Day 9 of 8: Sunday 3rd July 2011

Woke at 0730. We had to use the earplugs overnight as there was a lot of noise from people in corridors, "cackling", and doors slamming.

Went over to breakfast in a large marquee with several waiters around to help us with the buffet. Notice in reception said that we were to be picked up at 1100 so we decided we would spend some time on the private beach fo a paddle and to get my front burnt to match the back.



1100 - The bus left on time and we got to the airport for 1130 where we all started to queue at the check in desk. The departure board suggested that the plane might be due to leave at 1400. There as some delay as there were 3 desks staffed but no bag were being loaded. Again, there was no explanation.
1215 - staff start processing bags
1235 - we go through security yet again to sit out our time in the departue lounge. Had  tins of Nestea ice tea @ €1.50 each.
1400 - gates open and we are loaded onto the buses which take us to the plane
1410 - everyone on board, but rear toilet out of use as it was not emptied overnight - but the rest of the plane is OK as we now have 2 engineers on board with us. There was another delay as we waited for ATC to give us the OK.
1500 - taxied to the end of the runway
1505 -wheels up! Cabin crew as relieved as the passengers. No sandwiches but crew were able to sell us hot meals and snacks, so we had a mixture of ginger ale and lemonade to wash down pringles and mini jammy dodgers in between taking pictures out of the plane window



1620 UK time - landed back at EMA to cheers from passengers and relieved smiles from the cabin crew.

To add to the joy of the journey home, my passport chip did not work and I had to be seen by a human being. The good thing was that the bags were picked up quickly and we were 2nd in the queue for taxis so we got home at 1745. Only 25 hours late.

We did not let the journey home spoil what was a wonderful holiday. treating it as an adventure rather than a "nightmare journey from hell", and appreciating that there was nothing the crew on the plane could do about the idiot who damaged the toilet door on the flight out that caused all the delay - though I would send them the bill for the buses and hotels.

There is a lot more of Sardinia to visit, and I expect that we will be back.

Day 8 of 8: Saturday 2nd July 2011

Up for breakfast and rethinking the previous night's packing - what could be squeezed in where without damage? The plan as to get sweets for the office at the airport as I only had €10 left to cover the €1 bus fare and, if it arrived, the Guardian would be €3.20.

Bags packed, we went down to check out and was pleased to be given a 10% discount fo staying for a week. We left the bags with reception and went out for a final stroll in the morning sun. Stopped off to buy amoretti biscuits from the little shop at the end of the road for us and some nougat from a stall in the square for work. We enjoyed a few quiet moments on the bastion by Piazza Sulis having picked up Friday's Guardian from the kiosk.



We bought our bus tickets and then went back to the hotel to pick up our bags. The bus  stop as by a cafe so we had an ice tea each before a straightforward journey.

In contrast with the flight out, the airport was a dreadfully slow process. We were among the last to get our bags loaded, and once through security the wait by the gate was only made interesting by the disabled lift breaking down when they tried to use it.

We sat and waited as the 1310 flight became 1320 (maybe), and at 1330 we were told that it was possibly going to be 1400, although the young Italian woman who made the announcement did say 2 AM! She blushed and laughed when the crowd "checked" that she meant PM. At this point, the years of union steward training kicked in and I started taking notes...

1410 - announcement that flight delayed, new time "indefinite", 2 more staff appear to back up young woman who had been on her own.
1430 - staff announce that we can go back through security to get some food as they wait to hear from BMI about technician for the plane. But if we go out
we will have to gt hrough security checks again. As we have no Euros left I took €50 from the Bancomat ATM in the departure lounge.
1445 - 2 sandwiches, 2 peach teas & 2 donuts cost €15, and now I have Euro notes that I can us in the machines once we get back past security.
1555 - announcement that flight delayed until 2015. Took a photo of the departure board as a record


