cagliari: color, curiosity, community

oh how badly we needed this weekend. PERFECTION. aside from the fact that everyone was a bit sick. except me. but serious relaxation and joy and overwhelming beauty. cagliari is the place to be my friends.

we made it to the island of sardegna thursday night with no trouble (i did try to mess things up...really hard. dropped the bus tickets in the street but we went back and found them) ryanair is actually decent and all went smoothly. got to our hostel which was a six person room with a loft. really nice. cagliari is the most precious little beach town. anchors everywhere- things i love. found a little restaurant and quickly realized we were not in an american-frequented place. very little english. which makes it hard but a good challenge and then we learn. called it an early night and passed the heck out.

woke up feeling reallll good friday. we explored in short sleeve shirts and leggings. everyone else was wearing huge coats and hats and scarves. several people asked us if we were cold. it was 63 degrees. so clearly we were in heaven. after walking a bit and taking plenty of pictures we decided to try to find the famous poetto beach. after getting directions and heading up the highway we were offered a ride by the same lovely older gentleman who gave us directions. so we hitchhiked (sorry mom). and he really was just a lovely older gentleman named luigi with wonderful intentions. dropped us off right at poetto beach where we were greeted by one of the most beautiful beaches i've ever seen. naturally we screamed at the top of our lungs and sprinted for the water (video to come). most of the day we just chilled on the beach and collected seashells and soaked in a whole lotta happiness. lunch consisted of chicken sandwiches at some sketchtastic panini booth called "fast and serious". it was both fast and serious. such a relaxing day of reading and just being together. which is always good. another lovely dinner and gelato success. boom boom baby what a day.

overwhelming beach joy

quad toes

shelllls

sketchtastic.

saturday was bike day. first we climbed this marble staircase thing in the middle of the city that had sweet A views. and we danced on top. a lot. wonderful wonderful wonderful. sun. rented bikes and biked everywhere. ev er y whereeee. had lunch on a restaurant on a boat! which was cool too. more relaxing. and reading. tackling war and peace with everything i have. more dinner. more gelato. more happiness and love galore.

view from the top of the marble stairs

lunch on a boat!

and we made it home. swift plane ride and a bus ticket exchange to get home earlier. sometime things just work out. sometimes they don't (bologna) but sometimes they work out beautifully, far better than we could imagine. the less frequently we try to make life happen- the more life just happens. no plans means no disappointments and pleasant surprises around every corner. i am living. i've been alive for 21 years and there have been plenty of times where i feel like i could not be more alive than i am in that moment. yet it always gets better. i become even more awake and even more aware of my full potential of life. i do have full life and real joy in christ and the more i let him show me that the more i live. and obviously i am blessed beyond belief to be living here and presented with all these opportunities. but it just really hit me this weekend how perfectly alive i am. ptl for that.