I'd sell my soul to the devil for a good pizza

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Geo: 41.5447, 9.54927

It's not a typo! That's how they spell archipelago here! Anyway ... last night was the first time EVER for me in Europe that the ATM didn't spit out my card after I requested an amount exceeding the daily limit. Hooray! It only took probably 30 tries over the past 2 years.

Last night, I stumbled across a tour operator to the La Maddalena Arcipelago. So I decided to stay here an extra night. The original plan was to leave early this morning and to try and catch a tour of the islands, and also stay in La Maddalena town for the night. There were no guarantees that I would get there in time. Plus, the hotel there would have cost me 60 euros per night. The tour from Santa Teresa ends up costing the same as the tour from La Maddalena town, but I will probably end up seeing one less beach as a result, but who cares? I ended up saving 25 euros on accommodation and some on transportation to La Maddalena. These are the things that I wish the LG guide would mention!!!

It was a little tricky getting to the port this morning as a few roads were closed. Luckily, I gave myself some extra time. I read more of the "Piano Tuner" while waiting for the boat to leave. The book is improving ... at times it can be very descriptive with the author creating a stunning vision of Burma in your mind. But then he goes overboard - it seems like his whole point is to flex his descriptive muscle. The author overindulges and comes off as being egotistical, to be honest.

My feelings about this book are quite ambivalent - some parts are beautifully written, but overall the book lacks substance and credibility. The premise is that the British army has a group stationed in Burma under the command of Major Carroll, a man with very unorthodox tactics. He requests that the army send him a piano, but the humidity in the jungle warps it causing it to fall out of tune. So then he requests that they send a piano tuner, Edgar Drake.

There is one part that is completely laughable. Carroll's men are under attack in the jungle, so he pulls out his flute and plays a Burmese love song. Magically, the aggressors stop attacking and start laughing. Carroll's rationale is that the song would make the aggressors think about their first loves, and that no man could shoot another man that played a song that made him think about his first love. Huh???!?!?! Give me a break! The author wants to show Carroll's unusual techniques, but he ends up undermining any plausibility that he had managed to create with one stroke of his pen.

There's also a very cheesy part - when Edgar Drake arrives at his final destination he pauses and thinks to himself that he needs to choose some great words, as one day the moment may be captured in history's books. So he says "I am Edgar Drake. I am here to repair a piano.". Wow .... so insightful and though-provoking ... I think I need to puke.

Anyway, we got to Isola Santa Maria. It was still quite cold as it was early in the morning, so there was no swimming for me! Crappy, gravelly sand. A very serene spot that, while not perfect as a beach, was still a beautiful location.

Funny - the tour guide spoke in 4 or 5 different languages .... but she had a very thick accent. French, Spanish, German, English ... they all sounded like Italian to me!

Lunch was served on the boat - seafood penne with a tomato sauce that had a kick to it. The seafood was poor quality but the dish still tasted good (though the portions were small). They offered seconds but I figured it would be too much food for me. They did have some great cheese (no maggots in it, though). I took seconds on that. I ended up forcing it down ... after passing on the second serving of pasta, I realized that I would get quite hungry later on so I ate whatever I could. I needed to buy an iced tea to get rid of the nasty, over-cheesed feeling I had. It was partially due to eating to much cheese, but mostly was a result of the cheesy lines uttered in the "Piano Tuner".

Arrived at La Maddalena town. Very nice, better in some ways than Santa Teresa. The main road was right along the water so a stroll through town is more scenic here. Spent an hour there, which ended up being too much. Had a great gelato here - it was only 1.5 euro (vs. 1.8 euro in Santa Teresa) so I had to get one, but trust me, it was only a business decision. Honest! Good white chocolate and Duplo (I think it's one of Kinder's many, many products). The Duplo was slightly better.

Off to Spargi Island and Cala Corsara. Decent sand and a picturesque location, with stunning rock formations everywhere you looked. There were numerous small beaches - I walked to the 2nd farthest as I didn't feel like climbing over a bunch of rocks to get to the farthest one. There were no ants crawling all over me like at Santa Maria beach.

I napped, read, tanned, and swam. Crystal clear waters, but freezing! Croatia-esque, in fact. My last beach of the trip ... I shed a tear .. sob ... sob .... Luckily, I will have lots of gelato the rest of the way to help me get over my sorrow. Apparently there are more beautiful spots in the archipelago but I didn't care - this was beautiful enough for me. La Maddalena used to be a giant land bridge connecting Sardinia to Corsica. Now, the islands are all that is left of it.

Back to town. I was hoping for another seada, but the only non-restaurant place I knew of was closed. Caught the sunset - nice. I wore shoes tonight - I will probably need them when I go back to mainland Italy and I don't want a repeat of Bratislava. I ended up getting tons of blisters there in only a few hours because my feet were accustomed to the freedom of sandals, and not the bondage of shoes. Have I mentioned before that I hate wearing shoes? I think it's a good idea to have a brief break-in period again before all the walking that I will do in Rome.

Pape Satan for pizza tonight. I guess you only get good pizza if you sell him your soul! Buffalo mozzarella, cream, ham, butter ... a little watery and the buffalo mozzarella apparently doesn't really brown very well. Lacking flavour and the crust was chewy, but soggy. It's supposed to be Naples-style pizza but it wasn't even close. I had a seada after to make up for this travesty. Turned out to be crap compare to last night's. Perhaps the oil was too cold - they turned on the oil and warmed it up for a few minutes only after I placed my order. It was pale, hard (but not crisp) and lacking flavour. Sigh ...

I broke into hives for some reason that night. I scared myself by thinking that it might be gelato induced. Nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!

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Photos

a
This is the bad part about doing blogs weeks after the fact - I cannot remember what the name of this island was!

b
Again, I've forgotten the name, but this beach was closed to people a few years ago as part of conservation efforts.

c
An OK beach at Isola Santa Maria ... except for all the ants that were crawling all over me! It must be all the gelato I eat - gives my skin a nice hazelnut flavour.

d
The water is a little more than knee deep .... what the heck do you need a life jacket for????
Seeing this lady with her life jacket did make me feel better about using my water wings at the beach.

e
Main boulevard in La Maddalena town.

g
Cala Corsara on Spargi Island

h
Very unique rock formations.

j
The beautiful crystal-clear waters of La Maddalena.

l
l

m
Check it out - I think this rock formation looks like a lion's head.

o
Sunset over Santa Teresa.

p
Cool - open-air cinema.

q
Satan's crappy pizza. You'd think the dark lord of the underworld could make a half-decent pizza.