Waking to the sun shining through the open doors onto the balcony and looking out onto a blue sky and a warm breeze does have its charms. We are now here in Alghero in the North West corner of Sardinia for our two weeks of sunshine and pasta.
We flew in on a busy Easyjet flight to Olbia on the other side of the island and then after a fraught hour or so waiting for the ladies to carry out their bureaucratic manoeuvres on my credit card, licence and passport we headed off west in our Fiat Panda. I think I have declined to take out the many extra insurances, along with pet and breakdown cover but who knows, it was all in Italian? I did however have to sign a form 7 times to show my willing resistance to her offers, and we complain about paperwork in the UK.
Italian driving has a reputation but once you get the hang of the minimum speed required on the roads then you'll be fine. Generally the other drivers help by getting close enough to signal with hand and eye gestures that 30 km/h over the speed indicated on the roadside signs is not sufficient for safe passage. The locals are quite loyal as Fiat and Alpha Romeo are the cars of choice everywhere, little evidence of German engineering and not a sign of a Skoda.
Our flat is a little out of the town centre about 10 minutes walk from the old port buildings and the main thoroughfares. On our first night we just went round the corner to a neighbourhood bar (café) and sat outside having a beer with chicken, chips and mozzarella balls watching the local ladies fuss and bother about their little dogs in between cigarette breaks. They do keep thin here, I can only imagine that the meals we see the girls eating on an evening is the single food for that day.
I couldn't finish without mentioning that it is too warm to be out during the afternoon, fortunately we can have a little snooze in the shade of the flat before it cools again later in the day. Thank goodness.
No comments:
Post a Comment