Alghero, Italy

 Nate's mom came out to visit from 7-21May and when she got out I told her that Jackie and Caiti had planned a trip to Venice, that I had declined to go because it got back at midnight and she had to leave the next day for an 8am flight.  Ultimately, this inspired us to search for our own cheap flights.  WE got onto Ryan Air's website and found several, the most appealing of which (to me anyway) was the 160 euro (round trip for two adults and a child)l  After much deliberating, we decided to book it.  They charged an extra 10 euro per person for an airport check in and another 16 euro for the stroller, but the whole thing ended up being just over $300 for 3 people - not bad.  Afterwards I got online and booked a room at the Alma di Algero.  IT was right across from a beach, a 15 minute walk from the "centro historico," included breakfast, and it was only 99 euro/night.

So on the 19th we drove up to Frankfurt Hahn at about 11:30.  It took us just over an hour to get there because of construction on the last leg of the trip.  We got there just as the check-in opened.  They gave us our tickets and tagged our stroller and we went through security.  I was a little worried because I was carrying 5 juice boxes for Caedmon (well over the limit for liquids) but they didn't care.  Security was fast and we didn't have to show our passports at all (despite the big, vacant, passport control area), which I thought was odd.  So we sat and let Caedmon run around, watch the airplanes, and feast on M&Ms.  He did really well until we lined up to board, but he got over it once we started walking out to the plane.  They let us take our stroller all the way out there and took it just before we got on.





The plane itself exceeded my expectations.  Granted, I was half expecting a Monterey-style prop plane.  But it was a jet with two rows of three seats and it had a little over 30 rows.  It didn't have a lot of the usual amenities, like movies or TV, and snacks/beverages were for pay only, but otherwise it was about like any other airline I'd flown with.  They had Caedmon sit on my lap during take off and landing and we used a little seat belt extension for that.  Otherwise, he sat in his own seat in between us and enjoyed the ride.  RyanAir doesn't have reserved seating, and in this case, it worked to our advantage.


We landed in Alghero as scheduled, but in the middle of drizzle.  We got our stroller in about 10 minutes then headed out to find a bus.  We got a schedule and tried to get tickets but the machine at the Tabacci was broken.  So we went outside the airport to wait for the bus.  In that time, the drizzle turned into a downpour, which ordinarily wouldn't be a problem, but apparently Alghero rarely ever sees rain, so there were no covered bus stops.  A bus (not ours) pulled up and the driver invited us to step inside to wait for ours.  When ours did come, he even helped put our stroller on and showed us how our tickets worked.  It was only $0.70 per person, but by the time we got on we were soaked.

The bus ride to the hotel was pretty incredible.  We drove through groves of olive trees, past stone walls and arches and bright pink, orange, and yellow houses.  We saw Alghero and the port on our way to Fertilia (the village in between the airport and our destination).



It was about 20 minutes to our stop and the drive kept checking with us to see where we needed off.  He told us exactly where to go from our stop in order to get to our hotel and even stopped to ask a local if he knew any English so that he could explain better to us, but with Oma's Spanish and a guidebook, we were able to understand.

So we walked the two blocks to our hotel.  It was entirely along a beach.  Our receptionist showed us to our room (literally took us there).  The keys worked differently -  you waved it in from of the door.  Inside the room was all white and blue with tiles floors.  It has a flat screen TV and refrigerator stocked with food and drinks for purchase.  They put in a children's bed for us, which was great.  The shower was tiny and the bathroom had a badeau.  But best of all, we had a balcony with a view of the beach.

We stayed in the hotel long enough to get organized and dry and then headed out.  Caedmon splashed in lots of puddles  and then we found a pizzeria (Ramblas).  It was nice inside, but Caedmon wanted to "outside play" so I told Oma I would take a pizza and took Caedmon to the beach long enough to calm down.  When we came back Oma had ordered an appetizer, pizza, a plate of spaghetti, and a bottle of wine, so we ate some fine Italian cuisine!  It seemed like it took forever for the food, but it was good.  The pizza compared to that of downtown Wiesbaden only with less cheese (like what we had in Croatia).  We paid the bill shortly after finishing and stopped by the beach for some night photos and to dip our toes in the Mediterranean.  I picked up a few small shells, but it was late and Caedmon was spent, so we went back to our room and crashed.

 

The next morning we went to the continental breakfast (after some cartoons, coffee, and packing for our day).  The breakfast buffet was like any other European B&B we've been to - bread, meat, cheese - only there were also tomatoes, olive oil, and lots of pastries.  IT was good and we left to check out shortly thereafter.  Caedmon looked at the fish in the reception area and the hotel employees went gaga over him.

From there, we walked along the beach and palm trees (in the drizzle) to Alghero's Centro Historico.  Looking out over the water you could see rolling hills in the distance, and in the other directly, the harbor and historic center of Alghero.

  

After reaching the center I found out my memory card in my camera broke, losing all of my pictures from the airport/hotel/beach, which put a damper on my mood.  (I was later able to recover everything, thank goodness!).  About 5 minutes later the drizzle turned into downpour and we found ourselves walking the streets of Alghero soaked through and through.

 

Despite the wind and rain, the city was very beautiful, with lots of churches, colorful buildings with flower boxes, laundry lines between buildings and hanging from windows, and view of the sea from various points in the town.

 

We made through loops around the old city and stopped at a cafe in the process.  We stopped in a few shops as well, but after a while, the rain got the better of us, and we decided to head back to the aeropuerto early.  We walked a few blocks back to get our tickets, and in the process, Caedmon fell asleep, so we stopped in at another little cafe for some cappuccinos while waiting for the bus.

We made it back to the airport well in advance of our flight, so Caedmon got to burn off some energy (and we got a chance to try off and freshen up after a day of walking around in the rain).   When we got our boarding pass, the guy at the counter even stopped what he was doing to play with Caedmon.  He was a pretty good sport on the way back, and fell asleep on our way home.

All in all, it was a pretty good trip - fun and spontaneous.  I admit, it would have been better without the rain, but you can't change the weather, you just have to do what you can with what you have.