Alghero, Sardinia

September 12-13, 2007

Well, here we are on another trip! Yahoo! The destination: Italy (again)! I must really really like Italy because I'm always going there ... hmmm, we are planning a trip to Pompeii later this year (I justified my point, I do believe.)

The bad news: Jacob, our darling, is in my beloved home-state of Wisconsin (love you, miss you) and was not able to attend (for obvious reasons). Gabby was also unable to attend, but thanks to our wonderful friend, Jerri Lynn (and Teah and Hannah), she was well taken care of (but greatly missed).

The good news: Melissa, Austin and I were accompanied by our good friends! The Takacs family (Jen, Wes, Thrinn, Kaden, Gideon) and The Ingram family-minus-Jerry (Maaret, Maggie, August).

The Details
Day 1: The day started as it does on these "trips" ... early to rise! The 6:10 am flight had our names on it so *woosh*, off we went. The flight lasted around 2 1/2 hours, so we partook of the very healthy airplane snacks (Melissa's favorite soup and Austin's favorite pizza).

After a little snoozing (and possible drooling), I was awakened by the announcement of the lottery winner which was (drum roll, please) ... ME! Yes, it is true. I finally won something! I won a free return trip on Ryan Air ... what is the catch, you ask? Well, I need to book a trip within the next 7 days and fly from Sept. 15 to the end of January. There is much discussion and question as to where and when we will be flying. You may cast your vote and I will take it into consideration.

After our flight landed (early, I might add), we took the city bus to our accomodations, La Mariposa. On the walk towards La Mariposa, we traversed the market (lucky we were there on market day!) and Melissa "needed" a skirt and a swimsuit (she couldn't "find" hers ... it was still "packed" in a box). Besides clothing and purses, one could find cheese, fruits, veggies and toys a-plenty! Not to mention the ugliest pair of pants I have seen.

After the market, we arrived at the family campsite. We ended up in a bungalow (I call it "hostel-type bunk bed"). We didn't have any plumbing facilities (they were outside in a communal area) but we did have access to our own mini-fridge, camp stove and a variety of cutlery and dishes. A little supermarket was on the grounds in case you forgot or needed anything.

Settling in took no time at all and then ... believe it or not, we were off to the beach! YEAH! The main reason for going! La Mariposa has a part of the beach as their own where you can rent an umbrella and two lounge chairs for 10 euros. I totally rented it, thank you very much! The sand was warm and fine and there were minimal rocks, even though I did stub my toe a time or two.

In this picture, you will see a line of rocks out in the background. I swam out there with Melissa and Wes - it was amazing! The water was "refreshing" (aka cold) but we enjoyed a bit of a jump off of the rocks ... I miscalculated the depth of the water and did scrape my foot up a bit - unfortunately, the one and only pair of "shoes" I brought were my "thongs" and they rubbed on the scrape (just a bit, but the sand was on the gritty side).

Melissa and Austin joined Jen, Wes, Maaret, Maggie, and Thrinn on a swim out to the rocks and I stayed behind with Kaden, August and Gideon. August was less than thrilled to have been left behind and due to the heat or an upset tummy, decided to delight me (and our neighbors) with a screaming serenade. Poor August! Kaden, bless his heart, slept the whole time and Gideon and I played in the sand. We made sandcastles and played "bury the baby's legs" ... very amusing!

The gang came back from the rocks with a special surprise ... 2 starfish and a sea urchin! Melissa and Austin really enjoyed seeing the sea life - it was the favorite part of the day!

After the beach, we headed to the pizzeria which was located on the campsite grounds ... yum yum! We were all quite "knackered" and hit the bunks after a warm shower.

Day 2: After eating our pre-packed PB&J sandwiches and crunching on some pringles and bruised bananas, we checked out of the bungalow and headed to the city of Alghero. Jen told us of a neato place to visit ... Grotta di Nettuno (Neptune's Grotta or Cave).

On the stroll to the ticket booth, Maaret spotted a gelateria. Melissa wanted melone and Austin wanted choco-chip, so I told the worker I wanted "one melone and one choco-chip". She assumed I meant one scoop of each ... YUCK! Melissa graciously volunteered to eat said mistake ...poor Melissa! She said the melone was excellent but the combination was to be desired!

We boarded the ferry for the trip to the grotto and had a half hour boat ride. The wind was a bit on the whipping side and Melissa's hair was everywhere! It was so funny! She didn't want me to take any pictures so I told her I would delete one. She, unfortunately, didn't realize I would be taking 8 ... muah ha ha! In the end, I did live up to my end of the bargain and even deleted 2 for her! (I'm so kind)

The ferry took us around the spectacular vertical cliffs of Capo Caccia and then around the Isola Foradada (a little island surrounded by an amazingly blue bay called of Porte Conte) before bringing us to the entrance of the grotto.

There are two ways in which to get to the entrance of the grotto - the ferry or the stairs. There are 656 steps that lead down to the grotto - that you would also have to climb back up! The steps are called the "escala del cabirol" (goat's steps). If I would have brought my inhaler, I may have been interested in the climb but the addition of the little ones and strollers prompted us to take the ferry. We would have missed out on the Porte Conte which would have been a tragedy.

A guided tour of the caves was next on the agenda. (NOTE: the pictures were taken without flash so they may be a little fuzzy - I tried propping my camera on a post and it helped a little bit) Personally, I would have preferred to explore the caves at my own pace, but we had a guided tour and there were time limits due to the arrival of other tours behind us ... if only the staff were a little more pleasant! Never mind that - the caves were awesome! The water made it even more so and were enjoyed by all of us!

After the caves, we headed off to lunch. We ended up at the Ristorante Nettuno which had amazing views of the port. Again, pizza was on the menu for the Wilcock family! Yum yum again! It was the safest thing on the menu except I paid 3 euros for a pop! Outrageous!

A stroll around the old town brought us to another gelateria and I made sure I didn't make the same mistake! It was too bad Melissa didn't like that melone better than the other, but at least it wasn't chocolate covered! ;)

We came upon the Cathedral of St. Mary and went inside. WOW! It was really awesome inside. I'm not a professional historical church aficionado; however, this cathedral was different from all of the others I've seen. The marble was a deep red, almost brown, and the combination of that with gold ith the green was simply breathtaking! Melissa and Austin each lit a candle for Grandpa Rick, which was really cute - they always remember him at each church we go to with a candle. I guess you could say it has become our family tradition!

After detour around the old fort walls (which looked similar to Rhodes, Greece), we were on our way to the airport via the city bus. May I just state that we were packed like sardines (in Sardinia)? I must say, it would have been an impossibility to put one more person on that bus. Talk about being up close and personal! And every once in a while, you would get a whiff of something very unpleasant!

The flight home ended up landing early, too. The line for passport control and entry back to the UK was non-existent (we have waited up to 1 1/2 hours on previous trips) which made the whole trip even more memorable! There is nothing worse than coming home from a exceptional trip to stand in a line forever! On a scale of 1 - 10, it was a definite 10!

TIP - if you are interested in visiting, please bring your goggles or snorkel/mask!