surreal. incroyable. unbelievable.
these are some words i would use to describe the vacation i just had. i thought
winter break was the most amazing vacation ever.. but i have to say .. spring break 2011 .. might just take the cake.
if you recall, i posed about my spring break plans
here
i guess it is easiest to start from the beginning
Kory flew from Sevilla, Spain to Marseille very early on thursday morning and being the sweetheart that he is, decided to pay 7.50 euros to take the bus from Marseille to Aix! I met him at the bus station. i absolutely loved showing him around my little town. i took him to school, to my favorite bakery and on a lovely stroll up the Cours Mirabeau where we of course had to stop at Crêpes a Go-Go and eat a nutella/banana crêpe! he really appreciated my quaint and delightful provencial town and despite the quick time he was here, i think he got a cute glimpse of the french
joie de vivre! after a lovely afternoon we headed back to marseille where literally half of the kids in my program were on the same flight as us to Cagliari, Sardinia. gotta love those cheap RyanAir flights! as soon as we got off the plane, Ian and Trey were there to greet us, as their flight had brought them from London to Cagliari quite early that same morning. The immensive hug that Ian greeted me with absolutely made my day. We literally embraced for a solid 5 minutes... upholding my thought that airports are possibly the sweetest and most romantic places on earth. despite the dozens trying to push their way through the beyond frustrating maze of procedures-- as if the more impatient they are, the quicker they will make it to their gate. but i find them enchantingly sweet-- love ones leaving other loved ones for Lord knows how long, but does it matter, when you part with someone you love, emotions are sure to overcome. the same level of sentiment are the joyful, tearful and typically loud reunions amongst loved ones, friends, families, even strangers have the chance to fall in love in the ever so delightful airport.
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| the gang on our giant porch |
i did some serious research and found an astounding apartment for us in Cagliari. we got there, tummies grumbling but unfortunately too late to go grocery shopping. so we did some wandering and almost immediately we discovered this absolutely AMAZING pizza place. 4-6 euros for HUGE pizzas. and they were delicious. it was quite the discovery. after stuffing our faces we grabbed some ichnusas. aka the cheapest, best beer of cagliari. we spent the evening getting to know each other, swapping stories, playing games and enjoying the Sardinian weather! the next day was absolutely beautiful! we jumped on the first bus to the beach and immediately started to soak up the sun!
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| wetsuits: the hottest and most flattering summer fashion |
one of my premier goals for my semester here in Europe was to go sailing in the Mediterranean. I had some pretty wonderful experiences sailing during my amazing time at
camp during the summer. and i wanted to take my sailing to the next level. now i really dont know that much at all .. i know the basics of how to sail the little Sunfish boats at camp .. so Kat and I decided we'd go with the little Laser sailboat. The weather was perfect but the water was super cold .. so the very nice and friendly Italian gentlemen gave us wet suits. Kory and Ian decided to try their hand at sailing too and Libby ventured to try the S.U.P .. Stand Up Paddle . pretty much just a flat windsurfing board and a kayak paddle. Each of us had quite an experience. I am definitely not extremely skilled at sailing, and Kat had some experience too .. so we definitely capsized a few times.. turtled it completely upside down once.. but hey .. its ALLL part of the experience, Right? The best part? the guy only charged us 20 euros .. for 2 sailboats and the SUP. deal of the century?
je pense oui!
as true college students who think only with their wallets and their stomachs .. we decided that we would take advantage of our quaint little kitchen and cook some
vrai italian-o diner . the boys did the grocery shopping and came back with 15 euros worth of deliciousness. pasta is laughably cheap in italy, as to be expected. and the biggest ticket item? a 7euro JUG of red Italian wine that tasted, well, i've become accustomed to less than perfect foreign wines, but this bad boy... whewf. thankfully we solved the probem and turned it into absolutely delicious vat of sangria equiped with delicious slices of fruits and yummy 1euro champagne! soon the apartment was filled with the sound of cards being shuffled (more on that in a minute) and the aroma of mushrooms, onions and bread with fresh garlic cooking, roasting and baking in the kitchen. spaghetti with sauce, even some green beans and of course, lots of sangria. it was perfect. we girls were so lucky to have such dedicated and attentive chefs!
the next day was a little rough as far as weather goes-- so no beach unfortunately. but we took the opportunity to explore the little town of cagliari. a port town with a rich history of occupation, Cagliari has seen the rule of several civilizations.
