Shame! I killed a living, sentient being today.

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Geo: 40.6975, 9.54927

A lazy morning today. Going to catch 15:40 bus to Olbia and then the night ferry to Civitavecchia. I could go earlier, but I would be stuck in Olbia until 23:00 with nothing to do. Why not just stay here and admire the beach, instead?

I made full use of the 10:30 checkout time. Read, packed, and planned the next phase of the trip. Breakfast was a banana and some things from a pastry shop. A macaroon and some kind of tart filled with a sweet egg mixture. Both were forgettable. Also had little biscotti with icing and sprinkles - terrible!

Finally got a haircut. Yes!!!! My hair was really irritating me .... my fro would tickle my ears whenever the wind blew or I turned my head. I was so happy after that I actually tipped the barber! Kind of strange in Italy - for the most part, it seems like the men can only get haircuts at certain places, and the same is true for women. You don't really see any places that serve both - maybe it's a macho thing?

Found some conflicting bus times in the newspaper, from the tourist office, and also by calling the bus company. I suspect the bus company kept it simple and just told me "12:00, 15:00" and left out the minutes.

I ended up asking the driver at the station - an Italian couple was there first and they gestured to me to go ahead. I said "lots of time" in my broken Italian and they continued talking with the driver ... for 20 minutes! Way to take advantage of it! I didn't want to interrupt, as I thought it would be rude after telling them it was OK. Although I must admit that I did want to interrupt, but kept thinking "It'll only be another minute" about 15 times. I didn't really have anywhere to be, anyway.

Used the internet - the guy undercharged me by a Euro. Score!!! Some more money for the gelato fund! Grabbed lunch after - an incredible pizza with tomato and Sardinian sausage (I think). It was only a take-out place so it wasn't freshly made, but it was still crisp. It would have been unbelievably good had it been fresh out of the oven. Also had foccacia stuffed with tomatoes, basil, garlic, and something else incredibly aromatic (unlike anything I've had before). I should have eaten here last night instead of Satan's pizza shop. It was half the price, and way better here.

After, I sat on a wall overlooking the beach. I was going to read to pass the time, but decided to just sit there and enjoy the picture-perfect locale. Nothing like basking in the beauty of Santa Teresa! I didn't really want to go to town and leave this behind, but I decided to go have a coffee and use the can. But I found a perfect compromise - on the way, I found a café overlooking the beach. Good cappuccino ... how could it not be with the view?

Some thoughts on Sardinia - not as fun as I had hoped. I had no real expectations before arriving here - I just happened to pick crappy places to visit for the first half of my time in Sardinia. I skipped Cala Gonone because it was too far out of the way. It probably would have been the highlight of the trip, from what I have heard, but no matter - Santa Teresa and La Maddalena were great.

I also missed Costa Smeralda - supposedly it is the most beautiful part of Sardinia. But honestly, I have had enough of beaches for a while ... so I can't say that I am too upset about missing out on it. It's time for some action - time for Rome! Would I go back to Sardinia? Maybe one day if I happened to be in the area again, but I would not return just for Sardinia.

I ran into "Sardinia" guy and his wife at the bus station. I saw him on the ferry to Cagliari, met him in the hostel in Bosa, and saw him walking around in Alghero as I passed by on a bus. They might stay in Santa Teresa or catch a ferry to Corsica. Originally, I wanted to go to Corsica but I didn't have the time or the money for it. It's really no big deal for me ... I think I've had enough of the Mediterranean for now.

Read the "Piano Tuner" on the bus - my ambivalence continues. Edgar Drake writes an incredible letter to his wife explaining why he hasn't gone home yet - it struck a chord with me. He's not sure why he is still in Burma - he only knows that he needs to be there and will return when he finds what he is searching for.

The book is very predictable in some parts. Early on in the book there is mention of some sheet music that was sent to Major Carroll - Edgar Drake happened to look at them and commented that musically, they made no sense. I thought that it was probably a code of some sort - turns out that it was.

The book has had its moments ... it improved greatly from the start but managed to keep falling back to its crappy ways. It could've been a much better book, but I guess it couldn't overcome its unbelievable premise and plot.

Got to Olbia. The tourist office no longer exists. Sigh .... there's nothing worthwhile for tourists here, anyway. It has some semi-decent shopping, I suppose. And it is a gateway to mainland Italy and Corsica.

I killed some time until dinner. Had culurgiones (local specialty) - at least I managed to sample many Sardinian specialties while here, though overall the food was pretty mediocre compared to the feasts I had in Sicily. Culurgiones are pasta dumplings stuffed with cheese (like perogies) and were smothered in a tomato/basil sauce. Very good basil is found here in Italy. Quite good. The main course was roasted pancetta - blah! Quite fatty (I guess that's why it was cheap, and that was why I ordered it!) and it had little flavour. Forgettable.

Gelato after - a new flavour for me - Japanese persimmon! Also had Kinder Cereali. This place is supposed to be the best in town, but I think I only enjoyed it because the flavours were different. They weren't a good match, however.

Walked to the ferry - very dark along the road to the port. I was too cheap to ride the bus there (every penny saved goes towards my gelato fund). When I got there I expected to be charged extra for my ferry ticket, but I wasn't (pretty sure that I got the local price).

Got to the ship - escalators took me up to the reception area. It was like a cruise ship! I felt like a loser as I excitedly explored it (cut me some slack! I've been slumming it for a while and it's the first luxury I've had in a long time!).

Most of the amenities were closed, but there is a cinema, card room, shops, kid's room, and an arcade. The first class seats were pretty sweet - huge, and they reclined to an almost completely horizontal position. Luxurious!

The cabin was huge - bigger than ones I've stayed in on cruise ships. This ship was much nicer than the one I took to Sardinia. I paid just over half price for this and got a bed instead of only a 2nd class seat on the last ferry. Maybe it's low season now?

After the last two trips to Europe, I had come to the decision that I would not do another cruise or lazy all-inclusive beach holiday for a long, long time. But just before drifting off to sleep I thought that it would be nice to do a cruise again, and not have to worry about a thing! Unlike backpacking, where you have to worry about everything 24/7.

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Photos

a
Chillin' on the wall overlooking the beach.

b
The perfect spot for a cappucino.

c
Culurgiones.

d
Bad pancetta. That's what you get for being a cheap bastard like me.

e
The cabin. I felt like a princess staying there! In fact, I took out my tiara and sash, and paraded around the room, waving to my imaginary loyal subjects!

f
Tiny bathroom. Just like in some crappy hostels!

i
I wonder if Warner Brothers is aware of this usage of their cartoon characters?

j
This is where they kept cats, dogs, pigs, and Chinese people. Luckily, my dark complexion and afro managed to distract them long enough for me to sneak into a cabin, instead!

n
I never thought I would kill another living, sentient being, but I had no choice today. Please understand ... I didn't want to, but I HAD to .... I had to kill this entity before it engulfed my entire body. It was slowly feasting on my brain, causing me to lose various items all over Europe.
Scientists are not sure exactly what it is ... it appears to be some hybrid of mold, fungus, and a blowfish or porcupine. Whatever it was, it was pure evil!!!!
On a positive note, the National Enquirer offered me a large sum of money for the rights to the photos and the carcass of the entity. It would have been enough to pay off the trip ... but the entity had eaten so much of my brain that I forgot where I put the money. D'oh!