easy by getting out of the way so they could get on with their busy lives. My life was wrapped up in views of the sea. I stopped a couple of times for photos.

Going around Alghero I noticed lots of construction. As I recall from my guidebook Alghero has recently become a Ryan Air destination. As its popularity soars as a destination for Europe, the city is scrambling to catch up with infrastructure of hotels and roads. On the other side of the city I drove on to Neptune's Grotto. Out on a point the parking lot is very high up. The grotto is at sea level. Later informed by a German bicyclist there were 587 steps down (with a few up) to the grotto. Great views climbing down to the grotto. The views were not at all comprised by realizing I would have to climb back up the cliff when the tour was over.

The grotto had some great formations. Lots of stalagmites and stalactites some joining together to form columns. Waiting for the next tour of the cave a boat from Alghero arrived. It pulled up and anchored right at the sea level entrance to the grotto.

OK, maybe I was wrong about the climb back up. It was a long, long, way. 587 steps up (with a few down) as I recall. Gasping at the top I stopped at the snack bar to have a refreshing bottle of water. Dang driving responsibilities. I really wanted a beer.

With some extra time I drove to the beach at Porto Ferro. Another great looking sand beach almost empty due to the season. There were a couple of stone nuraghe to see.

It was finally time to unload the sexy, silver wheels. Sadly the car did not attract the babes I'd anticipated. Once again being lazy I'd chosen to drop the car at the airport thinking it would be easy. Yeah. Right. The airport is geared around the Ryan Air flight times. No one was at the rental car return and the entire lot around the rental car places was packed. Behind the rental car hut was a super tight space. My friend thought the Smart ForFour would fit. After seesawing 6 or 7 times and only half way in I gave up. I parked the car in the back 40. As I walked over to drop off the paperwork a lady had arrived to work the AutoEurope hut. She asked where the car was. I pointed over yonder. She asked if I could bring it around and double park it behind the hut. Double park? Why didn't I think of that?

With the car ditched it was time to catch a cab into Alghero. The cab that wasn't there. The taxis didn't show up until the flights and it was a little too soon. Refreshed by a beer I glimpsed a taxi. Slammed the beer and off to the city. Considering Cagliari was about 13euro I thought Alghero was pricey at 25euro including the tip.

I checked into the hotel San Francesco. One of the few hotels in the old town, the window looked over the San Francesco church's cloister. Quiet, pretty, 3 twin beds for the two of us it actually had 2 trash cans. One small one in the bathroom, then a medium sized one in the room. Quite the bonus in my world.

Alghero is beautiful city with ramparts along the sea and a narrow-street filled old town. Walking the ramparts I watched a pot-bellied middle aged man in a Speedo seining for fish. I don't know if they were for dinner or bait but the process was fascinating. He'd walk the rampart checking for schools of fish. Then he'd dash down to the water, strip off his jean shorts and wade out with his net. Throwing it like a lariat he'd circle 'round and 'round reigning it in tighter and tighter. When he hauled his catch ashore he'd carefully pick through it throwing back what he didn't want.

Stopping in a seaside bar I had one of the few beautifully made Manhattans of this trip. CC, vermouth russo and a dash of bitters. Heaven in an (oh my God) margarita glass. OK it tasted the same but the choice of stemware was odd. Not a bad price either. 11 euro for a pastis (Ricard) and my Manhattan.

Denied pizza the night before it became a mission to find it tonight. Once again the pizzerias were hiding. I did prevail though. A sausage pizza for me, an octopus pizza for my friend, &amp; 5 beers came to 22.40 euro. The pizza was exquisite.

Thursday morning I decided to get a feel for the town by walking to the train station. I wanted to purchase tickets to Cagliari the next day and get an idea of the train station's location. It took about 25 minutes to walk out that way. It was one of those fascinating walks that I love in Europe. Walking through what looked like a residential area I saw a Landrover being repaired in a shop on the ground floor. It was a mechanic's shop that had a marble tile floor. Now that's atmosphere. Also on the walk I saw a machine shop on the ground floor as well as various other businesses like green grocers, photo shops, dry cleaners, etc. It's something that happens in Europe. Mixing light business with residential above. Not done nearly so well here in the US.

Close to the train station was a small chapel. I ducked in to realize a major renovation was in process. The only reason the door was open was to allow the cord for the Honda generator to exit the building and provide power to the workers on the side. Without being yelled at, I managed to see the interior.

The train station was like the airport and only worked around the train's schedule. OK not really a wasted trip. I discovered when the ticket office was open.

Back in the old town I went through the Cathedral's museum. One piece was the skull supposedly of a child as a reliquary. Can you say lemur? C'mon, that was no more a child's skull then I'm a monkey's uncle. Pretty cool though, it's really old and people actually believed. Some still probably do. It's the same thing as the shroud of Turin for me. So it's not really Christ's burial cloth. Isn't it cool though that this piece of material faked people for hundreds of years? Isn't it cool that it's lasted for more than a thousand years? Sadly that's just not enough for some people.