The city is an important regional cultural, educational, political and artistic center, known for its diverse Art Nouveau
architecture and several monuments. It is also Sardinia's economic and industrial hub, having one of the biggest ports in the Mediterranean sea
, an international airport
, and the 28th highest income rate in Italy, comparable to several Northern cities, such as Turin
, Vicenza
and Genoa
. (thanks again wikipedia)
we had a most enjoyable day roaming around, taking pictures, getting lost in the labryinth of tiny uphill streets and admiring the interesting and intricate grafitti. we met quite some interesting characters that night when we went out to explore the nightlife after again, dining in true style at our favorite pizza place.
an early RyanAir flight out took us to Pescara, Italy. I wouldnt go as far to say that we landed in Pescara around 1 in the afternoon..but more like crash landed without much damage, though I cant be sure. RyanAir is notorious for providing cheap flights that pretty much just get you from point A to point B and nothing more. with strict luggage requirements-- they go as far to make you STUFF your 1 alloted carryon into this cage like structure that in no way resembles the dimensions of an overhead compartment .. and if they deem your baggage "too high, heavy or big" they slap you with a lovely 40 euro charge to store it under the plane. thankfully i am a smart packer, which means I have gotten very good at condensing my overpacked backpack down so that it fits comfortably to their liking. Also, the seats look like little lego blocks, the flight attendants are not friendly (would you be if you were a flight attendant on the low budget, joke of an airline?) and they try and sell you EVERYTHING from perfume from all the top designers, smokeless cigarettes and 2 day old newspapers. its an experience to say the least. they also play a cheesy little tune that is what you can imagine comes standard as a ringtone when they land, as if they are even celebrating the fact that they made it without any major mishaps.
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| SO MUCH PIZZA |
so pescara. delightful little town on the Adriatic coast. the Adriatic, i would say, is the Mediterraneans twin with a lighter hue, less salt and shores on the banks of some of the most luxurious and elusive beaches in the world. this was merely a lily pad in our efforts to jump across the Mediterranean and Adriatic sea to where our Croatian getaway was waiting. 5 euro RyanAir flight? you cant beat that. So I arranged for a nice little bed and breakfast, meant for 4 people, but again, referencing our college-student-ness -- we are quite adaptable and down for anything. Oddly enough, there was a cute Norwegian couple there when we arrived. Calm and in control of the situation I called the rental company where I was greeted with a nice enough Italian man who spoke ZERO english. fabulous. again, hiccups like this were bound to happen and there was NO need to panic. while I played phonetag with this company for a while, we posted up on the corner of the coastal road where there was a Carleton hotel located on the corner. Looking for internet, we went in and just in case things didnt work out- i asked the rates for the rooms. 80 euros for a double bed. thinking quickly and trying to navigate the 5 other opinions flooding my way. we had the brilliant idea that if we were able to get all 6 of us in .. it would only be 13 euros a person. a miraculous steal considering the Carleton is a 4 star hotel. perhaps against my better judgment i decided to go with it. the boys volunteered to sleep on the floor and hey, id love to save like 18euros. well, the desk lady was nice enough but definitely not stupid. we managed to get the 3 of us girls up and then leave for dinner and some perusing. the weather was a tad chilly-- but the sea and the views were beautiful and the best part? every restaurant along the beach had outdoor seating AND playgrounds. some of the coolest playgrounds I have ever seen too. so we had a dandy good time, treated ourselves to a rather nice dinner of .. yep you guessed it.. pizza. despite efforts to branch out .. we ended up going the cheapest, easiest and equally as delicious pizza route. i have such a new found love for prosciutto ! so .. we return to catch a good night sleep .. and alas, our impeccable scheming fails and the desk lady catches on. despite efforts to just buy another room .. the boys decided 'no big deal' we'll just go sleep in the train station. man did i feel like a total brat. "yeah, you boys go sleep in the dirty, creepy, cold train station-- while we sleep here in this 4 star hotel watching Twilight dubbed in Italian" .. i tried to come up with another solution, but to no avail. the boys were set in their ways. they lasted 2 hours. got way too creeped out by homeless men surrounding them and they caved and booked a hotel. so alas, all was well.
