A UK Olympic Summer Month: Day 11-25

Living it up with two weeks of relaxation in Sardinia! Living it up with two weeks of relaxation in Sardinia!

Almost every year my family comes together to spend our summer in Sardinia. This year was no different, for bonding among family and friends and of course relaxation on pristine beaches! Throughout the time there our friends and family come and go, so the group dynamic changes. This year we had a large group of up to 25 people or so. As this is not really a ‘travel’ adventure, I will summarize the highlights of the two weeks in Sardinia.

A Typical Day

10:00 AM – Wake up

10:30 AM – Get some breakfast if there is bread at the table. Otherwise possibly go get bread and supplies from the local grocery.

12:00 PM – Get sunscreen on and head toward beach.

12:30 PM – Stroll/Float down beach to check out the crowd. Say “hullo” at least 500 times before finishing walk.

1:00 PM – Afternoons would either involve a swim in the sea, snorkeling, swim in the pool or a combination of the activities. Snorkeling Highlight: Found a huge octopus snorkeling! Sun tanning, reading or chatting with friends/family is also part of the norm. Often a coffee or beer at Palmira would be in order.

4:00 PM – Eat lunch, made by one of the cooking teams (very funny Nat on the “pick your team first without knowing what you are picking them for” trick).

5:00 PM – Siesta

8:00 PM – Dinnertime. I did not unfortunately keep up my streak of pizza everyday. I believe I only missed 2 days.

9:00 PM – Drinks, party, dance, music, philosophize about life under the stars, chat, drinks, etc.

Unknown Time – Sleep

I’m on a BOAT!

Once again, we rented a large white motorboat to take the group out. Despite a battery hiccup in the morning, we were up and running for lunch near Villasimius on a restaurant also on a boat! After docking you’re served pasta, then shrimp. Plenty of home made white wine to go around as well.

After a belly full of delicious fresh shrimp, we jumped from the top deck and then were off for some snorkeling at Isola dei Cavoli a short ride away.

Besides a few boats passing by occasionally, we had the area to ourselves. Though I spent most of my time stalemating my brother on board, it was still a fun snorkeling trip.

The way back was not as wavy as I would have liked as bouncing off the waves at full speed definitely makes the ride more enjoyable (for a select few).

Dropping off most of the passenger, a few went to return the boat at Villasimius.

Pizza Party

Though this sounds like something that the TMNT would do, it’s actually also became a tradition. We invite our close friends and family to join in on the pizza party and eat what you cook! Everyone tries to make the most delicious pizza and shares them as they come out, since the process is not really optimized. We can I say, we are still amateur pizza chefs.

Murder

Recently we started playing the game “Murder”. This is a simple game where each participant draws a name from a hat and then must “murder” that person by shooting them with a water gun. The catch is, no one can witness you doing it. There are a few safe zones such as your bedroom, but in general it’s a free for all.

Once started, the game goes on 24/7 until a winner is declared.

Final three were Amy, Arash and I… My fatal squirt left me the last man standing!

Beer Games

A tradition for 10 years, we have an annual beer games where teams are selected and put to the test! In each event, a player must chug a beer before racing through some activity.

This year though we bought all the beers (twice) the event was cancelled. Some say it was because we are all grown up and better left at a 10 year anniversary and others simply because we ran out of time.

RIP Beer Games.

Red Party

Our annual color-themed parties are always fun, especially if the participants are aware of the theme well in advance and have a chance to prepare. This year we went all out and I must say, it was one of the best parties we’ve had in Sardinia!

The party started with everyone dressing up in their favorite red outfit and meeting on our terrace for red themed cocktails. I prepared a massive bowl of sangria with plenty of wine and a dash (bottle) of vodka to add a little kick. We also had some regular cocktails and red jello shots throughout the night.

After most of the guests arrived, we took some group pictures at sunset. Catered dinner soon arrived from the local restaurant consisting of a delicious homemade lobster pasta and a vegetable pasta.

Soon enough it was time to head to the club in Villasimus. Our rented bus arrived and we all hopped on. Some of the guys picked up a case of beer right before going so we’d be set for the 45 min drive. The driver probably wanted to kill himself with the amount of noise we were making as we sang along with the music over the bus’s speakers and literally “raising the roof”.

When we arrived our huge group of almost 30 must have looked like a circus coming off the bus and right through the VIP line to our 4 tables. Plenty of people asked if we were some kind of team… “well… yes. Yes we are.”

The night ended with us dancing on tables and closing out the club. Our driver even came into the club looking for us since no one was answering phones! Amazing party and looking forward to the next one.

Villasimius at Night

We had a nice evening in Villasimius which started with dinner at the fancy beach side restaurant, Il Miraggio. We had a large group of people and I had a neck ache for some reason so I slept in the car while Arash stalked me outside (see Murder game).

After dinner we went to the city center for a gelato and walk around. Then the “bears” and I stayed back for a few drinks with our new friends we met at the Red Party. They worked at their family hotel and showed us the ‘nightlife’ of villa, which consisted of about two empty bars. We enjoyed a few drinks before heading back to Torre.

Overall, Sardinia is like a second home and there are always fun times to be had.