Lindsey newsletter # 94
Nantes, Saturday 18th November, 23-30.
Long time no see…
I now have to talk about a whole month…
A first week with a lot of lectures for me; Lindsey organising the house and building up more and more autonomy. Vikki then came back in time to let me fly to Lisbon for 2 days to go and fetch a prize for the ClassCode project. A last sprint and we were ready to fly off to Sardinia for a week.
I will only have some pictures here. Vikki took many more which you can view here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/i916aM321M39J6oA2.
We flew out late on Friday 27th, landing in Olbia at 11. We had a bad start: we had rented two cars through a company called Goldcar. We found ourselves stranded: they didn’t have the car I wanted (a Fiat 500) but found errors in the way we had filled the forms and the guy somehow convinced us that the only way to settle things was to pay for a special insurance which multiplied by 5 the amount we were supposed to pay. And at 11 at night, with some of us very tired and needing rest there was no alternative than agreeing. When a few days later I scratched the car, I was nearly glad.
A first night at Olbia, not far from the airport and a drive down the Estern coast to the first Agriturismo, somewhere between Orosei and Dorgali. On the way, a first swim, still in October.
Agriturismo is one of Italy’s best ideas. These are run on farms: the lodgings are rather basic but the bonus is the food. We opted for Dinner and Breakfast. And we were not disappointed: great food, most of which came from the farm itself. We drove around the area and on the Sunday went for the large expedition of the journey. We walked up to the Nuragic village of Tiscali. This prehistoric village is high in the mountains of the Supramonte. It took us more than 2 hours to get to the top. This was hard work for Lindsey (to be fair, I underestimated the hardness of the task); in Vikki’s pictures you will see some of the techniques we used to get up.
We drove down the coast a little more before turning West to the village of Santu Lussurghiu. The village is on a hill. Paved streets, arches between the houses and impossible not to get lost. We were able to visit the area which included ruins of all types corresponding to the different inhabitants over the ages. We also enjoyed the food with a special mention for the best pizzas I ever ate, the Sardinian bread, the Fiore cheese…
The town of Bosa was beautiful, as was the one of Alghero which had been a prized Catalan possession: they still speak some form of Catalan there.
A last night in another Agroturismo, a last swim in the sea, this time in November, and time to get back home.
The days after getting back have passed quickly. Vikki stayed a few days and then went off for another holiday, to Prague. Lindsey has been taking an increasing amount of decisions and is now very autonomous. Partly because she is, globally, much better, but also because I am buried in complex but great questions.
We are now preparing for Christmas, slowly.
Love