Summer in Sardinia
Ajoooooooooo!!! Ew!! Haha, someone in Sardinia is cringing for sure right now after reading this! So Ciao, hello, what’s up! All of these informal greetings have served me well so far here in Italia but I’ve ONLY used them among family and close friends. These are all, of course VERY informal ways to say hello BUT if I’ve learned anything these past five years living here in Italia it’s that good manners go a long way and they are absolutely necessary to survive here. That may sound a tad bit dramatic but really, you CAN offended someone by improperly addressing them… For example I could NEVER, ever get to a point where I would say “ciao” to my daughters teacher, or the lady who serves me cafe (coffee)and brioche at my local bar (coffee shoppe). Safe rule, you never say ciao unless someone says it to you first OR you know this person and you know they are ok with it. Which brings me to Ajo… This is how the locals say their “ciao” and it’s kinda just reserved for them.. If YOU try and say it well they might roll their eyes. Hey, maybe the random guy might find it cute but the consensus is just don’t say it because Sardinians find it annoying LOL. This was my second trip to Sardinia and it was much needed, since this year has started off kinda crazy! From lockdown to a ten day trip in this complete island paradise, my husband claimed I was a “Dolphin on Drugs”! Seeing how I was behaving in the sea everyday and the fact that I would spend all day swimming and flipping around in it. I could see how I earned this title! Two days in we stopped at a sporting goods shoppe and I picked up one of those full face masks, while my husband and daughter got goggles. I need a full face mask so I can do endless handstands, front flips, back flips and I’m obsessed with seeing as many fish as I can! The water in Sardinia is SO INCREDIBLY clear and blue- green, also very warm!! I can compare my top ten beaches I’ve ever set my paws on and Sardinia IS number three, easy! So I’m in the sea nonstop, flippin and tricken so much that my husband yells “don’t be saying my neck my back later!!” Hahahah during my many handstands he’d toss a floatie or a ball over to me like you would to a dolphin at Sea World. I guess he wanted to see if I’d bounce it off my nose and head or spin it with my feet LOL..cute.! Well he was right though. My neck was crying for Icy Hot or Arnica Oil uff… My first trip to Sardinia was two years ago and we stayed on the northeastern side. We flew into the northern airport of Olbia and stayed around Cala Luna, then sailed to Islo Maddelena. In was in the beautiful ancient city of Alghero, that my trip took a terrible turn and I got super sick :{ We hiked down the famous steps and took a boat to Grotta Di Nettuna (Neptunes Grotto) A stunning cave, that was the incredible part. The wind or Mistral was in full effect and probably after being “wet” all day I didn’t have a chance to completely dry. We went to a beautiful five star dinner (outside) and maybe fifteen minutes in I could just feel that my body was giving out. Sadly I had to spend the rest of my five day trip with a high fever and just feeling awful. THIS go around we decided to go south and arrived in Cagliari. Cagliari is the capital of Sardinia and It’s located on the south western part of the Island . It’s obviously the most populated city on the island and it was nice to have the best of both. The city with everything we needed, nightlife, great restaurants, bars, shopping, all within walking distance. I personally love staying in an apartment with a kitchen because we all know how much I love to cook, plus doing your own laundry and just having your own coffee maker, tea kettle is worth it to me. I’m not a fan of room service and I hate having to order every little thing you know? I made their version of ravioli which they call “Culurgiones” https://www.greatitalianchefs.com/recipes/culurgiones-recipe. and they are delicious!! Here’s a link above to a great recipe on how to make them. Typically you will find them filled with potato and fresh mint Mmmmmm. I just had them with olive oil and salt, simple and perfect! We did rent a car because if you want to explore other cities, beaches, beach clubs well then you have to drive. One of my favorite beaches and beach clubs is in Porto Pino and that’s a good hour and a half away from Cagliari. In Cagliari my favorite beach is Poette and the beach club http://lepalmette.com. I love doing this although I know it’s not cheap to “rent” sunbeds I prefer it since I’m baking like a turkey in between Dolphin flips in the sea LOL… I need a bar close by for Champagne BUT the local beer Ichnusa is also pretty damn good!! I was on the hunt for Nurage all the time which are these ancient beehive stone “houses” that are all over the island. I found many and my goal WAS to go naked and take a pic with one but I couldn’t make it happen. That was probably a good idea since they are so ancient I wouldn’t want to disturb any spirits and get some bad juju! I did see flamingos as well!! It’s crazy because they are ALL over Cagliari! I mean I’ve never rolled up and just straight stared into the face of a flamingo and here I did!! It’s SUPER MAGICAL when they fly too, it’s beautiful and insane!!!
