Our Sardinia Story
Hello Everyone, Kate here!
This is MY FIRST BLOG EVER. Please bear with me, as I may get a bit off topic at times, that's just how I tend to write. We'll see if blogging is the same for me as writing. You know, one time, back in 2002, Sean and I went to a blog party in D.C. I remember our friend Kate Krauss had not yet heard of the term, "blog," and I made a very clunky attempt at explaining to her the root words, web-log, web'log, b'log = blog. Okay. Enough about blogging, 2002, and Kate Krauss - who now, by the way is totally savvy and hip to blogging.
Sean and I went to Sardinia! Do you know where Sardinia is? A) It's in Sardo, the land of sardines. B) It's an island off the coast of Greece. C) It's an island off the coast of Italy. D) It's the island south of Corsica.
(Answer: C AND D)
Yup, we went to Sardinia, and we loved it. Our plane departed from Girona (the tiny airport north of Barcelona) on Thursday, April 6 at 8:00 pm. We arrived to the city of Alghero in the blackest of night. Our only light was the control tower above the tarmac and the glittering stars in the night sky. (If you're into stargazing, go to Sardinia. It's the best spot in the Med to look at planetoids and nebulae from the Mediterranean sea - sans city lights.)
In the dark, on the bus ride to our B&B in Alghero, we met Irene (a.k.a La Espanola.) Her name is pronounced Elena, by the way. She was traveling by herself for Semana Santa - the Catholic-based "spring break" of Spain. Irene is a flamenco guitar and dance teacher in Barcelona. She had no place booked to stay in Sardinia, so after we'd engaged in frienly chit chat, she decided to latch onto us rather than scan the streets alone for a place to stay. We were in it for the long haul with her, we knew, until she found a safe place to sleep. Thankfully, when we brought her to our B&B, our kindly host Mario helped her find a place - since his was fully booked. (Later he said that if nothing anywhere else had been available, he would have offered his sofa to La Espanola) out of custom (and a healthy pinch of Italian chivalry.)
Now that we were relieved of La Espanola's plight, we slept peacefully and awoke to a the gift of morning in Sardinia!
Did you ever wonder if time is variable? I suppose the more accurate question is, whether progress is variable, in which case, the answer is yes of course. But if progress is any measurement of time, then Sardinia could be a case study of how time has slowed, stopped for a coffee, opened a newspaper and talked to a neighbor before continuing its course through a day. Sardinia introduced herself to us with two elderly gentlemen speaking more loudly with their hands than their voices.
We passed them, smiling to ourselves, and continued along. Sardinia is the only other place in the world where Catalan is spoken other than in Catalunya, Spain. This is because in the 1300s, the Spanish conquered Sardinia and so went the language lessons.
(For more history, click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sardinia)
But, it's not to say just because the Sardinian people speak Catalan, we could understand them with our Spanish-trained ears. No, Catalan is a language unto its own. A mixture of French, Spanish and something quite special.
On our walk, we discovered a little harbor, a decrepid hospital with weeds growing from its red tiled roof and a scooter shop! We went inside, and came out with two helmuts and two 100cc scooters!
So, we went off, like a bull with gas, up and through the hairpin turns of the greater metropolitan-area of Alghero which consisted of sheep, horses and an abundance of cypress trees. (I did take a near digger, for the record, but thanks to my big left foot, I stayed upright by planting it pat on the ground when I thought I was about to go over!) Well, we saw gorgeous coral coves, lush valleys and water so blue you couldn't tell where it ended and the sky began. Then, we cruised out to the coolest spot: a sea cave called Neptune's Grotto! It's an ancient "cathedral" that naturally formed in the side of a rocky cliff about a billion gazillion years ago. It's truly spectacular, and well-worth the 650 stairs down to it - and 650 back up!
So we did the tourist thing on Friday, and then Saturday and Sunday we lounged. There's a saying in Spanish that fits perfectly here: "Que bonito es no hacer nada, y luego descansar" -- How beautiful it is to do nothing, and then rest afterward.
And, that's exactly what we did. We hit the beach and laid out for 2 whole days. For meals we ate nothing but pizza, spaghetti and gelato. (ooops, but once we ate at McDonald's - only to save money, not because we like the fries or anything.)
We did happen to bump into La Espanola again, which was quite delightful. She showed us a live music venue and we drank beer with her, listening to an Italian cover band sing Stevie Wonder songs. Very superstitious, indeed.
Well, that's it for now. I hope you enjoyed my first blog. If the length of it is any indication, then so have I!
