Thursday was suitable for cruising so the Wipflis had the opportunity to appreciate the coastline from the boat. We dropped anchor in Cala di Volpe for another spread of local meats, cheeses, fruit, salad and rose plus calm and tranquility. Thanks to some helpful Dutch women in a supermarket we have discovered a fabulous creamy cheese which is a mixture of gorgonzola and mascarpone.
As an aside, that supermarket in Abbiadori is the only place which also has a wide range of decent bread, a good butcher, superb semi-dried tiny tomatoes, white anchovies (which I marinate in garlic and parsley), berries and a range of vegetables. The fruit and vege van on the side of the road disappeared after the regatta week and I have not found real quality goods since then. Yet again the Italians are suffering the consequences of losing specialty shops because of supermarkets. Even in Olbia, with a population of over 40,000 people, I am shocked at the limited range of produce and the poor quality of what is available. Although Sardinia is an island there are several ferries frequently coming from many mainland areas. Also Sardinians were mostly shepherds and farmers long before they became fishermen as well. So fresh food should be readily available.
Enough of my hobby-horse.
After our lunch on Dream Catcher III we headed for Porto Rotondo, a large village of mostly holiday villas set in beautiful gardens around a marina, but designed to have a heart and a soul with charming piazzas of cafe/ bars, restaurants and quality shops.
That we are still in Porto Rotondo 8 days later is testimony to how comfortable we feel here and what a suitable base it is for other activities. Unfortunately like every other place in this part of Sardinia businesses are gradually closing down and by the end of September there will probably be only one restaurant open and not even a supermarket will be available.
Chris and John reluctantly left from here last Saturday Sep 20, after sampling the great food at our favorite restaurant Da Giovannini and Chris doing a little damage in the great shops. At Da Giovananni John and Greg enjoyed the dessert of ice cream with lemon sauce and vodka so much that they had second helpings and decided to call them the Snowball Dessert.
During the next few days alone we mostly ate on board, including a stir-fry and rice one night (we are yearning for a good Chinese or Japanese meal when we arrive home) although it was extremely difficult to source some vegetables to make a reasonably authentic Asian meal. The one night we ate out it had to be at Da Giovaninni where we tried the superb mussels and clams in white wine and garlic sauce and the fabulous gilt-head (Durado) fish for two baked in salt then filleted and served with very finely sliced grilled zucchini and roasted tomatoes. The Sardinian red wine Barrile vineyard was excellent too.
We finally found Tony, a terrific hairdresser who can speak English as one of his five languages and gave us both excellent haircuts plus managed to return my hair to a sensible color. Greg and I also explored the areas around the marina, finding more restaurants and shops plus a group of lovely beaches and realized what a real buzz this place must be in the height of the summer. The marina is still full of luxury boats but they have obviously been left here "in storage" until next summer as we are the only people remaining on a boat.
Melissa, Steve and Sarah Whitelaw arrived here on Wednesday Sep 24 and since they arrived we have had lovely sunny days but cooler evenings and cooler breezes. The weather has changed dramatically now with autumn in the air. The water temperature is still about 24 degrees so we should be swimming still, but so far we have all enjoyed just basking in the sun and reading (or writing the website news). On Thursday we drove to Porto Cervo to show Melissa and Sarah the scenes of the action during the regatta week and also drove along a newly found coastal road among the specially designed Costa Smeralda houses and overlooking some of the most stunning coastal scenery one could imagine. The shops at Porto Cervo village were closed for siesta while we were there but we managed to make up for that when we returned to the shops at Porto Rotondo. As the shops don't close until 8.00 pm I think Steve was starting to become extremely worried about their bank balance by the time Sarah, Melissa and I returned to the boat.
We ate at a very good local restaurant on Wednesday night, with Sarah having ravioli with sage and butter sauce, Steve having perfectly cooked calamari, Greg an excellent pizza (the crusts are lovely and thin here plus they all only use good quality mozzarella which makes a huge difference) and Melissa and I having grilled sea bass with grilled vegetables - also perfectly cooked. Restaurants all over the world could learn a great deal from the way the Italians "let the food speak for itself" without spoiling much of it with marinades, stuffings and sauces.
The original plan Thursday night was to cook on the boat but we shopped for too long so just had to go to Da Giovaninni for the Whitelaws to experience the sensational "home" antipasti and range of seafood pasta dishes. We are beginning to feel like part of the family that run the restaurant. Thank goodness they stay open until November.
Last night we did cook on board - roast quail and roast veges.
Bill Reilly has been back on the job posting some more photos on the website and there will be more after he returns from another regatta. Thank you Bill.
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