Tuesday, 12 July 2022

Indiana Williamses and the lost Nuraghe




 -Carys- assuming centre stage

Today was a but of an earlier start, but still nice and chilled. A similar breakfast to yesterday, which I'm really enjoying, as it feels very holiday-like, not necessarily something I'd have at home most mornings. I read my book for a while, which I've also been really enjoying - I'd been hoping to whizz through multiple books but it hasn't quite gone like that so far, but maybe I'll get through them a bit quicker in the next few days. Then we got ready - I found the sun cream task a little less stressful today luckily, and headed out in the car. With it being black on the inside and outside, it is absolute roasting in there, but the air-con is brilliant thank goodness. We had some stops and starts, little walks looking about. In all honesty, even though I love a good explore, the heat was really getting to me - It is just so warm, and sunny! We all commented on the way we felt like we were in Australia or South Africa, from the weather to the landscapes, it felt quite reminiscent. It was really pretty out in the hill type areas, and was half expecting to see some snakes or lizards but none of that today. I did spot a lizard/gecko type creature the other day but it skittered off before I got a good look at it. I hope we see some other exotic (but not dangerous of course) wildlife before we leave. 







We had some food and drink in a little cafe but weren't all that hungry so brought half of our sandwiches each home. Then we did supermarket sweep round 2, and picked up lots of different stuff, to make dinner one night, and to have as snacks around the house. I was desperate for chocolate despite knowing it would melt immediately, but I had to disregard this issue for the sake of my taste buds. And it was worth it too. We came on back to the house, and relaxed in the sun for a few hours (I read more of book and tried out the sun loungers which were very good, making sure they were in the shade) I'd managed to burn quite a bit yesterday, so today was abut avoiding that. Hence when mum and dad decided to head down to the beach for a bit, I decided to stay here and read more. There will be more chances to go in the sea I'm sure. SO I held down the fort, and got a head start on the blog. I even managed to spot mum and dad from the balcony, though they couldn't see me. I took a few photos, and although ant-sized, they were very much visible from up here. 



The rest of the evening has been spent mostly reading still, with some snacky bits and profiteroles too - very tasty. Now just to decide whether to walk up the mountain visible from our balcony tomorrow - sounds like a bit of a nightmare to me, but we'll see. 



(Lloyd)

Set my alarm a little earlier for my run, but still like a Swedish sauna as I added a few extra yards to the run this morning, and a little more gradient on my return up the hill.



Some breakfast, water melon, some exquisite pear juice, bananas to ensure the fruit and hydration was well in hand, and to give us fortification for expected adventures ahead.



Took the car out, De Niro or Sardine,not sure what the final name will be, and decided for a trip back in time. Sardinia famous for the many different cultures and inhabitants it has had over the years, as a critical location in the Med, but the early settlers in the bronze age left their mark. Specifically via a number of stone monuments, hundreds of which can be found across the Island, known as the Nuraghe.  Seemed a perfect moment to embrace the inner Indiana in us all, and the hat may have been waiting for this moment its whole life.

The nearest one to us only a few kilometres away, and apparently hard to find according to trip advisor, but we struck gold, up past the refuse site and into the wilds, we came across it very comfortably, and had a moment back in time.



We probably should have quit while we were ahead, but had a few others in our sights. First though wanted to check out the nearby capa ferrerro which is on the list to do a bit of hiking and climbing before the week is out. Think we have discovered an appropriate base camp/car park.

Our next Nuraghe was a few miles away, but it may as well have been galaxies. The Indiana myth fell quickly flat as we walked through the bush for a a number of kilometres but it turned out (later) we were in a very wrong bit of bush. And that's why Indiana was not seen using google maps.  We may look for 1-2 more before this is over, we needed to take our own trowels to unearth anything on our second look today.




Earned ourselves a smoothie and toastie in nearby pizzeria. Not the quality/price I would have expected, but the buzzing flies did add to the very Australian outback feel of the whole experience.  A supermarket next door allowed us to fill our boots with alternative sustenance. Very thirsty I must say. The tap water out here is apparently chlorinated and whilst we had a few water bottles for emergencies I think the odd sip was doing more harm than good.

Our next history lesson brought us to far closer times than the bronze age. The blog I have linked to below this had referenced a nearby prison no longer in use that cast a light back to late 19th century goings on in these parts. It was the centre piece of an almost deserted town called Castiadis, yet another place that had a western/outback feel,albeit with some slightly colonial decor and church.  We did not see a soul, the prison was derelict, with broken windows and chains across the gates. Chrissi remarked that the whole place had a very zombie apocalypse feel, there were a few parked cars around, but no people....