1620 - announcement that flight now delayed until 1815. Used phrase book to get a latex glove from security to make a ball for a small lad to keep him busy. Security Guard thought I had just slipped through but the man who had provided the glove put him right.
1650ish - announcement that could get vouchers for food and drink from check in desk, so had to go back through security again. Not a lot of choice or Sonia - tuna salad yet again.
1800 - board had said 1815 and 1805 over the last hour. Now says 1915. Broken into the sweets bought for work.
1830 - Time still shows 1915 but no plane has appeared yet. Everyone chatting about their holiday and trying to keep the small children occupied.
1850 - Called to gate B1 for passport checks yet again. While in the queue we saw BMIbaby plane land - to ironic cheers. Once through security I was taken aside for a bag check - nothning switched on, nothning sharp, and no frisk.
1935 - staff arrive o load us onto buses
2000 - Get onto plane at last
2030 - Taxi out but new technical problem. luckily engineer still on board
2050 - return to stand and engineer disappears into the hold to sort out a "microswitch". Water rations handed out by cabin crew to hot, tired and frustrated passengers.
2130 - announcement that not flying and airline sorting out hotels for us all. we are t hang onto our boarding passes for tomorrow...off the bus and into customs again where had to wait for officials to appear to let us back into Italy. Once we had got our bags fro  baggage claim we were onto a bus.
2315 - in room at 4 star Hotel Calabona. Had a shower then settled into bed as was exhausted after a tiring and frustrating day at the airport.

Lessons to be learnt by BMIbaby:
1) You have good staff who coped well despite having been stuck in the plane all day in the heat with the air con and other facilities turned off. They were far more diplomatic that I would have been with the whinging couple who seemed to think that the crew should brief them personally on all developments because they had children. No one pointed out that the crew would not be able to deal with the problem while they were being polite to them.
2) Your flight crew used their initiative when they handed out water to the passengers. A dynamic risk assessment of the situation meant that passengers were able to busy themselves making sure everyone got some water rather than turning on the crew or anyone fainting in the heat.
3) Getting one member of the crew off the plane to directly inform the passengers what was going on would have meant that we knew what was actually happening rather than relying on Italian staff who caused frustration as they either did not know what was happening or struggled to explain.

Day 7 of 8: Friday 1st July 2011

I woke at 0730 while Sonia slept in until gone 0800. Today was to be our shopping day so, having applied the sunblock after breakfast, we hit the streets for some serious window shopping for red coral. Didn't buy any coral but I bought a leather belt and Sonia some amoretti both from small shops at the top end of Via Ambrogio Machin.



We ended up down at the harbourside to see about the Il Cocchio "horse drawn" carriage tour. They were waiting for the second carriage and the 2 horses to arrive so we went for a drink in a cafe across the way. A coffee for me and a coke for Sonia as the waitress could not get the concept of a coke float so didn't serve the ice cream. We watched the carriage arrive under it's own power along Via Garibaldi. Electric motors on the back wheels mean that the horses do not have to pull the wagons, just steer them through the narrow streets.



After our tour, I called in at another news vendor by Torre di San Giovanni who explained that no English papers had arrived that day and he did not know why. We then walked along the bastion to Torre San Giacomo which had an exhibition about the local sea conservation area. It looked like an official opening event with TV camera and a very slick presenter but we were told it was OK to go in. After looking at a desalination plant in the cellar, we headed off along Bastioni Marco Polo but the gelatteria was closed, as was the one on Piazza Civica so we looked a a few tee shirt shops before ending up at the little Ristorante 10 Metri on Via Barcellonetta, just round the corner from the hotel, for a light pasta lunch.



It was an easy stroll round the corner back to the hotel for a siesta at 1330. 3 doses of coffee that morning meant that I only slept for an hour so I went down to the cloister to read. When I returned to the room at 1700, I woke Sonia from a dream about 2 types of robot (1 skeletal and 1 cylon-like) separately robbing an orange and white building...hmmm. It was good wine at lunchtime!

We eventually headed out in search of a tee shirt for me, something for Sonia, a photo of the bell tower and something to eat. I took a few photos of the quiet streets...



Couldn't find the right tee shirt at first but Sonia spotted a shirt shop as it had a handmade light purple blouse on display. While she tried that on, I found 2 handmade shirts which I tried on. We (I) ended up buying all three. After a bit more wandering we found La Botteghina which ticked many boxes - organic, fair trade, home made (and a rainbow flag sticker in the door) but they didn't open until 1930 and it was only 1845. So we did some more wandering and found my tee shirt. Once we had dropped the bags off back at the hotel (the shop was just round the corner from the hotel) we did a bit more meandering and refound La Botteghina at 1930 so we were their first customers of the night. My notes for the night say "food very good, wine very good, atmosphere very good". I think we can safely assume that I enjoyed it.



