It's Tuesday the 23rd April and I'm heading back to Europe on my way to Sardegna (that's Italian for Sardinia!). A micro-continent off the coast of Italy. Supposedly an untouched landscape and the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. I'll be there for a month or so, then onto Corsica, France, Spain, France again, Andorra, France again, then Holland, the UK and Ireland with the possibility of a week on the Faroe Islands (owned by Denmark). I'll be pushing the limit of the Schwegen Rule with 88 days in Europe, but I'm looking forward to the challenges ahead.
The 8.30pm business class flight from Sydney was a disaster. Two hours after takeoff and I still was waiting for my first drink. Etihad had only one hostie (are we still allowed to call them that?) for the 14 hour flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi. Dinner was a shocker and it was near midnight before I could settle into my 3.5hour movie called Killers of the Flower, a Martin Scorese film featuring Robert de Niro about Indians and oil. Abu Dhabi's new airport is sensational. After a great breakfast there and a 3 hour stop over it was another 7 hour flight to London, a bus trip to Gatwick airport and finally this morning another 3 hour flight to Cagliari (delayed by 90 minutes due to a French air traffic control strike). BUT I HAVE ARRIVED!!
It's Liberation Day today in Italy or the Festa Della Liberazione which is a public holiday held on the 25th April (our Anzac Day). It is held to commemorate the end of the fascist regime and the nazi occupation in WW2, as well as the victory of the Resistance Movement of partisans who opposed the regime. It also means that ABSOLUTELY everything is shut, including nearly all the places to eat, so for dinner it was culurgiones (like a large ravioli stuffed with cheese, honey and nuts) from a wine bar I found open. Right near the motel I am staying is the Quartu Pond wetland, a fossil beach which once formed the coast and which is absolutely full of flamingoes.
Tomorrow I begin my exploration of Sardinia. Some photos below of my trip so far and the view from my room towards Cagliari.
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