Monday, October 19, 2009

Back from Cagliari!


Throughout my entire life I've always wanted to visit Italy, after spending a weekend there I'm convinced I could live there forever and be happy. There's something to be said about the laid back attitude of the Italians and their love of life. My favorite thing was walking to the cafe, ordering my cappuccino and just watching everyone coming in and out. I imagined the table of old men were discussing the news or weather. The little girls holding hands with their dads and excitedly talking while the dad's just smiled. It was truly beautiful. There's no such thing as getting a coffee to go, because there's no reason to be in such a hurry. Every moment is meant to be enjoyed and not rushed through.

In the area we were at, no one spoke English but they would smile and try their best to explain using hand gestures. The contrast of the way I was treated from the Italians and the Parisiens was night/day. I'm not alluding that everyone in Paris is rude, or that everyone in Italy is nice. But there was definitely a difference.

The man who ran the Bed and Breakfast was the nicest person of all. When we checked in, he wanted to make sure we liked our rooms. When we said we were hungry, he called a place to see if they were still open for us. When we mentioned we wanted to go to the beach, he had his sister drive us there. And when we got home late at night he had taped a note on our door that said, "I wish you the best night." We were all so in love with him by the end that we wanted to just bring him back to Paris with us.
The food there was amazing. The breakfast pasteries were delectable and the pizza was unlike any American pizza. I could have eaten pizza for every meal and loved every bite. The best pizza I had was a mozzarella pesto pizza. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

But my favorite thing of all was swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. It was cold Saturday but I wasn't going to let that stop me. I jumped in and swam around until it started raining and the wind was unbearable. I had to remind myself that I've swam in colder waters in Alaska. On Sunday after we checked out of the B&B we walked back to the beach and did some more swimming. Thankfully the weather was a little nicer and it didn't rain that time. Afterwards we caught a bus into the city and got lunch before heading back to the airport. It was a short stay but was so incredible. I can't wait to explore other areas of Italy!

1 comment:

Jenn said...

It sounds like you guys had a great time! Love the pictures! You talking about the Italians made me think of the Eye Doctor I used to work with in Orem. He was so fun! He loved to have a good time, eat good food, and was so much fun to work with! I'm glad you had an awesome host!