We found a little place suiting our budgets for a lunch of panini and cold drinks, checked out a couple of the beaches as well as the golf course, lined with houses well hidden by their lush gardens, and then tootled home for Wendy and me to have a swim at the beach next to the marina.
That night we drove about 16km to the other side of our bay to another ritzy area called Porto Rotondo, where the whole "town" is set in beautifully laid out gardens. We were completely bamboozled by the circular layout and one way streets and even our Tom-Tom navigator couldn't help us. With some directions in Italian we finally found our restaurant, Da Giovannino, and knew straight away we had selected a great restaurant to have an overdue celebration of Geoff's 60th birthday. We had a superb dinner, starting with a belini each (definitely made with fresh peach juice added to the sparkling prosecco); then a selection of 8 (!) home made antipasto dishes served one at a time, such as a carparcio of swordfish with tiny melon balls, grilled eggplant with garlic, mussels in a very lightly curried sauce, grilled sardines, and other delicacies so good we will have to return next week just to remember what we had (and who cares if they have different ones by then!). We were going to do the Italian thing and have pasta as a first course followed by a main but the head waiter wisely told us that the pasta would be enough. Needless to say our pasta dishes, such as my fregola (a tiny pasta that Sardinians have been making for 2000 years, similar to couscous) in a seafood broth, were magnificent as was Greg's entrecot. We were all for trying dessert but the waiter brought us each something yummy which we think was a frothy vodka and lemoncello over ice cream and then an after dinner fortified wine. So we didn't have a chance to order anything from the dessert menu. Next time! Our wines were a white Sardinian ( a Vermentino grape) and the red was a brunello from Montalcino in Tuscany. We had to wander around the village before we went home because it was all so beautiful. Arriving home at the boat at 1.00 am was much too late for a bunch of oldies, but we had a fantastic night.
Monday we drove back to Porto Rotondo because we wanted to see the village and the marina in daylight and the only disappointment for Wendy and me is that we arrived when most of the ritzy shops were closed for lunch (1.00 - 5.00!). So we had to entertain ourselves with a long walk exploring the piazzas and the marina and eating lunch at a dock side marina cafe, with goodies such as prosciutto and melon.
We then drove to Porto Cervo to visit the extraordinary marina there, with many huge luxury boats for us to ogle, after which we walked around the village of Porto Cervo, which is almost Moroccan in design and has no real heart or ambiance like Porto Rotondo.
Back home to the realty of our lovely Dream Catcher III for a cuppa and a rest before eating dinner that night at one of the several restaurants at the marina. It's a very good complex to be staying at with other facilities such as laundry and concierge services, a supermarket, boutique shops, the obligatory glacier, a hairdresser and beauty salon, a dive school, boat charter and a hotel.
Yesterday (Tuesday) Geoff and Wendy left and we had the boat taken out of the water for a day to check everything. This meant we needed to stay in the marina hotel last night and we ate at another of the restaurants here. Greg had an excellent steak but that's not so surprising as Sardinians are meat eaters much more than fish eaters. Traditionally Sardinians are shepherds rather than fishermen, although seafood is also plentiful now. Suckling pig, lamb and kid are their main specialties in meat so we are looking forward to having those. Apparently they also like sliced calf's testicles covered in batter and lightly fried, or donkey sausages, or a selection of roasted offal (including the diaphragm and heart) but we will definitely not be trying those!
Yesterday afternoon was very relaxing. We drove to a nearby beach where we noticed everyone was on blue sun lounges and had the same umbrellas, so we asked about how to obtain them. The answer was "see Antonio", an older tan gentleman near the water's edge. Antonio obliged and took us to our lounges and opened the umbrella. We thoroughly enjoyed swimming in the beautiful water (there's no other kind here) and snoozing on the lounges, expecting to pay Antonio at some stage. However we noticed nobody else paid when they left so at about 6.30 pm we did the same. We have no idea if we gate-crashed a beach club or something but it's a great find and we will probably spend other times enjoying the same experience, although it's not quite the same as swimming off the back of your boat.
The boat is back in the water now and we have spent the day just pottering and cleaning, giving me some time to catch up on the news. We have also visited the marina at Porto Cervo again to see the maxi yachts that are racing in a regatta this week. It's extraordinary to see so many yachts lined up in a harbor knowing that each one costs about 25 million Euros and then to see all of the motor launches that cost at least that much each. Seeing the catering of food and drinks taking place as well as the many yachting services (such as sail makers) added to the marina boat yard was quite mind-boggling. This week there are 38 maxi yachts racing. Next week there will be about 100 Swan yachts of various sizes racing (several that are much bigger than our boat) and it's going to be an amazing experience.
The crew start to arrive tomorrow to begin our last minute preparation.
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