At home at last (well my new home for the next few weeks)

I had decided to try and stay awake until I arrived in Alghero so after finishing chatting with Andre, I took the opportunity to watch some movies. First up was Slumdog Millionaire – brilliant (yes, I know a few of you said I had to see it on the bigscreen but little screen is better than no screen :) After that I started watching Changeling but found that disturbing so switched that off and put on a bit of light entertainment in the form of Mamma Mia the movie. That got me through to landing in Rome (even if I now have bad Abba songs on rotation in my head!)

When I was checking in at Melbourne Airport I was told that they would send my bags direct through to Alghero. At the time I queried this given that I would be changing from an Emirates flight in Rome to the domestic terminal to catch an AirOne flight. But they assured me that my bag would go direct to Alghero. Anyway, when I got to Rome (after waiting what seemed an eternity to get through Passport Control – but probably just 15 minutes in reality ;), I decided to be on the safe side and wait at the baggage carousel to see if my bag would come through. And sure enough – there it was. So a potential risk of someone else taking my bag or my bag not making it to Alghero was averted and I happily headed out into the cool Rome afternoon along to the Domestic Terminal.

A few hours wait (including a phone call from mum and dad which was a pleasant diversion) and then on to my AirOne flight. As this was a low cost air carrier I was pleasantly surprised to find that the plane was very modern with comfortable seats. And even better was that it was only about 20% full so I had a row of three seats to myself. We were only in the air for about 45 minutes and towards the end were flying very low over allowing a great view of the landscape, farms and housing.

On arrival in Alghero I picked up my bags and headed out to grab a taxi which turned out to be a very modern taxi minivan with pleasant driver who took me direct to Il Giardinetto where I was met by the lovely Gianluca who owns the apartment where I will be staying. In fact, his brother lives in the apartment directly opposite mine and his parents live in the apartment above – which is great for security and if anything is needed during my stay.

When I get to a place I am staying in for a while I like to wander rather than strictly following a map so when I headed out I popped Gianluca’s map in my pocket in case I needed it and just started walking. A few streets down from the apartment (heading away from the Old Town) I came across a small grocery store where all the produce was in little baskets and looked as if it had been picked straight from someone’s garden that morning. (L & V – it really reminded me of the great little store run near the apartment we stayed in in Praiano). I was also very excited to see that the store had Pane Carasau which is a special “bread” traditionally made by Sardinia shepherds which I had learnt about during my Italian course in Melbourne. It is thin and crispy, and is made by taking baked flat-bread, then separating it into two sheets which are baked again. Pane carasau can last up to one year if it is kept dry. It is called carta da musica in Italian, meaning sheet music, in reference its large and paper thin shape.

After picking up my provisions I wandered back home (well home for the next 2 and a bit weeks which is about as much of a home as I will have for the next three months). With my ingredients I made a quick omelet with fried onion, zucchini and tomato, and a pinch of the chilli flakes I always bring with me when travelling. The omelet was delicious with the pane carasau, a few olives and some pear juice.

With my stomach sated, I was soon showered and in bed and pretty soon after that, sound asleep.

written by  Travelling_Christine on March 26, 2009 from Rome, Italy
from the travel blog: Christine's Travelling Adventures
tagged RomeAlghero
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