I think out work for the day was done, although as a postscript to the prison piece I later looked it up; it actually was set up as a bit of a rehabilitation centre for convicts to work on the nearby land and begin their transition back to normal life. This work also seemed to be the starting point of ridding the Island of malaria (draining those swamps to use modern parlance). Up until the middle of the last century this whole Island was rife with it, only been wiped out via a concerted project 1946 - 1950.  Good to hear as we are all covered in bites since our arrival.

That was the last real work of the day, I think we dipped our toes in enough history, so many other influences on this Island, will certainly try and pick out 1-2 more over the next few days.  We wound our way back to our own base, a few odd twists and turns, but rolling hills and barren landscape always fun to drive through as is so different to the world back home.

Quite nice to sit in the air con for a while and I might have even shut my eyes for a short while. But life is to be lived, and our proximity to the beach not to be ignored. Chrissi and I took our new 10 minute journey down to what is our new front room, the Montenai beach bar.  A cuba libre and G&T a well earned way to wind down, watching yachts, swimmers and enjoying some reflections and planning.




Never without incident, Chrissi managed to drop our credit card through the slits in the floor so some poor bugger had to get underneath the beach bar and crawl around to find it - a good tip was earned!  We slunk away and threw ourselves in the ocean,well you have to don't you!




It was then back to our lodgings for the rest of the night, cooked up a bit of pasta/pesto in our well appointed kitchen,  drank some local beer and listened to the Raiders of the Lost Ark soundtrack.  Apparently lots of non venomous snakes on this Island, maybe we'll see some tomorrow, none appeared so far, just geckos.  Will we have an Indiana style reaction if we do?




 



Monday, 11 July 2022

Cult (or something like that) of split Personalities

 

Blogging Duo



Managed to combine intrepid explorer with family man today, all it must be said, within the reasonably sanitised environment of comfortable resort. I'll expand a little as most of this is going on in my head through experiences, rather than anything too out there, hope to a little more of the latter tomorrow. I was advised there needs to be some rest on this holiday, so perhaps today was the day!

10 hours sleep as we all caught up on the lost night but was out in the oven heat at 8am thinking that was a good time for a run. Need to set my alarm earlier tomorrow, it was boiling.  Downhill to warm up, 4 easyish miles where I wished I'd taken some water, and then uphill walk/down.



Breakfast outside of course, and a shower outside too, what better way to finish a run, I think I'll do it all again tomorrow. Rehydration the name of the game with breakfast so water melon and fruit juice did the trick.



The girls happy to mooch and sunbathe at the ranch so I took a trip down into the other side of Costa Rei to just get my bearings and keep things ticking over.  Found a lovely little beach bar, got out my books, had an iced coffe, chatted with the waiter, getting some advice on kayaking and local hikes. Think he thought I was a lonely traveller so was a bit surprised a couple of hours later when the rest of the family turned up for a snack and a chat!





Gourmet sandwich for 5 Euros can't complain, turkey, mozerella and olive paste.  





We then walked along the breathtaking beach, just drinking it all in, taking a few photos and reflecting on why it might rank above other beach favourites we have visited over the years. Others put it up there https://www.sardegnainblog.it/en/destinations/costa-rei/costa-rei-top-10-most-beautiful-beaches-world/#:~:text=Costa%20Rei%20on%20the%205,has%20been%20awarded%20by%20the





Wanted to do a bit of core work so a double kayak for an hour managed to achieve that; we didn't go far, maybe that's a bit of exploration for another day.



Found another beach bar, couple of drinks whilst the girls worshipped the sun, and hopefully not frightening too many with my reading choice, the first of the Dexter books!

We discovered a very steep but short route back to our house on the hill so everything suddenly feels a lot closer which can only be a good thing.

Interesting factoid of the day, the word sardonic (one of my favourite words) comes from this part of the world (back to that old sard root), dating back to Romans poisoning people with a herb that left that sort of smile on peoples faces. I love a smile that shrugs, and most of my humour follows this line.

With that aside it was another outside shower hoping the postman didn't come a knocking and then into the best clobber I could find for a night at a pizzeria. My attention to detail led to a few worries as I mixed up my piazzas and pizzerias earlier but luckily my spot on my walk down to CostaRei this morning was infact the right one



Dined at the https://reyoasi.it/menu-italiano although took a while to work out what to eat. For the umpteenth time abroad we were mistaken for Germans and whilst Chrissi was keen to make a stab at the German/Italian menu for a while I eventually had to go back to the waiter, tail between my legs, and ask for the English version.  We then proceeded to order the cheapest wine on the menu (that didn't need translating) but have tasty Pizza Gustosa, and then dipped into a traditional Sardinia dessert Sabadas Miele. Felt a warm glow when the waiter mentioned his mama had always made it for him as a small child. That glow faded as pastry, cheese and honey not so welcome on my palate, but pleased to give it a go, and have some of Chrissis tiramasu as a side dish. All washed down with a cappuccino.







