After a three hour delay at the airport I at last arrived at Alghero airport and was greeted by Maria who whisked me off to the lovely little Hotel Funtanerana fourty minutes drive away.After meeting everyone we got to grips with some painting and sketching interspersed with the odd 'Ichnusa', the local beer. My first sketch , which i have included here, is of the fountain that gave the Hotel it's name. The weather was getting rather WARM to say the least.
Our first trip was to the small riverside town of Bosa about an hour's drive from the hotel. I couldn't get over how UNDER populated Sardinia was as we hardly saw any development on our trip...what a refreshing change ! We spent a very enjoyable day in Bosa with packed lunches by the river.
Another day out took us to Maria's parents vineyard 'Badu Oschiri' where we were greeted with Sardinian hospitality , food and of course WINE !! The temp was well into the 30's so it was rather warm and the paint was drying as fast as you put it on the paper.
Our trip to the old town of Alghero was very interesting with it's wealth of old buildings , then it was off to the beach for lunch and a dip in the sea. Sadly some bad weather had washed a lot of the sand away and there were too many rocks about. The landlord of the taverna plied us with the local Grappa which nearly blew our heads off.
This was the first holiday I had done with Maria and John who were great hosts and made sure everyone's needs were well catered for. I am looking foward to tutouring for them again next year so watch this space !
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Hi Barry,lovely to read you also enjoyed this small corner of Heaven, the lasting effect Sardinia has on the memory is pure magic, I can still see the scenery, and photo's taken 3+1/2 years ago without looking at them. was hoping to make this trip, but out of steam 2009-2010, now looking towards 2011. Regards Laura.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could come up with the right word or words to describe how I see your watercolor paintings. I found you via Irina's blog and she did a couple of paintings in your style and I loved them too.
ReplyDeleteI used to paint, in oils, but quit a long time ago. I don't miss it but I guess photography took over as I am into photographing birds that come into my backyard. My photography has no bounds, really, but I am not able to come up with a photo as strikingly beautiful as your paintings.