Vacation in Palma

That's Amore! ( Incorporatiing the wild girl's weekend in Barcelona!)

Completely high on flu tablets (I hope that's all they were), Kaz and I left Doug to tackle the ongoing engine troubles and give him a few days peace from 'girly talk'. Geez, you put on a face mask and pluck your eyebrows and suddenly everything that comes out of your mouth is considered 'girly'. Anyhoo, as I was saying we were catching the ferry over to Genoa to visit Kaz's lovely family. Both of us were absolute wrecks having been sick for the last month and feeling more than a little miserable because of it. The ability to breathe through one's nose was a distant memory of happier days.

In our drug induced haze, we thought we had bought cheap deck tickets. Not fancying the idea of spending the night on the freezing deck, we were pretty clever sneaking into the economy lounge and sleeping on the carpeted floor for the night instead. Until we realised that we were actually meant to be in that lounge anyway, but don't tell anyone.

The next week was absolute bliss. We stayed with Kaz's cousin Anna, who made sure we were continually doped up on nasal drops, cough medicine and antibiotics. Kaz's relatives were just lovely. We spend the first night camping out in the mountains with Anna's friends, and then headed out to Anna and Penny's country home in Cortemellia. At the heart of Nutella country, the home is actually a 13th century monestary which has partially been converted into a family home. It is surrounded by hazelnut groves, grape vines, fields of mushrooms and is simply beautiful!

We helped out with a local grape harvest, picked mushrooms, drank expresso, and made traditional woodfired pizzas. I even managed to read Under The Tuscan Sun whilst basking in the glorious Italian sunshine. Alas, all good things must come to an end. Although I was reluctant to leave, I had a very important meeting in Barcelona to make. Once more onto the ferry for another overnight crossing to meet the one, the only, the mighty Nanky!*


My sister Amanda (*Nanky) and I got together for a weekend in Barcelona with our Spanish friends Marta and Kenny. The Fiesta de Merce (a very popular fire festival) was on at the time, with much sangria drinking, flame throwing and drum playing enjoyed by all! We embarked on a city tour of Barcelona, were lead astray by Marta and Kenny in backstreet bars, sausage shops, and shopping outlets. We were lucky enough to be invited to Marta's family home for a traditional Catalan lunch, where we were stuffed full of the most delicious dishes whilst being thoroughly entertained by Marta's grandmother who didn't speak a word of English!

Sardines in Sardinia

We arrived on Italian shores at the Sicilian port of Alghero. As a storm raged around us, we limped to safety right as the engine died. But that is another story on it's own! We tied up to the coast guard's berth among the local fishermen who looked upon us with dubiously raised monobrows. It didn't take them long to warm to our charming personalities, and soon we were scoring rides with them into town and waving to each other as the days went on. We received more apologies about the tragic death of the Crocodile Hunter, which we accepted with admirably straight faces.

Alghero is a beautiful and very old town with ancient cannonballs littering the sand and miles of thick city walls to wander on to wile away the days. We ate gelato and thick chunks of brie on freshly baked bread, swordfish straight out of the sea, cooked with fresh herbs and lemons from the market. As you can imagine, the whole experience was hell. Actually it was bliss, the only difficulties tainting our days were the persistent mechanical disasters which kept Doug busy. I really wished I knew more about engines and generators, but unfortunately Kaz and I were of little use.

The town of Bossa...

We met a lovely English couple who ran sailing charters out of Alghero. It is amazing how quickly you become friends with English speaking people in a foreign land. They are like a little lifeline that connects you to home. It wasn't long before we were having dinner at each other's "houses", and taking them up on the kind offer of the use of their car. Kaz, Doug and I did a roadtrip down the coast to a cool town called Bossa. The buildings are brightly coloured and the cactus grow rampant throughout the streets. Perched dramatically on a steep hill overlooking the town, is a medieval castle. We climbed the steep steps to the top and then got chased back down by the security guards (note to self... only fools try to scale castle walls in broad daylight).