As it as coming up to 2100, we strolled back to the hotel to begin packing, listening to the "shree" of the swifts as they hunted the mosquitos. I eventually dropped off after reading a chapter of my book while waiting for the aloe vera to dry on my back.

Day 6 of 8: Thursday 30th June 2011

We both woke feeling a bit groggy, unrelated to the mojitos, honest! After breakfast we stopped off at the news vendor kiosk. No Guardians but Sunday's Observer had arrived so I bought that. Amused to read that Venus Williams could win Wimbledon, despite having already read about her "shock exit".

We then went down to the harbour to catch the Trottolo panoramic open top bus. It went once round the edge of the old town, out to Piazza Balagner then back to the sea front and along the lido before going off into the countryside to Capo Caccia. There were lots of spectacular views and a short stop at the Nuraghe Palmavera neolithic village on the way there. The bus dropped us back at the harbour at 1150, just in time for lunch. The trip had cost us €12 each rather than the advertised €18 as we had been given discount vouchers when we ate at the Placa Civica Ristorante (27th June lunch).







I visited the Banc National de Paris branch on Via Vittoria Emanuelle, opposite the cafe where we spent our first afternoon. With €120 in my wallet we went for a wander until we found a pizzeria on Piazza Municipo. Sonia had a cheeseless pizza while I had ham & mushroom. We enjoyed a half bottle of local white wine and finished with limoncello dessert for me and lemon sorbet for Sonia. We hat a chat with young Jack from Dundalk in Ireland who was looking forward to his train ride that afternoon - and his Mum & Dad were looking forward to a rest...

Then back to the hotel for a siesta for me while Sonia sat in the cloisters to read the paper. It was a short siesta until 1500 when I joined her. I did my good samaritan act for the day...a famous Sardinian singer was being interviewed for TV in the lower courtyard but they were locked in. I eventually worked out what they were asking me to do and went down to reception where I struggled to explain that the TV people were trapped, only to find that it had been sorted out in the 2 minutes it had taken me to get down there. I returned to the cloister and finished the Observer crossword & sudoko while listening to the interview being recorded below.

Once we had tidied up, we went for a walk up to a park in the new town on Via Alessandro Massini where we had a Callipo ice lolly each before walking back to the Bastioni Magellano.

We went looking for a light evening meal and ended up trying the Golfo holiday complex as the menu said they served burgers which Sonia wanted. Unfortunately these were undercooked despite being sent back once.

We cheered ourselves up after this disappointing meal by revisited the stalls on the sea front and bought a couple of feshly made amoretti biscuits. They were delicious - "esquisito!" and didn't make it to the end of the sea front. The consensus was that we would need to go back for some more tomorrow.

We decided to head back to the old town with the aim of having a drink at the Mill Inn (the obligatory Irish Bar) but it was shut so we went to another one further down Via Majorca. I managed a Bierra Rosso (red German beer at 7.6%) while Sonia had a dark rum and coke. We eventually left and headed back to the hotel at 2130, stopping to buy a bottle of water from a vending machine in a side street for €1.

Day 5 of 8: Wednesday 29th June 2011

We both slept well after yesterday's trip, waking just before 8. I killed a mosquito in the bathroom in revenge for the bites that had been taken out of my ankle and calf over the past couple of days. A shower and a light breakfast, and then off to the newspaper booth to buy Tuesday's edition of the European Guardian. The main story was about a Tory dying in a portaloo toilet at Glastonbury festival following a leak (political), which was very odd.

A visit to a pharmacia on Via XX Settembre to buy some "after sun" lotion for my back involved showing off a bit of my sunburn and the shop assistant dashing off to get a tube of aloe vera gel. From there we crossed the road to the Coral Museum to buy our Gaudi exhibition tickets. A €5 ticket for the exhibition got us into all the other museums in town that were taking part.

