Sardinia 8/8-8/15 Part 2

We are now on day 4 of our trip.  We had decided to make a trip way south of the island.  It would take over 4 hours to get there.  So, the best option was to stay the night.  We found a great beach front hotel with a pool.  By the time we got to the hotel, it was late afternoon.  The boys had no interest going to the beach.  All they wanted to do was be in the pool.  Ayan and Aayush kept running and jumping into the pool the whole time.  I got tired of watching them.  There swim was cut short.  There was major rain clouds over us and everyone had to evacuate the pool. 

We went to eat at Ristorante Terme di Nora.  When we arrived they told us they are fully booked, but no one was there.  They were still able to accommodate us outside.  By now, we got used to eating pasta and pizza.  Gitesh and I shared a risotto made with red wine.

On day 5, we when to Chia beach. Its the southern most point on the island.  We are now closer to the continent of Africa, not Europe.  What a beautiful place.  We had to walk quite a bit to get to the beach.  On our way to the beach, we passed salt beds.  The boys and I were in awe at how much salt had collected over time.  It was a teaching moment with the kids. Gitesh gave them a small talk on how this happens.  We finally got to the beach.  The water was very warm, clear, and many shades of blue.  I was waist deep and I still could see my feet.  The sand was an apricot color, so different from the sand up North.

Salt beds in the white

salt anyone?

New sport invented by Aayush

Favorite past time!

For lunch, we stopped at a local café to have a quick bite to eat.  There wasn't much choice so we all a folded cheese pizza.  It was interesting.  Very doughy and a bit dry.  But we all ate it up.

The drive back was long and tiring.  It took us over 5 hours to get home.  On our drive home, Gitesh spotted a sign that made him super happy.  It was a McDonalds sign!  There was a McDonalds on the island! Normally, I am so against eating there but after having pizza and pasta for so many days, I agreed to going.  We told the boys where we will be going for dinner and two out of the three boys couldn't wait to eat something different.  My third, who like me is a vegetarian, was not to happy.  We finally got to McD and the menu was very different.  There was a few vegetarian options.  They had a veggie burger, spinach nuggets and Ayan's favorite, McD's version of grilled cheese.  I have to say, this was the first time in HISTORY that we, as a family, all ate at McD together. Just to note, Ayan was the only one to ask for McD the next day. I never thought I would every hear those words from him. The request was declined.

Historical family dinner!

On the 6th day, we went back for the last time to our favorite pizza place before we headed to the beach in San Teodoro.  We all loved the beach and the water.  It was so nice to spend our day there. 

Our favorite pizza place

On our last day on the island we decided to do a boat tour of some of the island that are only accessible by boat.  It was an all day trip where we were able to visit three different island.  The first one was was Isola Santa Maria.  It had a small beach were the boys enjoyed the water.  I didn't go in since it was too early for me to start getting wet.  I think the water was a little cold as well.

The next island stop was Isola Spargi.  The beach that we went to was called Spiaggia di Cala Corsara.  Let me just say, this place took my breathe away. We all enjoyed this place, there 3 different beaches in one cove.  The only way to get to the other beaches was to do a little hike.

The last island we visited was La Maddalena.  By now, we are all tired and ready to go back home.  The sun and water had taken a toll on us.  This stop was mainly for shopping and grabbing a bite to eat.  Remember way in the beginning I had mentioned how we let the boys have ice cream every single day.  We did not disappoint!

I can't believe our vacation came to an end.  It was a very memorable vacation. Very different from our other vacations.  Gitesh and I loved watching and playing with them in the water.  I loved spending one on one time with Aarav in the water as he showed and taught me how to do different forms of swimming, I loved watching Ayan and Gitesh throw football around in the water, and watched the joy on Aayush's face when we bought him his first snorkel kit.  He used it at every single beach we went to.  It became part of him.  We were all sad to go, but there is always another adventure awaiting for us.  Until next time...

 

 

 

Sardinia, Italy 8/8-8/15 Part 1

It's been a while since I last posted!  A lot has happened in the last month and a half.  First off, we took our very first of many family trip in Europe!  We decided to go somewhere warm and sunny since London is neither.  We chose to go to Sardinia.  I had vaguely heard of it.  Knew it was somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea.  Did not know it was part of Italy or didn't realize just how big the island was or how mountainous it is. 

The trip started great! The plane was on time. The kids and I were super excited to visit a new country.  Then, we landed!  Long wait in customs, followed by over an hour wait for a rental car.  With no A/C in the building, it was very hard to wait in line for a car.  The boys were doing their best to stay happy and calm. 

Yeah, after what seemed like forever, we got our car.  It was a very small car. In the U.S., there would be no way I would even consider sitting in such a small car, but we took what was given.  Didn't want to wait any longer.  It was very hard to fit all of us and all of our luggage.

