Raising Dandelions: Sardinia, Italy

We have a limited amount of time here and we'd like to see and expose the kids to as much as possible while we live in this part of the world. We've already had a few day trips here and there, but last week we embarked on our first big adventure. The Hubs had use-or-lose vacation days, so he HAD to take time off work (aw, shucks).

Knowing a vacation HAD to be taken, I requested a warm beach and several days of doing absolutely nothing. This move has been a doozy and a true, relaxing vacation was much appreciated! It felt indulgent, but I am so grateful for it!

Of course, finding a warm ~~not nude or topless~~ family-friendly beach in Europe is challenging. We ended up choosing Sardinia, Italy because flights were cheap. Then we picked a house to rent that had access to a private beach, in hopes of keeping things quiet and G-rated. The house turned out to be a cluttered, smelly disappointment, but its' views and its' beach were unbeatable. Our daily schedule was: Get up and sunscreen, go to a bar to get coffee (Yes, Italians have their morning coffee in bars, like the nightclub kind. They do not eat breakfast foods like we would expect, just coffee and something sweet.) Then we would spend the entire day on the beach, eating a picnic lunch and playing. Late afternoon, we'd go back to the house to clean up and we'd have a late dinner because Italians don't serve dinner until 19:30 at the earliest. (Since this is 30 minutes past our kids usual bedtime, it was a tad challenging.) Then we'd crash in bed and do it all over again the next day.

So, will we go back or would we recommend Sardinia to others? Um, probably not. At least not the Southern side of the island where we were. Apart from the beach, we were a bit disappointed. The Italian schedule was a bit challenging...they are not early risers and they eat dinner much, much later than would be our preference. The SW side of the island where we stayed was sad and unkept. There were a lot of abandoned buildings and agricultural areas...it appeared to be a very depressed area. Overall, the Southern side of the island that we saw reminded us of El Paso. Not exactly what I'd pictured before our arrival, but again, the beach was amazing.

Though we won't be booking more flights to Cagliari, we are immensely grateful God gave us the time and means to have the experience and break from everyday life. We ate lots of pizza and gelato, drank good coffee, and soaked up lots of vitamin D.

We successfully navigated our first Ryan Air experience. This is the über cheap airline that we can fly around the continent on. They herd you like cattle, Europeans run and knock over your small children racing to pick the best seat, but it was cheap and on-time. Hooray!

My husband, the coffee drinker...in a bar. We took our kids to bars for breakfast where they ate brioche beneath Marilyn Monroe photos. ?!?! I just had to remind myself, "Whatever, we're in ITALY!"