Sardegna

Because we had so many visitors over the summer, Ryan and I did not get a chance to take a real summer vacation.  We made up for it by sneaking away one weekend in September to Sardegna.  Silvia (our business manager) and Sergio own a small condo on the northern end of the island in a place called Stintino.  They graciously offered to let us stay there on our trip and we cannot thank them enough.  We hopped a 45 minute flight from Ciampino, rented a car, and were in paradise.

The condo.

The view from the front porch.

Looking down to the beach.

The beach.

The beaches were white, the water was crystal clear, and the people were way tanner than either of us.  Despite not being one of the bronzed beautiful people, I had a  fantastic time, laying out on the beach, reading, swimming etc.  Ryan on the other hand had a slight run in with some of the wildlife which put a damper on his beach experience.  Literally within the first five minutes of being in the water Ryan was stung on the neck by some kind of jellyfish.  He had decided it would be a good idea to swim out to where the water turned dark blue and see why that was (see above picture.)  It was out in the dark blue water that Ryan was so viciously attacked.  Meanwhile, I lay oblivious on the beach soaking up the sun, though I quickly sensed something was wrong as Ryan came roaring out of the water loudly uttering a string of obscenities aimed towards all marine life.  It was actually a pretty bad sting (the welt lasted for several weeks), but after his initial outburst Ryan soldiered on with only a few threats of never vacationing at a beach ever again.

The sting.

So pitiful.

But...still enjoying himself.
We will vacation at the beach again or else
Ryan is in for a very unhappy marriage.

During our stay we visited the town of Alghero and had dinner at an out of this world agriturismo.  An agriturismo is generally a working farm that has B&B like accommodations and a restaurant that serves only what the farm (or nearby farms) produce.  The place we went is called Sa Mandra.  They served us roast suckling pig that basically changed my world.  I can't even begin to describe the juicy tenderness of the meat and the crispy saltiness of the roasted skin.  Needless to say if you ever go to Sardegna you have to check this place out.

Alghero at sunset.

The piggies!

Mouth watering....

Excitedly waiting for my roast suckling pig!

Ta-dah!  It was amazing.

It was just an incredible trip.  It was so great to get away and relax in such a beautiful place, even if it was only for a few days.  Thank you so much Silvia and Sergio!