When Things Look Up, It's Time to look Out!

Or In other words, a brush with the dark side.....

OK, so you are probably wondering about my title today and I will preface this post by telling you that we are both just fine! .....so now I will tell the story.

Here I am getting ready to leave this lovely little B&B run by a kind and generous englishwoman. This was our last day in Sardenia. We had to check out by 10am but our ferry to Genoa didn't leave until 9pm. Our plan was to say goodbye to Paolo and take off to explore the area known as Costa Smeralda, home of the rich and famous....millionaires, sheiks, fashion models in other words, the jet set.

We spent the morning driving around the northeast tip of Sardenia. The day was glorious as we climbed up and around, along the sea through Baia Sardenia and towards Porto Cervo. Porto Cervo is home to some of the largest boats I have ever seen. It just happened that the Rolex Cup Regatta was taking place this week. These are mega sailboats....some as big as 130 ft. One racing class was the Swan class. These boats are spectacular sailboats with crews of 15 to 20 people. Their masts are about 100 ft tall. When they raise the sails it is an extraordinary sight.

 

Heading out to the start of the race.

Take a look at this boat......There were several docked in the harbor. That's a 100 ft Swan next to it.

We continued on, past Porto Cervo to Porto Rotundo.....and enjoyed a great lunch in the little harbor. Along the way, we passed this resort complex.

Later we stopped at a beach called Golfo Marinella to enjoy a few hours at the beach....the water was the beautiful aqua blue that Sardenia is famous for, stretching far out into the harbor....sparkling and glittering, the sand beneath...so white. Swimming is such a pleasure when the water is just the perfect temperature, no rocks, no dangerous critters........we thought...., as we enjoyed the afternoon. But little did we know that the dangerous creatures were in the seemingly safe, parking lot. Two hours later, we walked back to our rental car and found the rear window of our little Smart car smashed, both suitcases....gone, our iphone in John's pants tucked under the seat....gone, as well as his pants. We literally were stunned. Recovery mode kicked in and I called Paolo, who said he was on his way immediately, from the other side of the island. Meanwhile he told us to call the Polizia, which we did with the help of a kind Italian couple. Then we took stock of what was left. We still had the bag I carry everywhere when we travel. It is literally attached to my shoulder 24/7. It contains all our documents, passports, wallets, ipad, camera, italian phone, money etc. Usually the iphone is in it as well but ....our big mistake was we had become complacent. Yes, we were feeling too safe and thought, what can happen in an hour. Now, we all know something like this can happen just as well anywhere in the world, including our safe little state of Vermont. But we were far from home and not too proficient in the language or procedures. We were told to drive to the police station, which we did. Paolo met us there to lend a hand. We had to fill out a report etc. meanwhile another couple, young and from Lithuania came in. Their rental car had been broken into at another local beach.....they lost everything, clothes as well as all their documents, money and credit cards. If this happens you have to go to your embassy and apply for another passport etc, etc. This incident put things in perspective for us. We at least had our important stuff..minus the iphone of course. Paolo accompanied us to the car rental agency. Yes, we had added the extra insurance package..then to the mall to buy some essentials like toothpaste, underwear and for John....pants as well as chargers for our itaIian phone and ipad.. Then he took us to the ferry. We made it to our cabin and managed to eat dinner on board before the ferry left at 9pm. Our cabin was on the 7th deck. There were hundreds of people on board returning from their vacations in Sardenia. You can reserve a small cabin with bathroom or choose to sleep anywhere on the decks. People race to set up their sleeping bags and air mattresses in favorite spots...or sleep in deck chairs. They stay up late playing cards or doing kareoke. In general they are having a wonderful time together. I have to admit we were exhausted and wired....worried, a little scared and still jittery from our afternoon nightmare. We kept reminding oursleves how lucky we were and how grateful we were to our friends for their help. We spent some time just walking the decks, enjoying the air and the sound of the boat underway....steaming toward Genoa. I always think of the movie, The Black Stallion, when I am on a huge ferry in the middle of the Mediterranean. Luckily, unlike the movie, our trip was uneventful...we really couldn’t handle another major event.

We arrived in Genoa at 9 am and took a taxi to the train station....all the while feeling very tired and concerned about our iphone being stolen. Luckily we had contacted Matt as well as our friend Laura. Matt had the phone stopped so that solved most of our worries. Clothes and shampoo we can buy but we did loose all the gifts we had bought for our grandkids and the gifts we had carried from home for our Italian friends....so sorry everyone....please forgive.

So here we are, at last, in our favorite little Italian town of Santo Stefano between San Remo and Imperia. This is where we spent so much time last year. It's good to be back. Here is a pic of me with the only clothes I have left. And my bag, of course! John bought a pair of Italian pants yesterday. Wow! Tomorrow we shop for a few more clothes....we might just return to Vermont looking Italian!

 

a big thank you again to Paolo and Sarah, our dear friends.

 

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