Diane Doona's Holiday Heaven and Hell
What was your best holiday?
I’m lucky; I love travelling and have a lot of really good trips. We abandoned the ‘holiday package’ a long time ago and on our first trip to Sardinia we decided to rough it; no hotels booked, no transport. We would use local buses and cheap B and Bs. We weren’t too old to backpack!
We arrived in Alghero, a beautiful old town steeped in naval history, with wonderful churches, squares and museums to explore. Not as cheap as we expected, on our third day we headed for the bus station, knapsacks on our backs. We waited for a bus to take us to the beautiful Maddalena Islands in the North East. No-one seemed to understand where we wanted to go. The bus drivers looked at us blankly and the information booth was closed. An hour later we were throwing our bags into the boot of a hire car and setting off into the afternoon sun. We never looked back.
We meandered up the coast, stopping to picnic on bread and cheese and to take a dip in the cool turquoise water. We spent a couple of days exploring the Maddelenas, which were breathtakingly beautiful, and then on to San Teodora where we brushed toes with millionaires on the Costa Smeralda and quickly moved on. Over the hills and back west to the ancient town of Bosa, where our fresh white flesh was mercilessly feasted on by midges and the streets were so narrow that only the inevitable scooters could get through. Arriving back in Alghero for our flight home we knew we’d be back.
Your worst?
I’ve never really had a disastrous holiday, but on a cheap package to Corfu, booked hastily at the last minute, destination unknown, we ended up in a small self catering complex situated smack bang on a main crossroads on the edge of Sidari.
We were woken every morning at around four o’clock as delivery trucks and lorries trundled noisily into town. Across a stretch of grassland next to the complex there were several dogs and animals tethered; needless to say, at the slightest noise, the dogs began a frenzied barking and this happened throughout the night. But it didn’t put us off Corfu, it’s a beautiful island.
What was the most memorable holiday moment?
Perhaps not the most memorable, but the one that comes to mind often when talking about food. We’d landed at Heraklion in Crete and were on a bus to Chania. Not realising the journey was so long, we decided to get off at Rethyymno, about half way. It was early afternoon; we found a small hotel and then cooled down in the sea. Suddenly, we were starving. It was late spring and hot. The little cafes and tavernas along the beach were still shuttered, but we found one, where the tables fluttered with bright yellow tablecloths. A small woman appeared and we asked for two beers and a menu. In broken English, she explained that she wasn’t open for food. Never mind, we said, we’ll just have the beer. The cold beer hit out rumbling tummies as we sat and admired the view. It wasn’t long before she was back, offering to cook something if we would wait. We did, and half an hour later she appeared like a Greek Goddess with a plate of tiny crescent-shaped spanakopita (spinach and feta cheese pie) and a Greek salad. The little pies melted in our mouths and we devoured them too quickly. Where else in the world would you be treated like that?
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