This is Living

I'm baaaaaaack!!!  Sorry about the hiatus. 

Sarah and I went to Cagliari, Sardinia (an Italian island off the western coast of the mainland) for the weekend.  This was a fantastic weekend.  We flew RyanAir for the first time.  For those of you who haven't heard of RyanAir, here's what it is: a bargain airline where your ticket includes a seat (non-reclining), one carry-on bag, and that's it.  The plane (on the inside!) is blue and yellow.  And, if you want to go somewhere from the Barcelona area, you have to fly out of a non-Barcelona airport (there are two, each about an hour away).  There aren't safety pamphlets because there aren't pockets on the back of the seats.  Instead, there are these nice diagrams.  Note that you must remove dentures in case of an emergency evacuation of the plane!

We arrived in Cagliari and hopped in a taxi.  Luckily, some other student who had stayed in our homestay left a little Italian dictionary which Sarah studied for our voyage.  That said, we could not understand a word the cab driver was saying.  This was really strange because I have never been anywhere where I don't speak the language and actually have to understand it.  But we got to our hostel.  The people working there were really friendly and helpful.  They pointed us to a fantastic restaurant called Su Cumbido.  Sarah's Italian got us VERY far.  With the simple word for "two," we were seated and served the works.

This is the restaurant.  First, there was water, wine, and bread on the table.  (So nice because 1) you have to pay for water everywhere in Spain 2) same goes for bread... and we paid for it but we didn't have to ask!!)  The first course was: escargot (I really enjoy this), grilled vegetables, some splendid unidentified seafood in a tomato-y sauce (I will dream of this), and a plate of sliced meats and cheeses.  The second course: ravioli in a light tomato sauce and "gnocchi" (not what we think of as gnocchi) with a tomato/sausage sauce.  The third course: crudite (celery, radishes, and such fresh tomatoes), veal, lamb, and pork.  The fourth course: fresh pastries, a fresh fruit plate, and a shot of moscat (a liquor from their cellar).  Oh!  This meal was so delicious, I cannot even tell you.

Back in our hostel, we had a roommate who had been in Cagliari just the weekend before.  So she was able to tell us all the ins and outs of the city which was really helpful.  Here is a picture of the hostel (There was a loft too, with two more beds):

On Saturday, we wandered around the city.  There weren't museums there or very many touristy sights (most people just go during the summer for the beach) but it was cool to wander around.  It's a very pretty city!

And, what would this blog be without a bit of history?
We went into the Crypt of St. Restituta.  During the 5th century, African refugees were housed here.  They signed their names on the wall.

Then, the Spanish occupied Sardinia from the 14th to 17th centuries.  When they occupied the territory, they used the Elephant Tower (which had formerly been a lookout point) as a torture chamber.  They would put the skulls of people they had killed in cages and let them rot there.  They let one rot for 17 years!!!

After visiting that lovely place, we had some scrumptious Sardinian ravioli for lunch.  They were stuffed with potato and in the nicest, fresh tomato sauce.  Delicioso!  We also stopped by a lovely little Sardinian bakery where we spoke Spanish to learn about the cookies.  It was so cool to be able to converse not in English but in an entirely different language... and Spanish in Italy to top it off!  We bought cookies for our homestay family and we are planning on serving them for dessert tonight!

On Sunday, we visited Poeto Beach.  It was beautiful, if a bit foggy.  And you can't beat going to the beach in February!!

After that, we went back to the city for lunch, delicious gelato (maybe the best gelato I've ever had) and then we laid down on some benches by the port, completely satisfied with our lives.  This may be a really terrible picture (I look like a man) but you get the point, right?  Beautiful day!!!