Palau & Porto Cervo, Sardinia

Day 2 in Sardinia we had a yacht booked to take us around the La Maddelena archipelago to see all the beaches that weren't accessible by car. There were only 8 other people on our boat which made it so much better (I'm very glad we traveled in June and not August!). The first island was named Asparagus (well, the much more exotic Italian name for asparagus) as the island used to grow tonnes of it. We were ferried by a dingy and spend over an hour on the white sand beach (WOOHOO! I've hated all the stone beaches) and vibrant blue water. The water was cool but not too cold, a much appreciated break from the 29 degree day and stinging sun! We arrived back to the boat to appetizers of local Sardinian cheese and meat and of course wine! We sailed past the famous pink beach which isn't very pink anymore due to tourists stealing the sand! After another hour or so of sailing we were treated to a pasta lunch, and more wine! We finally arrived at another perfect white sand beach and by then all of the rest of the tourists had gone so we got it all to ourselves. We spend 2 hours soaking up the sun (Douggie sleeping) and then headed home. It was 8pm so we decided to get something local and headed to the nicest looking restraunt in Palau. We sat outside and looked at the harbor while devouring pasta and calamari.

We were meant to go scuba diving on Monday, but due to this persistent sniffle of mine we decided it was an unnecessary risk (it can be quite dangerous to dive with blocked sinuses). While we were both disappointed (although Ds foot still not healed so maybe he was a bit relieved) we decided to get on with the day and drive the 45 minutes to our next hotel in Porto Cervo. Well, we knew it would be nice... But not this nice! It was very ritzy! We couldn't check in yet so we decided to go to the hotel bar for a drink. Hmmm, 15 euro for a beer-i think not. We escaped with a few 5euro San Pellegrinos and decided to get lunch somewhere nearby. We stumbled upon an absolute gem, within our budget, outside but under shade, harbor views of the megayachts and yummy pasta. We spent the afternoon eating cheese and pepper pasta and googling the megayachts we could see (one was woth $1billion USD). We then checked into our hotel room to find we had been upgraded (again, yay for shoulder season!). We decided to check out the hotels private beach which is accessible by speedboat. It took around 5 mins to get there and while wasn't overly impressive was nice and cool water with comfy chairs. By the time we headed back to the room it was time for dinner and Douggie found a cute little bistro (again in our price range!) only 5 min drive. You shpuld have seen the concierges face when we handed him the keys to our Fiat, it definitely stood our amoung the sea of Ferraris and Lamborghinis! The menu had Tuna Tartare with fresh fruits which of course I couldn't pass up! I've never had Tuna and pineapple before but it was amazing!

The next day in Sardinia after a kings breakfast (4 courses!) we jumped in the car and caught a ferry to La Maddelena in search of amazing beaches. We took the 15 min ferry and drove for around 20 mins to a secluded beach, Google told us to then walk along a path (I think hike through the Bush is more apt) and we came out to a tiny beach with barely anyone on it, perfect white sand and bright blue water. We spent a few hours there reading and swimming before heading to the only place on the island for a bite to eat. We then ventured to another beach which had a shipwreck. We spent sometime swimming and snorkeling around this before heading back to catch the 6.30 ferry. We arrived back a the hotel at 7.30 and Doug told me to have a shower and put on something nice as he had booked a restraunt. I got out of the shower as a bottle of champagne arrived so we drank it on the balcony together. We walked to the restraunt which to be honest wasn't what I was expecting. It was in an outdoor plaza and had a very limited menu. After the huge lunch I had that day and the disappointing menu we decided to save our cash and head home.

After a big brekky on our final day we decided (as we had to leave for the airport at 5) that the pool sounded like the best option. I finished my book and enjoyed the water before we headed for a late lunch at our new favorite restraunt, the one we went to day 1 in Porto Cervo. We shared some calamari and pasta and started planning out our next few days in Amsterdam. We had our final Gelato and a quick shower then jumped back on the crazy Italian roads headed to the airport.

Off to Amsterdam tonight - Doug is very excited as he's found a Chinese restraunt right near our hotel so that's dinner sorted!