Tidy little walk after sunset, passed a few markets, up the steps, and some wine and music from our viewing point.



(Carys)

A bit of a later start to the day, later than most typical days, let alone the early start we'd had yesterday. But none the less, feeling more rested, and grateful to see the weather just as nice and the view just as breathtaking as before.




 I had quite a mix-matched breakfast, with some different juices, watermelon and then some yoghurt which was just what I felt I needed, very refreshing. Typical holiday stuff. Spent some time soaking up sun on the balcony and reading and then braved the irritating process of applying suncream, at which point I somewhat regretted travelling somewhere so sunny although it appears the sun is out at home so would be doing this regardless. At least here we have delicious and different food, and as mentioned, glorious views. We met dad where he'd resided in a beach bar on the sand for lunch - I chose a sandwich with tomato, lettuce, and buffalo mozzarella, and we shared some chips - how very foreign of (not). 




Then I joined dad in trying out the kayaking but in all honesty it was hard work, and I just wasn't very up for it. The waters are good for it though reasonably calm and crystal clear.






 Instead, I enjoyed some swimming time and then read on the beach, managing to burn my feet despite my vigorous suncream application earlier - it seemed i'd missed a spot. As it got a bit later, we strolled on back, miraculously locating the elusive steps that took us straight up to outside the house. I therefore take back my comments on the lack of convenience to beach access, even though the hundreds of steps to climb is a workout in itself. 



Once showered and changed (I am now the only one of us to have not tried the outdoor shower, but am sure I will at some point), we headed out for dinner. 




We doubted the existence of the pizzeria we were in search of, having seen many signs for the piazza, which could have been mistakenly what we'd seen. We did manage to arrive at the one we were looking for though, and were seated in a nice spot where the sea, and appearing moon, were just visible. I had a 'pizza carrettiera', tomato, mozzarella, and basil. Very tasty as hoped, and then for dessert, I went in blind, choosing a 'semifreddo', mostly out of curiosity as I had no idea what to expect. I was asked if I wanted chocolate or fruit I think, so rashly said chocolate, and was then glad with my choice. It was some sport of cake with an ice cream layer, and chocolate sauce on top - really delicious, but wondering what the fruit one would look like?




 Anyway, we took the steps back home, tiresome again, but good for the fitness, and lovely views of the moon overlooking the sea of course. Now off to bed hoping to wake up energised and positive! 





Sunday, 10 July 2022

Automatic for the People




A deep dive into reflection on life of the 70s was the REM album, so I'll take that spiritual steer as we hit the backpacker with style approach to life again. Hardly the hippy trail but we have our moments. I'll also take a literal steer, quite literally a steer in fact, as we ended up with an automatic car out here which actually is my preference when abroad.

So round 2 of the Summer tour has begun, a few health issues this week cast a potential cloud, but post covid travel perhaps adds that layer of fear, as well as being a nearly 50 year old hypochondriac. All to one side for now and we have arrived in Sardinia. Just to clear up that first question on everyone's lips - are Sardines named after Sardinia or the other way round (answer to come)

So what's the plans for this one, having done some skimming of the Lonely Planet must dos I'll see how many of the following we can tick off in the next 5 days:

- Beach Bliss (found my own favourite patch of white sand already)

- Village Hopping

- Explore Ancient Civilisations

- Food from the Source (locally produced cheese and beer consumed within first day)

- Soaking up the Culture

- The Great Wide Open (glimpses today on our drive across the South East)

- Taking to the Seas

- Country Living (perhaps the toughest one, we are beach bums this week)

Went to bed 10.00 last night after watching the highlights of Wales beating South Africa. 1 hr 15 mins of no sleep later I was up and readying myself for the midnight departure. Was nearer to 1 when we hit the road up to Gatwick,the M4 and M25 at their finest at that time of night. Straight through, no dramas; we had decided (knowing sleep was going to be hard to find however we did this) to pay for meet and greet parking at the terminal at Gatwick rather than booking hotels/car parking.



We were checking in at 4am as the airport was stirring into life. Having checked in online, printed our boarding cards at the airport and used the self service bag drop.Felt just like the self service at Sainsburys, and luckily we didn't need to call for assistance. Sticking our own flight labels on and sending the bags down the chute felt a leap of faith, but staff shortages and all that, we have to do our bit!




