The last few weeks seemed to have run away with me. If not busy with work, it’s been preparation for the conference (XP2007), or actually spending time at the conference itself, though I’ve at least still had a chance to fit sessions in at the gym before work and have myself a little bit of a rest.

I also managed to escape for a weekend before this all started and ended up in Alghero, part of the Sardinian islands in Italy. My weekend started especially early with my flight out of Stansted at the almost unbearable time of 6:30am. Of course this actually meant about three hours sleep on Friday night before leaving to catch a bus from Liverpool street since no trains or underground run at that time.

Arriving at the airport was quite a sight, with pretty much all chairs covered with people sprawled uncomfortably, all waiting for their early morning flights. It looked like many people had camped as well, taking their sleeping bags to the airport for comfort. 5am rocks around and staff starts waking everyone to get the airport moving again – I certainly felt sorry for many people who looked like they needed the sleep more than I did.

The flight was relatively painless, and getting to the city was very easy. You buy a bus ticket from a dilapidated looking machine for €0.90 and it’s easy to see the bus heading into town since everyone else seemed to be waiting for it. It drives right along the coastline, on its way to the middle of town giving you a magnificent idea of what the beaches and harbour offer.

There is not a terrible amount to do in Alghero though what they have was exactly what I needed. Upon arriving we walked briefly through the old town before catching a cruise out to the Caves of Nettuno or Neptune’s Caves. These deep marine caves found on Cape Caccia offer walkways through well-lit caverns where stunning stalactites and stalagmites reach out all around you in an eerily quiet setting. I highly recommend taking the cruise instead of the bus to the Cape because what can really beat sitting on a good sized boat, soaking up the sun and enjoying the azure blue ocean and sea spray in the air?

Alghero offers many different experiences for food, though be aware that most places shut down between 3 and 6 for a rest before starting up again. It’s safe to say it’s hard to go wrong at many places, with fresh seafood available on almost every menu. We read about the restaurant Paco (7, Largo San Francesco) before arriving and enjoyed the food and service offerings. It seemed to be popular with locals and tourists alike, offering outdoor and indoor dining and many traditional dishes. Look out for these other local foods: Mirto – a very uniquely flavoured liqueur, Limoncello – lemon based liqueur though more Italian than exclusively Sardinian, Pecorino – a hard cheese made from sheep’s milk, Dolci sardi – collections of small sweet biscuits and pastries. A weekend is definitely not enough to try all the local cuisine and unfortunately we didn’t get around to trying things like Seadas (deep fried honey cheese pastries), suckling pig, and pork with mirto.

Other than walking around the old town, Alghero offers some very nice beaches, with sand almost as fine as the Gold Coast but with many more facilities and activities. Deckchairs line the coastline, and paddle boats can be hired or indulge yourself at any of the cafes and bars that line the beach.

My weekend in Alghero didn’t end up as expensive as I thought it would have, given that it’s apparently a popular destination for wealthy Italians, and a much needed relaxing one at that. Check out more photos here.