From the Coral Museum we followed the route round the cormer to Torre di Sulis where we could get onto the roof for views over the town.



As it was noon, we stopped off in a cafe for a light lunch and water before heading back to the hotel for a siesta. I slept well from 1300 to about 1600 after Sonia had rubbed some of the aloe vera onto my back. She repeated the treatment at 1600 before she went to the cloisters to read while I dozed and read the paper for an hour before I joined her. By 1800 we were ready to continue on the Gaudi trail.



I was amazed to find that Gaudi used a lot of hyperbolic paraboloids in his structures, and was even more amazed to realise that I knew what this meant, thanks to a presentation I had to prepare during my degree back in 1984. It's surprising what lodges in the memory!

Having finished the Gaudi trail and been fascinated by the organic influences of his structures, as well as personally recognising the elegance of the structural solutions he created, we went down to the promenade. Here we found many stalls at Ferra San Giovanni - a local saint's fair. We didn't go on the fairground rides set up on the harbourside but did try some of the food samples such as the olives in extremely hot chillies. It was an odd mix of stalls - food, hardware, sweets, "hippy" clothes, Sky TV, the Coastguard...

We stopped off for crepes and gelato at a cafe overlooking the harbour. Sonia's nutella and banana beat her, it was TOO sweet, although my ice cream crepe was fine. Here's the view from out table...



Suitably refreshed we wandered off into the shopping streets of the "new" town to find the Fair Trade shop on Via XX Settembre where Sonia bought a beautiful green handbag. A stroll down the road took us back to the Orange Bar for alcoholic mojitos as a night cap before heading back to the hotel. When we asked to buy a couple of bottles of water from the fridge in the hotel reception, the doorman got me a 1l bottle and refused payment, which was very generous of him.

We settled down in the room while the mojitos did their thing, discussing our plans for the next few days. We thought that we might go on the open top bus trip and do some shopping on Friday but I was down to €25 so needed to visit an ATM which would be interesting so I scoured the phrasebook for Italian banking phrases, just in case.

Day 4 of 8: Tuesday 28th June 2011

After a restless night with an upset stomach (probably due to eating too much), I had a light breakfast before we headed down to the harbour to get our boat. We stopped off at the local newsvendor's kiosk and a Tabac (newsagent and tobacconist) to find that the only UK paper available was Saturday's Independent.

We arrived in plenty of time at the harbour and met up with the others who would be joining us on the trip: a middle aged couple of americans who live in London, a young couple from Newcastle way and another young couple from County Offally in Ireland. Nomally there are 12 guests on the trip but this time a family of 4 had dropped out leaving more room on deck for the 8 of us.

The day out on the Andrea Jensen was great fun and very relaxing. On the way out Sonia thought she saw a dolphin fin but it was probably a tuna as we could not find any others. The Andrea Jensen is owned by a couple from the UK with a hungarian crewman to help. Most of us had a go at sitting in the netting under the bowsprit to look down at the sea.



We were served soft drinks on the way out to the cove where we dropped anchor. The cove was somewhere north of Capo Caccia, close to Isola Piana. A trunk on deck contained snorkels, goggles and flippers for those who wanted to swim. Sonia was very brave and climbed down the ladder into the sea wearing a life jacket. It's the first time she has ever swum anywhere she could not touch the bottom.

I put in my contact lenses and used my own swimming goggles along with one of the boat's snorkels. After a while I had a go at using the flippers which was great as I could keep up with some of the smaller fish.

We all got out of the water to sit under the canopies that had been put up to protect us from the midday sun while we ate our lunch of mozzarella & tomatoes, olives, local cheese, and ham. They had prepared a cheese free option for Sonia. This buffet was followed by penne pasta in pesto with a green salad, and again a separate pasta dish had been prepared for Sonia. Desert was melon and strawberries. I was shocked to find that I liked the melon! The food was all washed down with a choice of red, white or rose wine, beer or soft drinks.

After lunch, most of us went in for another snorkelling session before we weighed anchor for the journey back to Alghero. The guests were invited to help raise the sails for the return leg so we had a gentle journey with just the sound of the boat and the sea. At one point the lighter was pulled up alongside so we could go for a ride and take pictures of the boat in sail.