Afternoon rolled around. Sailing to Neptune's Grotto appealed to my friend so we did. Thankfully you didn't have to buy the grotto ticket, just the boat passage was for sale. It was a pretty trip. You circled one of the rocky islets off the grotto. The boat actually drove into a hollowed out passage then backed out. Docking at the grotto I stayed on the boat and watched the people. I taken by scopace so I could stay on the pitching boat. Without mal de mer medication I would have needed to get on shore or heave over the side for an hour. A slight rain shower blew through at this time. The shower came and was gone by the time I was half way back to Alghero.

After docking from the grotto ride it was back to the train station to buy the morning's tickets to Cagliari. The station only sold tickets to Sassari. OK, good enough.

Back in town, dinner was at a place just down from the hotel on a rampart overlooking the sea. Huge prawns served warm and whole in a wonderful balsamic vinegar sauce. The taglietari pasta with poricio cheese and lots of bell peppers and eggplant was in a very light tomato sauce. The creme caramel for dessert was delicious too..

Friday it was up early to catch the train to Sassari. The cab flag fall was 5euro with a total of 8 to the train station. I'd walked this distance in 20 minutes or so. It couldn't have been much more than a mile. This narrow-gauged (maybe 2.5 feet?) grimy train appeared to be a school bus as well. Too dark to see out the foggy windows, it wasn't much of a ride.

With almost two hours waiting for the next train to Cagliari, I sat with the luggage while my friend roamed Sassari looking for a post office. He managed to duck into the cathedral for a quick look too.

The train ride to Cagliari was in a nicer train. Though compared to the one from Alghero that wasn't saying much. A 4 hour trip with no snack cart or bar car. I'd figured as much beforehand and had what I wanted. This was a cool train ride. Starting up higher in Sassari the soil was almost solid rocks. Rocks were piled everywhere, including piled into many nuraghe. Goats and sheep were around, olive trees too. There some trees that looked like they had bark stripped off their main trunks. I wondered if these were cork trees.

Down into the central valley the soil became better and the terrain a little more lush. Citrus groves were around. Oh and I was very surprised by the prickly pear cactus I'd seen all over the island. I had no idea. I would have thought it was too wet for cactus, but maybe the prickly pear can take it. It was in season too. The edges of many of the prickly pear were loaded with, uh, prickly pears? Maybe? I'm not sure what the fruit is called. It was for sale in the markets too. Though why you'd want to buy it when it was all along the roads I have no idea. I did see that there were not many thorns on the prickly pear plants. Not like I remember the ones in Arizona at all. I wonder if they're lucky and have some strange bird that thinks those spikes are the best tasting food ever.

Arriving early afternoon in Cagliari to catch the ferry it was laundry day. I'd scoped out an all day laundromat near the B &amp;B. Two loads of clean &amp; dry clothes later and 24 euro (?!?!) lighter it was off for a beer.


<u>Ferry</u>

At this time of year only one ferry goes from Cagliari to Palermo. It departs on Friday evenings at 7:00pm and arrives at 9:00am. Operated by Tirennia this was one of their older ships and it showed. It was the Toscana registered out of Naples. The cabins weren't laid out well. The private bathroom was a little musty. The water was labeled as non-potable. There were rust spots here and there on the decking and railing. There was one microscopic trash can. The shower curtain clinging-ly loved me more than my dear departed mom. Oh my. I didn't mind. It was reminiscent of an older era when this was posh. Compared to now with what many people think of as luxury. &quot;Give the lady a break&quot; was what I thought.

I thought the &quot;check-in&quot; process was weird. You gave your ticket to the man at the door to the ship You went to the cabin assigned on your ticket turned the key and went in. Though the key was super finicky. (The &quot;lady&quot; tried my patience after a few beers and trying to get into my cabin.) Could other people just pick a cabin after the ship started and crash in it? I don't know. People unrolled sleeping bags and slept on the upper deck. People slept in chairs in the salon area. I'm glad I had a cabin.

I'd had a sandwich before the departure. Good thing. The line to the only restaurant was very long. Drinks and snacks were reasonably priced at the separate bar. So was my croissant for breakfast.

LoveItaly

Oh indytravel, I am so enjoying this report, I am sitting here laughing myself silly. BTW, I have friends, businessmen in their 30's that take a ferry from Sardinia and they sleep in sleeping bags on the deck too. I tease them and tell them there has to be a better way to save money.

Now dear one, I have a question. What is it with you and trashcans? LOL. I don't know why it has hit my funny bone but I love the fact that when you describe each room you have you describe the number and size of the trashcans. Other people are hung up on beds, the size, the softness or firmness of the mattress or the size of the shower or the bathroom etc. But you, you are into trashcans. It is priceless!!!

And the steps you had to climb, I imagine you were gasping after climbing up 587 steps. Good grief, that sounds like a heart attack time.

Now, please continue with this wonderful trip report when you can..what a great and fun read!!