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| Sunset over Porto Faro |
So, time is flying by here in Palau, and I can't believe
it's the start of a new week already! I had such a lovely afternoon off yesterday sunbathing on the beach at Port Faro and then listening to music as the sun went down :) It was still hot even at 8pm and the evening light was absolutely gorgeous. It was really relaxing, and I
honestly don't think I had felt that happy in a long time! This is definitely
the perfect place to spend the summer before moving to Bath in September for my
Masters- it’s like a different world after
being so stressed in Leicester for my final year at Uni. I don’t know why, but I feel like I’m on a healthy detox here- I
guess it is relaxing, I’m getting lots of sleep, the
weather is hot and I'm getting a healthy natural tan, there is amazing healthy food, I’m drinking lots of water and
doing lots of exercise- walking, swimming and playing with Camilla too of course! I love
this stage of life as I’m in limbo again like last
summer- It’s great when you have real life-changing plans
in the near future, but not just yet, giving you time to just enjoy each day as
it comes.
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| Panorama of the coastline of Spargi |
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| Look on the hill- It is the bear at Capo d'Orso! you can really see its formation in this zoomed photo! |
On Friday in the afternoon we went out again on Silvia and
Francesco's friend's boat (Nanni is his name!) but this time also with Camilla's grandma. We spent the afternoon on the coastline of the Isola di
Spargi- another of the beautiful islands which make up the archipelago of La
Maddalena. I don't know if it is possible, but this spot was even more
beautiful than the previous spot we went to by boat the other day. I've never
seen water more crystal-clear and clean in my life- I love the above panorama of the coastline even though it really doesn't do the location justice. We once again spent the afternoon swimming,
snorkelling and sunbathing- what a life these Italians lead! I know
I'm going to miss this place a lot once September comes! On the way back Cami and I had a go at being captains of the boat and had a lot of fun steering- luckily Nanni was on hand for when we had to slow down and carefully go into the port of Palau!
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| Nanni snorkelling |
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| Silvia chilling on the boat |
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| Cami and me onboard |
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| Me enjoying a spot of swimming |
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| Me resting on a rock after a swim |
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| Me, Cami and her grandma |
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| The new captains of the boat |
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| Good driving skills Cami! |
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| A rock shaped like ITALIA- you see it right? It is definitely a boot! |
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| Harbour of La Maddalena |
On Saturday I spent the day wandering around the beautiful streets of the main town on the
island of La Maddalena (the town goes by the same name) with my new Finnish
friend Rose. We started talking on a Facebook group for au pairs working in
Italy, and seeing as she is based in the north of Sardinia like me, we
decided to meet up for the day to visit the town of La Maddalena. She's au
pairing in a city called Sassari in the north-west near Alghero (around a 3hr
journey by bus) and therefore the journey wasn't too far for her to come over
to Palau for the day. Silvia got us some tickets for the ferry over to the Island as with a residents permit, a day return costs just €2 instead of €10- What a bargain! We arrived
around 11.30 and I was so surprised how quick the journey was- within 15
minutes we were pulling into the port of La Maddalena. As the day started off, it was really humid and a little overcast but luckily the clouds disappeared and the sky was bright blue and it must have been at least 35 degrees (although it felt like 45 as there was no wind!). As soon as we arrived I could tell I was going to fall in love with the place- I just loved the long cobbled narrow streets, balconies overflowing with bright flowers, beautiful arched buildings and colour everywhere you looked. Rose and I headed straight for the little fishing harbour first, and it was then that I realised this girl loves photography just like me- she was snapping away and composing some gorgeous photos. I'm usually thought of as the photo crazy person, but now I have finally met my match!
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| Cloudy leaving Palau |
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| Me on the top deck of the boat |
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| The town from the sea |
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| A beautiful piazza in the centre |
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| The main street |
We
then went wandering around the town admiring pretty much every building and
snapping away like tourists- now how could we not in a place as gorgeous as
that! Before we left Palau in the morning, Silvia told us to keep a look out
for a famous sweet shop called 'Le Caramelle dei Pirati' and before long we had
found it and couldn't resist going inside. It really was probably the most
amazing sweet shop I had ever been in! there were barrels of sweets of all
different shapes, colours and sizes, and Rose and I couldn't wait to pop a few
in a bag. Luckily we did only buy a few though as the bags came to nearly €5 each! It might have been the most amazing
sweet shop ever, but it was also the most expensive! Still, I have to say it
was worth it for a bit of childhood nostalgia. I particularly liked my snake,
and Rose her crocodile! I think the last time I had a jelly snake was probably
from the pick'n'mix at the cinema when I was 10!
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| The front of the shop |
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| Barrels and barrels of sweets |
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| A barrel of snakes |
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| A barrel of giant strawberry marshmallows |
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| Me with my snakey! |
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| Here he is again :) |
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| A barrel of crocodiles! - Rose's was cola flavoured- YUM |
After
the excitement of the sweet-shop, we were quite peckish so decided to stop in a
cute little focaccia and pizza place in the Main Street. For just €1.50 each, we had a slice of focaccia! Mine was
'al pomodoro' (tomato) and Rose's 'alla cipolla' (onion). Even though we were
pretty full up, we still had room afterwards for a frozen yoghurt dessert! I
remember my friend Kat taking me for my first 'FroYo' when I visited her during
her Erasmus period in Valencia last year, and it was so good that we kept going
back time and time again! This one in La Maddalena was just as good- but
perhaps even better as they were really generous with the toppings and sauces!
In Valencia you were allowed one sauce and one topping, but yesterday Rose and
I had three sauces and a topping! The guy serving them to us wasn't stingy in
the slightest! After devouring our frozen yoghurts (in silence to appreciate
them more- maybe even with our eyes closed too!) we wandered back through the
town and started to climb the winding streets uphill with the intention of
finding a beautiful panorama! Along the way I found my future house (joke)....
But I really did fall in love with their balcony! (I really hope they weren't
home whilst I was practically having a photo shoot on their property!).
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| Focaccia's for lunch |
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| Followed by FroYo's |
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| My future house with this balcony drenched in pink flowers |
The
view as we were climbing the hill just got better and better the higher we
went, and we couldn't stop snapping our cameras! I think the view really was
perfection- there were the hills, the sea, blue sky, and best of all- a
beautiful Italian town spreading out in front of our eyes. The houses were all
different pastel colours- yellows, oranges, whites and pinks with gorgeous
terracotta roofs all surrounded by flowers of every colour, trees and cacti. I
couldn't tear my eyes away- the people who live here with this view really are
some of the luckiest people in the world.
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| Me climbing up the hill |
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| The view over La Maddalena town |
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| Yellow flowers |
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| And orange ones |
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| And beautiful red ones |
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| Not forgetting sunflowers too |
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| Rose and me at the top |
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| Me indulging in a bit of modelling |
When we finally were able to tear our eyes away from the
view, it was around 4 and we walked back down to the town ready to get the boat
back across to Palau. Rosie's coach back to Sassari left at 18.20, so I still
had a while to show her around Palau, and Porto Faro too- one of my favourite
places I have seen so far during my time here. We chilled out by the lighthouse
eating our snake and crocodile sweeties, and then went to grab a bite to eat in
a pizzeria before her coach left. We had such a perfect day, and I'm so glad
she came to visit. I hope before I leave I'll be able to go over to see her in
Sassari, and then of course I'll be looking at some flights to Helsinki in
Finland for the autumn!
Ok well that’s all for this update, baci
dalla Sardegna!
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| Titanic pose at Port Faro |
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| Me on the rocks at Port Faro |
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| Rocket and parmesan pizza slices for dinner |
