off to sardinia and the amalfi coast

you can't imagine how excited i am. ten days of gorgeous sunshine, powder perfect beaches, crystal clear waters and a taste of the deliciously slow-paced mediterranean lifestyle awaits. i can't stop thinking of lying on deserted sardinian beaches and experiencing time standing still.

h and i are flying into cagliari (pronounced calyari) on saturday afternoon from london luton and will spend a few days exploring this regional capital as well as some smaller towns along the costa del sud in sardinia. then we drive up a few hours north east to the town of tortoli to stay with my high school friend, rutton, who has a beautiful villa that is just a stone's throw from the ocean. we'll hang out with rutton for a few days - swimming in the warm waters, hiking in the region's only national park and cooking simple italian meals with fresh produce bought from the local market. and, of course, drinking lots of wine and enjoying the companionship of a close friend. we also plan to drive further north to the sought-after part of the island, costa smerlada, which is supposed to have the most stunning beaches in all of the mediterranean.

we then plan to hop over by ferry to the south west of italy to explore the amalfi coast which looks unbelievably spectacular in all the photos i've seen thus far. also, many of jamie oliver's recipes from "jamie's italy" are inspired from the amalfi region so you know just how much i'm looking forward to the food here which sounds like it is just to die for. i can already imagine a future blog post on the luscious lemons that grow in this region.

and finally, we'll be driving to rome to spend the last few days. we got an unbelievably cheap ticket back to london from rome for only £20 a person! we're hoping to spend some time with our friends hrijoy and chiara who live in rome and know the city really well.

i'm ditching my laptop and blackberry so i can be incommunicado for a while. but i'm taking a brand-new, leather-bound journal and my digital camera and hope to spend lots of time writing and reflecting on my short italian adventure.

ciao until september 6th when you can expect the first post of my sardinia and amalfi coast diaries.