Thank goodness it was an early flight, they were already queuing for Wetherspoons. We took up our usual position, but maybe not our usual diet. I went for a healthier eggs benedict and a pint of Guinness, just to transition out of the Ireland holiday properly



Our BA flight was actually operated by Iberia Express (Vuelling) so we had the rather peculiar experience of Spanish cabin crew providing us our Italian transport. European unity alive and well.

I took the rather lastminute decision to download some Netflix and More 4 stuff to watch on the Ipad on this flight, recalling the rather dearth of entertainment last year en route to Iceland.  Went past though in the blink of an eye, mainly as my eyes did actually close for a good part of the trip.



We were soon in the Sardinian sunshine, and then quickly after in a long passport queue. No rush today so not too bothered to be in the alien line, and actually quite liked having my passport stamped. The second limited benefit I have found of Brexit, I am scratching around though to be fair.

On reclaiming our baggage, we did a great job, I'm asking for a promotion.  It was then hunt down the Avis desk and getting the relatively good news of the automatic car. Thinking of names, something Italian, is Robert de Niro still talking?

Was just over an hour drive to our Air Bnb in Costa Rei, most of the roads were large highways, just a few local hills to navigate towards the end. Our abode is very much on high, and we took a short while to find out way in via lock box and the use of keys!





We did feel a bit worn out, but decided that we had things to see, and the sea could see us, and was truly breathtaking.  So we tried to walk down, ran into a few dead ends, and decided to get back in the car to do a bit of local orientation.

Carys and Chrissi particularly interested to have their first dip in the Med, I sank into the golden sands and fell into a deep slumber. It was really quite relaxing, and I was really quite exhausted. But replenished enough after that to take a short reviving dip myself, what a beautiful spot.




Not much open and we knew we all needed to wind down after a long day, so bought a stack of local beer and cheese and fruit to consume from our viewing point, well above the stunning resort of Costa Rei. 



 Greek origin to the name BTW, a big footprint, the inhabitants the original sardines, the large numbers of said fish found off the island means the species took the name around the 15th century by all accounts https://totalsardinia.com/how-did-sardinia-get-its-name/


-Carys-

Diving straight back into the travel, with my first venture on a plane, which to me counts as my first abroad since before covid, since summer 2019. Yet weirdly, I feel like we never stopped. A very early start for us, which we haven't done in years I don't think, well at least not from home anyway. Its typical now for us to stay in an airport hotel and catch an early flight following that, but this time, we were out of the house before 1am. Having set the alarms for just gone 12, I tried to get a reasonable 3 hours of sleep which I was lucky enough to follow up a little in the car. The journey to Gatwick felt quite delirious as it didn't feel like we were driving late at night, but obviously it was dark out. We just missed the start of the sunrise as we left the car and got ourselves checked in. After some short queues and waving goodbye to baggage, we made our way through security, reasonably smoothly (but did have to rush to empty a water bottle first of course, having forgotten to before we went upstairs oops.) In all honesty, i prefer Heathrow to Gatwick, but interesting to have a different experience, and it we made our way through very easily today.




 I think the lack of sleep caught up with me though as I felt very drained (for most of the day really). We had a spoons breakfast to fill us up, and boarded the plane. I found the flight not among my favourites - maybe i'm just out of practise - but it was a quick one so was over reasonably soon. Having got off near the back of the plane and visited the toilet, we queued for a long time in the arrivals area, and when we eventually got our bags, it took us a short while to acquire our car. We're still debating on a name, but looking into something Italian, Will keep you posted. We drove said car out to the coast, which we had seen on our flight in (the views had been lovely in all fairness), where we were greeted with more spectacular scenery. 





After following the windy roads up the hillier part of the coast, we arrived at our destination, essentially letting ourselves into the accommodation as we'd arrived early.



 A cute spot - not as convenient as we'd hoped unfortunately, as access to the beach is not as easy as imagined, but the views absolutely make up for this. I'm sure we'll enjoy some stunning sunsets over the next few nights. The ocean is one of the prettiest i've ever seen, made up of the loveliest blues and greens. To try and navigate our way around, we did some wandering, but realised the car was the best bet for getting down to the seafront easily, in such heat. we parked up and strolled down, picking up some quick refreshments. Mum and I decided to test out the waters, literally, and they were amazing as hoped. Amazing temperature and just calm enough - though the salt is quite off putting for me personally. But i can put up with that, and we had a lovely time cooling off. 





We spent some time in the sun then to dry again, before picking up some bits in the obligatory European supermarket sweep, where we observe what's different to home and what's similar. We collated enough things to make a lovely buffet, which we've now enjoyed on the balcony - with the lovely sunset as mentioned before. Still feeling very tired so thinking of getting an early night to rejuvenate ourselves! 









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