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Day two started out with breakfast in our B&B. Now, when I say B&B one might have visions of a fabulous old Sardinian villa with a spread of fresh peaches from the trees outside, pastries from the grandma living down the road, and cheese's made from the cows and goats in the pasture. Wrong. In our B&B we have packaged "breakfast pastries" as well as some jams, juices, and espresso. It's free, so we're not really complaining I guess.

Since it was nice outside we sat it fit to spend a couple hours at the beach, some 7 minutes from our abode. Alex and I affectionately refer to our neighborhood as the slums, but its really not bad at all, just ugly residential buildings that look all the same, some cats, and not the best upkeep. We were feeling confident without the map, and thanks to our confidence 7 minutes turned into an hour. Then, at the beach, the sun kept being covered by clouds until it finally just started drizzling. FAIL.

As our motto tends to be when we travel together, when in failure go eat something delicious. Wanting to take advantage of a lovely summer day we strolled along the bastions looking for a nice lunch spot with ocean views. "Angedras", with its nice-sounding 16€ lunch menu with Catalan translations, was a clear choice. The meal began with a nice bottle of Sardinian ever-so-subtly-sparkling white - a must. For starters Alex ordered the "pescatrice alla catalana" - Catalan-style monkfish, and I had the insalati di calamari grigliati e verdure alla menta - grilled squid salad with minted vegetables. The monkfish was the standout here - so light and refreshing but at the same time hearty and meaty. Neither of us know exactly what "alla catalana" refers to, but it was delicious. For the main course Alex had the gnocchi sardi, pesce spada, pomedoro fresco e verdure - Sardinian gnocchi with swordfish, fresh tomato and vegetables. I went with the guazzetto di calamari e cozze con crostini - squid soup with mussels and croutons. Alex's dish was a little under-seasoned but tasty, and I loved my dish - the mussels had an almost smokey flavor and the squid were nice and tender in the tomato broth. For dessert we had a Sardinian specialty, seadas, a fried pasta filled with sweet Sardinian cheese, then drizzled with honey and served with myrtle ice cream. Absolutely delicious.

Sufficiently weakened by our lunch, it was time to go coral shopping now that we were feeling good. The northwest coast of Sardinia, where we are, is renowned for its beautiful red corals, and unless you are blind you will notice that just about every other storefront in Sardinia is selling coral. From a few Euro for cheap studs to thousands upon thousands of dollars for coral necklaces that look fit for only the Little Mermaid's Ursula, there is something for everyone. We spent a good one or two hours before finally deciding on a shop for Alex to find a pear of earrings to match some other coral she had purchased in Tunisia. I may or may not have gotten something for my Mom and sisters :-)

For the next few hours we meandered around the old town, checking out things like St. Mary's Church and old Catalan-style edifices. Between the coral shopping and the wine we were spent, so we thought it best to go try to nap on the beach, but the smell of sun-kissed seaweed as well as the overcast skies led us back toward where we were staying. To be economical we stopped at the grocery store to buy some things for a cheap and simple dinner - fresh bread, tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, prosciutto, melon, and beer. After relaxing for a bit we enjoyed these things on our patio - there is nothing like a good antipasti spread drowning in oil.

Finally we headed back into the old town for some gelatto since we still hadn't had any. Though we chose "the best" Alghero had to offer, I must admit I was somewhat underwhelmed. I got a scoop of pistacchio and a scoop of nutella, but unfortunately it did not compare to the nutella gelatto I had in room back in '06 which had incredible fat chunks of actual nutella in every bite. Alex was more satisfied with her caffé biano and dark chocolate. Oh well...

By the time were were done it was 10pm and shops were closing, so we decided to call it a night. Neptune's grotto awaited us the next day...

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Comments

[Mom]

OMG - was there actually some reference to a souvenir for Mom and the sisters????!!!!!

[SlavicNerd]

Keep it up and someone else is getting Algherese coral jewelry.