To view all of our photos, click here:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2107446197
We miss all of you at home, and look forward to hearing your news and life details! Don't be strangers............xoxoxo..............Kate
This is MY FIRST BLOG EVER. Please bear with me, as I may get a bit off topic at times, that's just how I tend to write. We'll see if blogging is the same for me as writing. You know, one time, back in 2002, Sean and I went to a blog party in D.C. I remember our friend Kate Krauss had not yet heard of the term, "blog," and I made a very clunky attempt at explaining to her the root words, web-log, web'log, b'log = blog. Okay. Enough about blogging, 2002, and Kate Krauss - who now, by the way is totally savvy and hip to blogging.
Sean and I went to Sardinia! Do you know where Sardinia is? A) It's in Sardo, the land of sardines. B) It's an island off the coast of Greece. C) It's an island off the coast of Italy. D) It's the island south of Corsica.
(Answer: C AND D)
Yup, we went to Sardinia, and we loved it. Our plane departed from Girona (the tiny airport north of Barcelona) on Thursday, April 6 at 8:00 pm. We arrived to the city of Alghero in the blackest of night. Our only light was the control tower above the tarmac and the glittering stars in the night sky. (If you're into stargazing, go to Sardinia. It's the best spot in the Med to look at planetoids and nebulae from the Mediterranean sea - sans city lights.)
In the dark, on the bus ride to our B&B in Alghero, we met Irene (a.k.a La Espanola.) Her name is pronounced Elena, by the way. She was traveling by herself for Semana Santa - the Catholic-based "spring break" of Spain. Irene is a flamenco guitar and dance teacher in Barcelona. She had no place booked to stay in Sardinia, so after we'd engaged in frienly chit chat, she decided to latch onto us rather than scan the streets alone for a place to stay. We were in it for the long haul with her, we knew, until she found a safe place to sleep. Thankfully, when we brought her to our B&B, our kindly host Mario helped her find a place - since his was fully booked. (Later he said that if nothing anywhere else had been available, he would have offered his sofa to La Espanola) out of custom (and a healthy pinch of Italian chivalry.)
Now that we were relieved of La Espanola's plight, we slept peacefully and awoke to a the gift of morning in Sardinia!
Did you ever wonder if time is variable? I suppose the more accurate question is, whether progress is variable, in which case, the answer is yes of course. But if progress is any measurement of time, then Sardinia could be a case study of how time has slowed, stopped for a coffee, opened a newspaper and talked to a neighbor before continuing its course through a day. Sardinia introduced herself to us with two elderly gentlemen speaking more loudly with their hands than their voices.
We passed them, smiling to ourselves, and continued along. Sardinia is the only other place in the world where Catalan is spoken other than in Catalunya, Spain. This is because in the 1300s, the Spanish conquered Sardinia and so went the language lessons.
(For more history, click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sardinia)
But, it's not to say just because the Sardinian people speak Catalan, we could understand them with our Spanish-trained ears. No, Catalan is a language unto its own. A mixture of French, Spanish and something quite special.
On our walk, we discovered a little harbor, a decrepid hospital with weeds growing from its red tiled roof and a scooter shop! We went inside, and came out with two helmuts and two 100cc scooters!
So, we went off, like a bull with gas, up and through the hairpin turns of the greater metropolitan-area of Alghero which consisted of sheep, horses and an abundance of cypress trees. (I did take a near digger, for the record, but thanks to my big left foot, I stayed upright by planting it pat on the ground when I thought I was about to go over!) Well, we saw gorgeous coral coves, lush valleys and water so blue you couldn't tell where it ended and the sky began. Then, we cruised out to the coolest spot: a sea cave called Neptune's Grotto! It's an ancient "cathedral" that naturally formed in the side of a rocky cliff about a billion gazillion years ago. It's truly spectacular, and well-worth the 650 stairs down to it - and 650 back up!
So we did the tourist thing on Friday, and then Saturday and Sunday we lounged. There's a saying in Spanish that fits perfectly here: "Que bonito es no hacer nada, y luego descansar" -- How beautiful it is to do nothing, and then rest afterward.
And, that's exactly what we did. We hit the beach and laid out for 2 whole days. For meals we ate nothing but pizza, spaghetti and gelato. (ooops, but once we ate at McDonald's - only to save money, not because we like the fries or anything.)
We did happen to bump into La Espanola again, which was quite delightful. She showed us a live music venue and we drank beer with her, listening to an Italian cover band sing Stevie Wonder songs. Very superstitious, indeed.
Well, that's it for now. I hope you enjoyed my first blog. If the length of it is any indication, then so have I!
To view all of our photos, click here:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2107446197
We miss all of you at home, and look forward to hearing your news and life details! Don't be strangers............xoxoxo..............Kate
posted by Sean McMahon | 9:03 PM
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