Italia: Day 3.

"A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it."
~John Steinbeck

So I've titled this Day 3 only because I know my last post was a combo of day one and two. I don't even know what day it is. We've had spotty internet in the hotel. Apparently, I was really lucky to get that last blog post posted because right after that, we lost the internet up until right now. I'm thinking that we all overwhelmed their server or network or whatever because my computer showed an excellent connection to their WiFi, but then it wouldn't load anything. We were all in the same boat.

The Mediterranean Sea from our window.

 Day 3, which I believe was yesterday, began with wonderful 30 minute solo run around Cagliari and down to the beach at about 7am. I've been swimming in the Mediterranean Sea before, but this view was just exquisite so early in the morning. I had a moment on the shore that morning. Just beautiful.

In the middle of the day, right before lunch, several of us walked to the Supermercati about ten minutes away. There is a closer one, but the further one also has a gelateria in the same shopping center. Yes, that was the true reason I went. In Italian, I ordered two scoops of gelato (one pistachio and the other strawberry) on a cone. Yum. Seriously delicious. Lisa's got a picture on her camera, so I'll put one up as soon as I download them.

Yesterday afternoon, we drove to Alghero, which was about a 3 hour and 45 minute drive from our hotel in Cagliari. I haven't done a long bus trip in awhile and didn't realize how car-sick I would get. Also, the seats were just squished in there. Sitting straight up, my knees were smashed against the seat in front of me. It definitely could have been much worse (I've been on MUCH worse buses), but it was a tight squeeze.

Our concert in Alghero was in Cattedrale di Santa Maria, a beautiful setting in the middle of the cobblestoned-centre of town, right on the water. The concert started at 9pm, I'm guessing because that's just what Italians do. Because they take naps in the middle of the day, all their evening activities last until late into the night. Also, it could be that the air is just a little more tolerable well after the sun goes down. It's been warm and humid, but not too bad. I just get used to sweating and take comfort in the fact that everyone else feels exactly the way I do. :)

After our concert, which was packed with extremely appreciative and complimentary Alghero residents, we changed out of our performance clothes and walked over to a restaurant called Il Ghiotto, where they prepared a full spread of pasta and seafood dishes. All of our meals are provided by the festival, which is wonderful. We either eat at the hotel or, like last night, at a restaurant. We've had lots of pasta and lots of seafood. Luckily, I love seafood. Last night's meal was my favorite, by far. Here's why:

I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture how delicious this was. My favorite was the seafood risotto and the crab, tomato and basil salad. Yum. Oh, and the little miniature pizzas were yummy.

After dinner we got gelato at the gelateria across the cobblestoned square. This time I ordered two scoops of nutella and coconut. Yes, that means I had gelato twice in one day. I told you that was my plan. It was delicious. Oh that coconut may have been my most favorite flavor ever. I'll have to try it again. :) Twist my arm.

The bus ride back to Cagliari was torturous. I got really sick and it was really late. We arrived at our hotel at 4:11am. I thought I was going to die. I felt dizzy and tired and I may or may not have run into a couple of walls last night.

I never want to be up that late again. :) It was worth it though. A great concert with great people.

Gotta run off to our next concert. Hopefully our internet won't be quite as spotty and I'll be able to update more. Ciao!
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