We made it back to harbour at 1800, after working together to drop the sails on the approach. After thanking the crew for a wonderful experience, Sonia and I headed straight to the gelato by the Porta Mare to buy a granite limone - crushed ice with lemon syrup squirted in - to refresh ourselves. We then headed back to the hotel for a shower and a rest before going out for the evening.


I woke up to find my back was very sunburnt so I just had a sandwich, a coffee and a glass of wine while Sonia had a toasted sandwich and a tea before we went back to the hotel at 2100 for an early night after such an enjoyable day.

Day 3 of 8: Monday 27th June 2011

After yesterday's alarm call, we were awake and were the first people down for breakfast at 0800.

We had worked out a plan for the day that would involve taking the open top bus tour to Grotto di Nettuno (Neptune's Grotto) which would involve a climb down the 656 steps cliff path to the caves, then back up to catch the next bus 2 hours later. The bus would cost us €18 each. Wandering around the harbour we saw a boat trip advertised for €15 each that would deliver us to the mouth of the cave without having to use the Escala del Cabirol (goat's steps) cut into the cliff. It was not a difficult choice...

Escala del Cabirol

Our boat was filled with a large group of French tourists as well as several Italians and a few other europeans. The caves were beautiful but with lots of people in the party, walking through them in a line meant that we didn't hear much of the commentary that was being given up at the front.



For the boat trip back we sat in the bow and saw more of the coast, plus I was not being squashed by a large dutchman.

Lunch was eaten in the Placa Civica Ristorante at the end of Piazza Civica near the cathedral. The young waitress had no English and we spoke poor phrase book Italian but between us all we managed to work out a meal order. Sonia had steak and potatoes while I went for sea bream and vegetables. Both were cooked to order so we worked our way through 1/4 litre of local white wine and a bottle of water. The food was great but very large portions so we slept well in the hotel for our afternoon siesta (though the wine helped). That afternoon I finished the book I had bought with me while sat in the shade of the cloister.

With the shops opening at 1800 we headed out and wandered along the main "new" town shopping streets looking for some shoes for Sonia. We stopped off for a gelato and drink in Cafe Orange on Via 20 Settembre. Sonia had a mint tea while I had a cafe macchiatto. Sitting outside under the canopy, we realised we were just round the corner from Torre di Sulis so we wandered back into the old town to look for a creperie that Sonia had seen earlier in the day. We couldn't find it so decided to try the Il Ghiotto self service cafe/bar on the corner of Piazza Civica where the nice young man made Sonia a fresh sandwich "senza formaggio". The sandwiches were eaten at a small table in the cafe/bar with a glass of wine each, then another glass of wine for me while Sonia had a Bailey's coffee.



From the cafe/bar, it was a short stroll back to the hotel although we managed to fit in a visit to a book shop to buy a english language novel and a corner shop for a couple of boftles of water. when we go back to the hotel we bought a couple of tins of iced tea to drink on the cloisters while we read in the twilight, listening to a lecture in the courtyard below.

We headed back to our air conditioned room at about 2100 as the light fell, full of anticipation for the sailing boat trip. And I was looking forward to the English newspapers arriving...

Day 2 of 8: Sunday 26th June 2011

We were woken by the church bells in the tower above our bedroom ringing out the 9am call. We realised we only had 30 minutes to get up, showered, dressed and down to breakfast. We made it down in time to have a light continental breakfast of a custard filled croissant and a yoghurt washed down with pear juice and coffee.

I had been looking at the time on my phone as I partially woke up so I thought 0830 was 0730 because the phone had been off when we changed clock times on the flight in!

Having woken up with the coffee, we headed down to the harbour to book a trip on the Andrea Jensen sailing boat that we had seen recommended on-line. We handed over €89 each to the young woman at the booking table, left our details and confirmed Sonia' cheese alergy. She told us to be at the harbour side by 0950 on Tuesday as the trip started at 1000 and we would be back about 1800.

We wandered off along the promenade, moving from the harbour to the beach and heading off into the "new" town streets to explore the shops so that Sonia could find a hat. From there we returned to the promenade to have a non-alcoholic mojito sat on a bench and enjoying the view. The drink was bought from a woman sat in a giant orange!

