Oh Italy, I miss you so much! It's near a week since I had to leave the beautiful island of Sardinia, but I'm missing it like I miss nap time in preschool. The gang started talking about taking a week's vacation together since early this year, but it wasn't until a couple months back did things really start kicking into gear. Reservations and plans were made swiftly and it gave us something to look forward to while we were in the deep hells of revision and exams. 

There was a lot of last minute packing the night before we left, and an all-nighter was pulled by me when I needed to stay up and deal with last minute online check-ins for the gang. I was already planning on not sleeping anyways as I tend to be cranky and even more tired when getting odd hours of sleep. So it was safe to say I was a walking zombie on the way to the airport at the wee hours of 5, the flatmates had to keep an eye on me to make sure I was still functioning. Cups of coffee and adrenaline kicking in later on helped me power through the first day, which if I may be weirdly proud of, I set a new record of 39 hours without sleep. 

Anyway, let's move on from my weirdly and unhealthy pride. We had rented a villa for the week and it's an understatement to say that it was friggin gorgeous. Complete with a private pool, the most gorgeous kitchen, the softest couch that later doubled as my bed as I hated the actual beds in the rooms, we even had the owner's dog for a week! What more could I ask for? A lot of time was spent lounging in the chairs around the pool, trying to work up a tan. Even more time was spent in the pool, whether it was playing water volleyball with the gang, or trying to escape and counterstrike the water-dunking dished out by the guys. Also it was refreshing to wake up at 7 am to go to the pool and do laps. I think of all the things - the pool is the thing I miss the most. 

How could we go to Sardinia and not go to the beach? I've seen quite a few gorgeous beaches, I didn't think anything could top the one in the Maldives, but Sardinia is proving me wrong. It was 50+ shades of blue, the sun was radiating while the water kept us cool. The only con is that there was quite a bit of people - but hey, something this gorgeous should be seen. 

My Swiss flatmate, the most polite and proper person I know, was our designated driver throughout the trip. And rightfully so. The rest of us would get all riled up at the reckless Italian driving and he would just be calm and politely tell the driver 'un momento' when we were backing out of the driveway. But while it was wild traffic, there were some really friendly Italian drivers as well. Once we accidentally made a turn onto the wrong side of the road and there were cars coming at us. Our windows were down and I guess the driver next to us heard the curses and cries of help. He just smiled and looked at us with an expression that said, chill, you're in Italy. We all drive like that, as he let us pull in front of him. 

I had a 90s day with my crop top and snapback cap during a day out in Alghero. Even without lugging around my camera, people came up to me and asked if I was American. It was weird, I tell you. But yeah, Annie found this hipster wall and of course, I had to seize the chance to try and be hip. Does it work? 

I think my favourite destination outside of the pool had to be Grotta di Nettuno, a stalactite cave just offshore of Alghero. We took a bumpy boat ride to the caves, getting a lot of sea water splashed in our faces. But it was worth the borderline motion sickness. Caves have always fascinated me, and rumored to be Dante's inspiration for Inferno, Grotta di Nettuno is all my favourite things combined into one. There were also bits of the cave that looked like the setting for Gollum's cave from Lord of the Rings, and others looking like Scar's cave from the Lion King scene, and another corner that looked like Ursula's home from the Little Mermaid. Yes, leave it to us to relate to the Disney and nerd fandoms when in a stalactite cave. 

My legs have never looked so good. Swimming laps pays off.

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