First thing in the morning, half the group went down to the port to fetch the boat and the other half of the group made a quick trip to the store for beer, rosé, coolers, charcuterie, and another snorkel/fin set to accompany the set we already had. Have you ever been grocery shopping with a large group while on holiday? It's the best. Armed with one or two shopping carts and an outlook of too much money in my back account, the group wanders the store throwing in random items in the cart (or filling their arms if they get separated from the pack) and then converging at the checkout with a massive hodge-podge that always seems to work.
Post grocery run, we manage to get all our gear down to the port with assistance from a sweet cab driver who was heading that way (see? borderline stalker nice people). Marco and I snuck away for due cappuccini e cornetti while the group loaded the boat.
All aboard, we slowly made our way out of the no wake zone passing yachts (the size of small countries) that dwarfed our sweet and humble little rental boat. As we made it out to the choppy open waters, all were quiet as we gazed out to the endless bright blue waters.
We heard that exploring these uninhabited islands dotted around Sardinia (by boat is the only way) we would see some of the best beaches. We followed the coast for some time while Chris and Daryl (star driver and MVP navigator) got their bearings. We had an idea of what islands and beaches we wanted to check out but for the most part we were just up for a whatever-we-stumble-upon adventure.
We anchored at four to five different island beaches throughout the day. I didn't have my camera out as often as I wanted (water water everywhere) but I must have 10,000 photos of that BLUE water.
We snorkeled, cliff jumped, steadied cans of beers in our hands while we swan into land to lounge on white sand beaches. Then we swam back to the boat and it was on to the next. It was a total smug filled, life doesn't get much better than this kind of day. We returned to Porto Rotondo in the evening, exhausted from a sun/wind/rosé filled day.
The last few days of the blissful week were filled with lazy beach lounging, evenings cocktails on the terrace or by the pool, and group effort prepared meals.
One evening we decided to grill whole fish on that dream of a open fire stone oven in the garden. (SO fresh was the catch of the day, that the guys that went down to the market to get the fish had to wait for the fisherman to return from his day on the water.)
Keeping it simple, Chris stuffed the fish with herbs and lemon. We also grilled fennel, salami, small peppers, and fresh bread. While the fish cooked we stood around the grill with our Aperol spritzers, snacking on the grilled bread topped with olive oil + ricotta + peppers + sea salt.
On the final night, per recommendation of Fabio at Pala, we made reservations at Ristorante Enoteca da Giovannino for our last supper. The chef is known for her house made pastas. I had the monkfish ravioli with tropea onion sauce (a small, sweet Italian red onion.)
Our meals in Sardinia were some memorable ones. And just like past trips to various parts of Italy, Sardinia reminded me that just a few fresh + quality ingredients make for easy but spectacular dishes.
Thank you to Sebastian and Maria for organizing an incredible week. And to the rest of the group - Marco and I truly enjoyed every bit of your company. See you next summer, if babies are allowed...
