Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Here is the experience of our trip. I will post another entry about the interesting history of Alghero.
One day I was browsing the Internet and came across Ryan air having a sale. Flights from Frankfurt Hahn to Alghero were only 8 euro one way. That's a pretty good deal, I thought to myself. Now only if I knew where Alghero was. I looked it up on google maps and found out it was an island in Italy. That would be a perfect trip to go relax right before Ben left for school. I researched a little bit about transportation, hotels, what there is to do there, and booked the tickets the next day.
We were a little nervous about navigating Frankfurt Hahn airport because we had never been there before. We found it without any trouble and had very little traffic to fight, so we ended up getting there about three hours early. The airport is tiny and is actually on an old military base (we figured that out when the shuttle bus drove by a building that said "Commissary" on the side). The airport was tiny and almost deserted, so we grabbed some pastry and coffee, found a seat and let the boys run around for a while.
After waiting an hour, we checked in and went through security. There is nothing past security except chairs in German airports, so the next hour and a half wait was pretty boring. They finally called our flight for boarding and we got in line. We had paid extra for "priority boarding" hoping that would help us get seats all together. We checked in with our tickets first, but I forgot that Germans don't believe in lines. A biker gang called the Cave Men from Ramstein had checked in behind us and ended up cutting in front of us while we were waiting for the doors to open. Then others followed suite while we were trying to get the umbrella stroller folded up. Oh well, we still all got seats together in the front of the plane, so no harm, no foul.
We flew over the Alps and the Mediterranean Sea to the island of Sardinia. When we landed we found the public bus stop and while we were waiting noticed the German biker group standing in the parking lot. They were huddled around a few vans drinking beer with an Italian biker group. They hung around for about 15 minutes and then took off together leaving me wishing that I knew the story behind that gathering.
The bus to Alghero finally came. We boarded it, but the driver didn't speak English. I did my best to ask for two tickets in Italian and off we went, crossing our fingers that we would get off at the correct stop. You would think that a bus driver bringing in tourists from the airport would announce the name of the stops or that there would be signs....but their wasn't. I tried to count the stops in my head, but we got off at the wrong stop anyway.
There we were, on the side of the road with two little kids, a bunch of luggage and no idea where to go. We knew our hotel was on the beach, so (after having a mini-breakdown) we started walking towards the coast. When we got to a stop light we tried to figure out where we were on our map that I grabbed from the Tourist Office in the airport. A young Italian woman with a couple kids was nice enough to stop and ask if we needed help. She pointed us in the correct direction and soon we found our apartment. The owner met us out on the sidewalk in front of the building and showed us around. He didn't speak very much English, but his nephew came to meet us and answered all the questions we had.
We watched the sunset on the balcony, then walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner. Oops, the restaurant is closed until 7pm (which is usually when my kids go to bed). We decided to walk to the Billa grocery store and get some food for breakfast and lunch since we had a half hour to wait until the restaurant opened. Maddox, of course, wanted every candy/cookie on the shelves, but we ended up getting some bread, wine, and cheese....and yes, one bag of cookies (it's his vacation too!)
Ben ran the groceries back to the apartment while Maddox and I sat under the palm trees. When he got back, the restaurant had finally opened, so we went in for dinner. We ended up getting pizza, some Sardinian beer, and limonata (which I thought was lemonade, but turned out to be lemon flavored pop). The first half of the meal was enjoyable, but the second half involved us yelling at Maddox to sit down, scolding Carson for ripping the tray off of his high chair, and trying to keep pizza sauce off of the nice table linens. Needless to say, we ended up eating in the last two nights.
The next day we walked past the port, along the old wall, and in to the town center. Maddox got his first touch of the Mediterranean Sea, we got an up to date bus schedule, bought some red coral jewelry (which is native to the area and WAY more expensive than I thought - apparently they are running out - guess I just contributed to the problem), and we found a wonderful park. The boys spent a great deal of time playing at the park while Ben and I drank some much needed coffee.
After a few hours we headed back to the apartment for some rest, then went out to the beach. Both of the boys loved playing in the sand and Maddox bravely jumped right in to the sea, clothes and all. Carson, of course, wanted to copy his brother, and voiced his disapproval when I caught him before he jumped. He put his toes in the water was very displeased with the temperature. After that, he no longer wanted anywhere near the water.
The next day was basically a repeat of the first. We had planned to go on a boat ride to see Grotta di Nettuno, which is a series of caves and caverns, but they were closed for the off season. It started to rain later on that evening, so we got some ravioli and pizza from the grocery store, cleaned the apartment, and went to bed early.
We headed to the bus stop around 6:15 the next morning in the pouring down rain. Thankfully, we followed Ben's advice and left early, because the bus was running ahead of schedule. I used my sorry knowledge of the Italian language to make sure we had the bus for the airport and buy two tickets. We arrived at the airport three hours early, once again, so we got some coffee and a donut for Maddox, then let the boys run around for a bit.
On the flight home I admitted to Ben that this trip had not quite turned out like I had planned. I don't think I'll be planning anymore relaxing get-a-ways. I'm not sure what I was thinking. And why didn't any moms of toddlers out there tell me that you will never be able to relax when you are in a strange place with a 3 year old and 1 year old? Surely someone had to have known this. Between making sure we arrived at the airport on time, figuring out public transportation, trying sit at a restaurant without food going everywhere, trying not to ruin everyones night sleep in the rooms around us when my kids woke up crying in the middle of the night, making sure no one got lost or run over by a car, there was one moment of peace:
The second evening we were one the beach, the temperature was nice, and the sun was warm. After the boys had played in the water they both got their shovels and started digging in the sand....quietly....together. Ben was watching the sea.....no one was talking.....
I sat on the beach, closed my eyes, and tilted my face up to the sun.
That was the most peaceful and pleasant moment I have had in years. I will cherish that moment for the rest of my life.
- comments