Another Ryanair sale, where to go? Where is Sardinia? Part of Italy; sure, what could go wrong. A week in the warm weather is hard to go by. Camilla booked a fantastic 3 bedroom apartment on the top floor overlooking a lovely piazza in the centre of the old tow in Alghero. Above our apartment was a rooftop terrace with a viewing platform anther level above this and all this was included. Joffa, our Aussie mate from Dublin, came over as well for the first few days so we went to every restaurant in town. Everything was thrown on for us. An intriguing religious festival echoed through the streets below our terrace between the various duomos and chapels. We hired a Fiat 500C soft top and toured Sardinia. The kids loved the car and we loved the sights. First stop was a cathedral cave Grotto down 300 steps. Followed by a tri-towered nuraghe, a Neolithic stone structure; Tharos, extensive ruins of a Phonecian city with Roman baths and columns and basalt roads, on the south coast and a spectacular coastal drive back up to Alghero.

Highlights of Sardinia were the Piazza's and restaurants; cooking the local fare in our own kitchen (enormous pasta parcels on a bed of roasted aubergine and cheeky red wines) and the routine of sleep-ins, late lunch, siesta, and late Italian influence and Sardinian seafood meals.

'breel-LAHN-tay'