This morning, Avery woke up with a start and exclaimed: "Today are we going back to Italy?" Anytime we are out of Rome, he thinks we have left Italy. But in fact, the day had finally come -- we were able to pack our bags and hit the road. Of course, it took us the better part of the morning to pack, have breakfast, and load up the car. In the meantime, I asked the GM to waive our incidental charges in addition to the 20% discount that had been offered. I felt 20% was insufficient. He agreed to waive half of the charges and had already "comped" us by offering wine at two of our dinners, so in the end our discount was closer to 30% and I was satisfied. Still, we were happy to be moving on. I don't think we'll be staying at a brand new hotel any time soon -- lesson learned.
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| Along the road to the Costa Rei |
The drive was really beautiful. The terrain in Sardegna is mountainous but also varied. The kids watched a movie most of the way -- but Avery complained because he was not enjoying Bend it Like Beckham as much as the girls. We actually stopped along the way to have lunch. Since we were taking the "new" four lane highway (the only one on the island) we were not taking the shortest route, but rather driving to the West coast before heading south and then up the East coast. We thought it would be a good opportunity to see the coastline and beaches on the West side of the island, but in the end the highway wasn't as close to the water as we thought, and we didn't want to make the additional detour. But we did stop for what turned out to be sit-down lunch in a restaurant next to a gas station and it was pretty good. From there we drove on to Cagliari and around the horn through Solanas -- where we stopped to take in the incredible views. This island is stunning all around. We continued on to Costa Rei, site of our next hotel. The Costa Rei beach has been rated as one of the top five beaches in the world.
We didn't arrive at The Villas Resort until about 5pm -- the drive had been about 3 1/2 hours (excluding lunch). Of course we had to call the hotel for directions because there were no signs for the place; and many places don't have an actual address. More and more we are discovering that Sardegna is not really part of Italy. They have their own language, their own cuisine, and their own way of doing things -- often not very efficiently. By making that comparison to Italy, you can imagine how slow and inefficient things in Sardegna really are.
It was still incredibly hot when we arrived. It has hit 100 degrees each and every day since we arrived on this island, and with not a cloud in the sky. I never thought I would complain about too much sun, but it's too much sun! We checked in, and were given the tour of the property -- the manager was wearing a black suit and I, in my shorts and t-shirt, was melting!
This is the smallest and thus most intimate of the places we are staying in Sardegna. The hotel has just over 70 accommodations -- many of which are, as the name implies, villas. Our villa is a two bedroom, two bathroom bungalow with an enormous wrap-around terrace which includes a jacuzzi tub for four. I knew that would be a hit with the kids.
As quickly as we possibly could, we changed and went to the beach. The beach here is really incredible -- miles of white sand and turqouise waters, and very shallow for quite a distance, perfect for Avery. We swam and enjoyed the sea.
Afterwards, we showered and changed for dinner. What a difference! Good food again. We loved the individually sized portions of fresh whole fish, the tasty prosciutto and melone, and the almond-crusted lamb chops. In addition, the outdoor, poolside dining experience featured during and after dinner entertainment. We were so relieved. Seems like we'll have a nice, relaxing stay here.
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