I'm back home in Raleigh now. Sigh. I wisely took today off from work and am still recuperating.

The flights back went just as smoothly as the ones there. We got back in Raleigh at 8:30 Saturday evening, instead of the 5pm we were expecting because of a minor delay, but all in all I feel that our air travel luck is improving!

Here are a few pictures Nick took while I was at work early last week. There are two beaches close to where we stayed. Calamosca, here, was smaller and not as popular. We went to Poetto more often. Pictures to follow!

ciao

Hurray, I'm in Sardinia with a minimum amount of crises. The flights went well, aside from the child behind me from Philadelphia to Venice who alternated crying in English and Italian.
When we got in yesterday we dropped off our luggage and wandered down to the beach. It was pretty and warm, but I was a little too out of it to enjoy the experience. We'll go again later in the week.
So sleepy. Must go outside and try to wake up.

Early Birthday

I'm pretty excited because I got an early birthday present this week! Nick got me this fancy camera, since I've been going on and on for months about how I want to take photography classes. We'll no excuses now. I appreciate it even more since he had to drive all the way over to New Bern Ave in rush hour traffic to get it. It has a Mickey Mouse strap, which makes me laugh and I'm sure will REALLY help me blend in with the locals in Cagliari. I'm considering also getting a fanny pack and an around the neck passport holder. Ok, not really, but that would be great. (Aside - really, what's going on with designer fanny packs for $455. Ridiculous).

Anyhow, I am really overwhelmed by Nick's very thoughtful gift. As you all should be as well, since you'll soon be graced with professional grade photos of Mediterranean seascapes. If I could only figure out how to turn the damn thing on...

I'm headed home tomorrow morning. It's been a good trip, but I miss my own bed. We have to catch a 7am bus for the hour plus ride to Heathrow. I definitely take for granted how close we are (especially my house) to the airport in Raleigh.

My major disappointment this trip is that our plane, which usually has individual tv screens on the seat backs, was downgraded for a smaller version with just the tvs every few rows on the ceiling. Coming over it wasn't too bad - I just squinted at Ocean's 13 and went to sleep. On the way back it'll be 8+ hours of daylight and I'll want to stay up. I have a book and a half I want to finish so I'll try to knock those out.

Talk to you on the other side of the Atlantic.

Tonight we ate dinner at Jamie Oliver's restaurant in Oxford. It was good, and a really cool building, but I definitely ate too much. It was pretty relaxed and they don't take reservations - interesting for a celebrity chef's place. Nick thinks it's lame that it's named Jaimie's and I have to agree, but I suppose it makes the marketing easier.

All our meetings are going well at work and I got a full 8 hours sleep last night. That was a big improvement over Sunday night's 4. Clearly I shouldn't have napped so much after we got in on Sunday. I can't believe it's only Wednesday tomorrow; I feel like we've done so much already and am about ready to head home.

After dinner we noticed flashy lights up the street from our flat. Apparently there was a street fair going on. Basically a mini version of the State Fair. Very strange amongst these centuries-old buildings! There were rides and games and candy floss (cotton candy). I did not partake in any of these as they all looked a little shady. Also I wanted to keep down my tiramisu. Goes to show that there's a place everywhere for carnies. eek.

Pimm's Cup

From Wikipedia:

Pimm's is a brand of alcoholic beverages now owned by Diageo. Its most popular product is Pimm's No. 1 Cup, a gin-based beverage that can be served both on ice or in cocktails. The recipe of Pimm's No. 1 Cup is secret; it has a dark tea colour with a reddish tint, and tastes subtly of spice and citrus fruit.

Pimm's is most common in Britain, particularly Southern England. It is one of the two staple drinks at Wimbledon, the Henley Royal Regatta and the Glyndebourne opera festival, the other being champagne. As a result Pimm's has the reputation of being a drink for the upper class.

Pimm's No. 1 Cup is the essential ingredient in the Pimm's Cup, which mixes one part Pimm's No.1 with three parts lemonade or lemon soda (sometimes ginger ale or Indian tonic water), ice cubes, borage leaves (nowadays a wedge of cucumber is usually substituted for this ingredient), mint leaves and slices of lemon, orange and strawberry.

I'm off to Oxford this evening, assuming Tropical Storm Hanna hasn't delayed my flight. We arrive bright and early at 6:30am Sunday and have a day to recoup before the week of meetings kicks off. I'll be back next Saturday afternoon. I'll be stocking up on tea and Pimm's. Yum. And anonymous, to address your past requests, they do sell absinthe in the States now, so you can buy that here. Anyhow, it tastes like black licorice. Yuck.

I've been slack in blogging about Boston. Here's one more before I'm on to the next trip. My aunt and uncle were on a two month long sailing trip and came into Boston to meet up with me while I was there. We hung out on their very cool sailboat, which was docked at Rowe's Wharf Marina. The entrance to the marina is this gorgeous arch here. Actually, Saturday when I took the train down to see them, there was a wedding going on right under the archway.

One night we went and ate at a great Italian restaurant in the North End. We got a table right in front near an open window and could see the St. Anthony's parade go by. The second night we ate at the Chart House. Apparently the building it is in originally housed John Hancock's offices. Historically delicious. They wanted me to sail over to Provincetown with them, but sadly I had to work. Maybe next year.

On my first night in Boston I wandered down to the Museum of Fine Arts. Wednesdays are free to the public, and open until 9:45 - way later than most museums are, so both cost and timing worked out in my favor. It was a huge and beautiful museum and the layout reminded me of the Art Institute of Chicago. There was a cool exhibit on Art Nouveau jewelery going on. I also like the ancient Egyptian mummies and tomb relics. I had probably my best meal of the trip at the museum restaurant, Bravo. It was duck confit and potato hash with a duck egg on top. So yummy. I don't think I've ever had duck egg before. Ha, and I had a delicious mojito, which I haven't had in a long time.

They had these creepy/fascinating enormous bronze or copper baby heads on each side of the entrance. I'm not sure what they're all about - but I was intrigued enough to take a picture. I poked around the MFA website, but still can't figure out what they are.

Last week I worked at a convention in Boston. The convention center is connected to the Prudential Building; the maze of a complex also houses two malls a bunch of restaurants and 2-3 hotels. It was crazy. You could just go back and forth to all these places and never go outside. Great for winter, but not so good for trying to take a break from the fluorescent lights.