Suitably refreshed, we went back to the old town for a light linch at a cafe round the corner from the hotel. Sonia had a chicken salad that was full of tasty vegetables and succulent chicken. My seafood salad had few vegetables but a lot of calamari, squid, shrimps and a few mussels. We each ordered 50cl of the local beer and discovered that this is nearly a pint...vowing to have the 20cl next time, we headed back to the hotel at 1330 for a siesta out of the heat.

We spent the later half of the afternoon sat in the cloisters reading our boks and I continued to struggle with Saturday's cryptic crossword. by 1730 he heat had died down enough for us to head out for an evening stroll along the promenade before heading back to the old town for a gelatto (ice cream). The extra calories were dealt with by more strolling around the streets. A rest on a bench by the harbour was followed by a return to the bastions to find a light tea at a cafe.

This was followed by a stroll along the bastions to watch the sunset while swifts darted back and forth over head (and at eye level) with their "shrees" calling out as they chased down insects.

After the romanticism of the sunset over the bay, we were heading back to the hotel just as the local scouts and guides were coming out of the cathedral after a service. We joined the throngs walking through the streets until we eventually made it back to our hotel at 2130, ready for a rest.

Day 1 of 8: Saturday 25th June 2011

Our holiday flight to Sardinia went smoothly. The taxi picked us up from home at 0615 to take us to East Midland Airport to catch our 0900 flight. We were able to print off automatic boarding passes, our bags were checked in without a hitch, and we went straight through security without any problems.

After some searching I managed to find a copy of The Guardian in one of the branches of WH Smith and we ate an underwhelming breakfast while waiting for BMI Baby to open our gate.We were on the plane at 0900 and took off at 0915, landing in the sunshine and warmth of Alghero airport at 1225 local time having remembered to put my watch forward during the flight.

There was a rush of people to get their hire cars, while others dashed to get a taxi. We knew that a taxi would cost at least €20, but that you could get a local bus into town for €1. We found the small ticket machine on the wall of the arrivals lounge, bought our tickets and then went to wait in the sunshine for the 1300 bus to take us on our 20 minute bus ride into Alghero.

The prior research on Googlemaps street view meant that I knew roughly where to get off the bus and how to get to the small side street, Via Ambrogio Machin, where we would find our hotel.

Getting off the bus and walking up the small street to the right of Torre di Porta Terra, we then turned right down the down the cobbled street and found the entrance to Hotel San Francesco where we were made very welcome by the receptionist. By 1345 we were in our room and unpacked, ready to explore.

After all the travelling we decided to start with a drink outside a small cafe/bar on the corner of Via Sassari and Via Vittorio Emanuele, near a park, the bus stop and tourist information office (where we got a town street map to help us get our bearings). We took in the sights and sounds, chatting with Rebecca from Minnesota who told us of her adventures as a single woman travelling in europe. We left Rebecca and headed off for a walk round the back streets to get our bearings before heading back to the hotel for a short siesta at 1615.

Eventually woke up at 1745 for a shower and then out for dinner. We walked along the Bastioni (sea walls) checking out the restaurant menus before settling down for a meal at one on the Bastioni Pigafetta. Our first chance for Sonia to test out her phrase of the holiday "sonno alergica formaggio" (I am alergic to cheese) and my follow up "sensa formaggio" (without cheese). The waiters coped well with out faltering Italian, and teased Sonia when they delivered her spaghetti bolognese, asking if she was OK with the cheese they had added! My swordfish steak (with chips) was very tasty.

Due to the heat, most local shops in the old town close between 1300 and 1800 which meant that we could go shopping at at 2030 at night. During the walk round the old town in the afternoon I soon realised that I needed another pair of light weight shorts and a "man bag" so that my pockets were not full. We found the Timberland shop which meant that trouser sizes were printed in inches so I had a chance to pick some to try on without having to do mental arithmatic after a couple of glasses of wine...

We finished off the evening by stopping back at the cafe for a Havana Club and coke before wandering back to the hotel at 2120 via a bar to pick up a couple of bottles of water. We turned the air conditioning on low and drifted off to sleep.