By the time we were on the road and it was past noon.  What we started to realize there was hardly anyone on the roads and how quiet the streets looked.  Then it hit us! It was SIESTA time.  All of Sardinia stops from 1pm-4pm.  Almost everything shuts down-restaurants and shops.  Luckily, we were able to find a really nine place for lunch.  The pizza was just AMAZING!!! I don't think I have ever had such an amazing pizza.  It was so good that in the 8 days we were here, we ate there 3 times total.  By then, the owners and the chef knew us.  In fact, the chef was trying to get Gitesh to take him to the U.S. so he can make pizza there.

My Pizza, no cheese

So, after lunch, we headed to our hotel.  But guess what, remember SIESTA time, it was closed for the afternoon. So we just hung out and enjoyed the views while we waited. 

The boys were ready to jump into the water. Once we got our keys and were situated in our room, off we went to one of many beaches on the trip. The first one was right outside of our hotel.  Not the best beach.  It didn't have fine sand. It had small pebbles and not the best to walk on or enjoy.  We never returned to this one again. But the boys were just happy to be in the water to care.

After swim treats!  So, we promised our boys since its vacation, they will be allowed to have ice cream every single day!  They reminded us everyday and we delivered.

We had dinner at the hotel restaurant! The food was just fabulous! Fresh Italian food with wine!

Gitesh's seafood plate

We had made a list of all the beautiful beaches we both wanted to go.  Some were near and some were very, very far.  It ranged from 1hr drive to 4hr drive one way.  Our first full day, we decided to drive to a nearby beach only 1hr away. It was called Spiaggia de La Cinta in San Teodoro.  It was one of our favorite beaches.  The water was calm, multi shades of blue with a picturesque backdrop. We all loved it so much that we went back later in the week again. For lunch, we went to a near by restaurant called Murta Maria.  This was the place I ate the best pasta dish EVER!  I still dream about it. Nothing special, just penne with tomato sauce. But the pasta and the sauce was so fresh and flavorful.  Yum, Yum.

For dinner, we went to a place called Linus, from the character Peanuts'.  The boys just loved to entertain themselves.  The food was good.  One thing we learned and had to accept over time is that the only and only cuisine we can find here was Italian food. So we were having pizza for lunch and pasta for dinner for 8 straight days.  After a while, it gets a little boring which we soon found out.  Even the boys, who love pizza, were sick of it. 

Needed the wine after the above pics

Day two, we drove to a beach that was 2 1/2hrs away called Spiaggia della Pelosa.  It is located on the north west side of the island.  Our hotel is on the north east side.  After being in the car for so many hours, we were pleasantly surprised how great the roads are in Sardinia.  Driving was very easy.  Yes, the signs were in Italian, but with GPS, getting around wasn't hard at all.  So, on our way to Beach Pelosa, we made a few stops along the way.  The first stop at an old church on the highway.  It's called the Basilica della Santissima Trinita di Saccargia.  Come to find out later that it's the most important Romanesque site in the island.  It's construction is completely in local stones, finished in year 1116.  The church was abandoned in the 16th century and later restored and reopened in the early 20th century. 

For lunch we, we stopped in a town called Sassari, second largest city in Sardinia.  When we got into the town, it was around 12:30pm on a Sunday.  Not one car or one person was seen.  It was such deserted place.  We had to go search for a place to eat. All the restaurants were closed.  We finally saw a person and asked him if there is a place to eat and he guided us to one and only place that was open.  What a beautiful place it was.  It was called Tritus. This was the only place that I got "Mexican" food even though it was an Italian place.   It was a good change from pizza and pasta.

Boys enjoying TV

"Mexican" Food

After lunch, we walked to the city square called Piazza d'ltalia.  What a beautiful place.  Not one person was there.  I would have imagined there would be many tourist here but was I wrong. At least I was able to get some amazing pictures with no one but my kids running around.

We headed for the beach Pelosa.  Gitesh and I were in awe when we saw the beach and the location of it.  The water was much cooler than what we were used to on the other side of the island.  The views of the beach was just amazing.  There was and old fort on one side, a small island on the other side.  I must have counted 4-5 shades of blue in the water. 

On the third full day, we stayed local and took a little easy.  I wanted a break from the water and the beach but I was shot down by the boys.  We did go to the beach for a short time.  By now, tiredness has started to kick in a little.  Late afternoon we went to Spiaggia Capriccioli.  Another scenic place. It was a small beach but very pretty.  This beach had boulders all around.  I stayed away from the waters that day. 

That evening we went to very nice restaurant with great views of the ocean.  The food was good but the kids did not enjoy the food.  Italian food was getting to be a bit to much now.  They were sick and tired of pizza/pasta.

I'm going to end here for now.  We have really enjoyed the trip very much.  Just one thing that stands out on this trip was: We never knew just how local Sardinia is.  There is nothing touristy about this place. Majority of visitors are from Italy.  So, from day one till the last, we were stared at constantly.  It became very uncomfortable at times.  It was as if they had never seen a brown person before.  It was a very different experience from all the travels I have done.