Sardinia Part Two

After our day of travel, we were looking forward a nice dinner with a bottle of wine. I had read multiple reviews on TripAdvisor.com saying doing the halfboard route (breakfast and dinner included) was the way to go at Li Cuncheddi. Let’s just say I’ll be writing my own review shortly.

Unfortunately, dinner was disappointing to say the least. We arrived at 8:30 to find the salad bar was practically gone. We didn’t realize it was a first come, first serve type of thing so we missed out there. Then the table they took us to was only steps away from the kitchen doors and front entry to the restaurant. Not to mention, the buffet station with all of the silverware was directly behind us. Every time someone needed a new fork, spoon, or knife we had a waiter standing directly behind us slamming drawers. And for a four course dinner, that’s a lot of slamming.

Add to this that the wine was 30 euro a pop…we were not the happiest of campers. But it was a learning experience. For example, we learned if you request a different table your waiter will treat you like dirt for a week….and you still won’t get another table. Oops. We also learned that if you go buy your own wine and enjoy it on your balcony before (and after) dinner, it makes the experience much more pleasant. But we’ll get to that later.

Okay, so dinner was a flop but the evening wasn’t completely shot. It was a beautiful night and we enjoyed an after dinner cocktail outside while watching cruise ships go by.

We woke up the next morning to an overcast sky. Not what you want to see when you’re at the beach. With our fingers crossed, we headed down to breakfast. Fortunately, it was much better than dinner. There’s just something about a croissant slathered in Nutella that gets your day started right. It was clear they were catering to their German guests (since they occupied about 85 percent of the hotel…not kidding) with the cold cuts and cheeses for breakfast. I’ll stick with my croissant and yogurt, thanks.

With the sun nowhere in sight, we ventured into town, Karen in tow since it was inevitable that we’d be getting lost, and found a shopping mall with a large grocery store inside. We stocked up on wine, cheese, crackers, wine, snacky foods, and ummmm, more wine. Brad also found a pair of aviators in a little store that were a must have.

On the way back we stopped at a little pizzeria for some lunch. I had a prosciutto, artichoke and black olive pizza (to die for) and Brad enjoyed a massive calzone. Talk about a boat load of food. We made a mental note that this place would be perfect to come back to later in the week, as we were on our own for lunch each day; also noting that ONE pizza would be plenty.

By the time we were back at the hotel, the sun decided to come out so we posted up in some comfy chairs near the pool. Bring on the sunshine!

I awoke the next morning about 6 am because the sun was peering through the windows. For the most part, if the sun is up, I’m up. I can’t say the same for my darling husband. Not wanting to wake him, I spent to morning on the balcony reading my book and watching boats go by.

We enjoyed a nice breakfast on the patio then decided to do a little exploring. We meandered through several trails and made our way over to some great rock formations. I just can’t say enough about the views; every direction we’d look was stunning. We watched a yellow lab play fetch with his owner and roll in the sand which had us wishing our pup was with us.

By this time, the pool was calling our name. We lathered on the sunscreen and claimed our chairs. And did not move. For hours. Just how it was supposed to be. Nothing but the sun, my book, and some great people watching.

The wind gradually picked up by late afternoon so we moved things to the balcony before getting ready for dinner.

Unfortunately, the wind had no plans of leaving anytime soon. Now, we both grew up in Oklahoma so we know wind…but holy cow! This was out of control. At one point I thought my lounge chair might take flight. With me on it. Looks like our plans of hanging out on the beach the following day would have to change.

Stay tuned…

Honeymoon Numero Tre: Getting There

March 5th. That was the day we made the decision and officially booked our trip to Sardinia. Twelve weeks. Twelve weeks of planning what I’d wear each day. Twelve weeks of “only one glass of wine for me thanks, I’m going on vacation soon.” TWELVE WEEKS of some serious anticipation. And it was finally here.

Packing for an exciting vacation on the beach is fun. Typically. However, Brad and I went the budget friendly route and chose to fly RyanAir. We paid the extra 40 euro each way (more than the cost of the actual ticket, weird) so we were both able to check a bag but this bag could only weigh 15 kilos. For those of you unfamiliar with the metric system, that’s 33 pounds. Seems like a lot….but it’s really not. Let’s think about this: 7 days of outfits (yeah right, more like 11 days of outfit…you just never know), bathing suits, cover ups, outfits for dinner, pajamas, sweaters for the cool evenings…and don’t get me started on shoes. Throw in shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, sun block, special sun block for my face, other special sun block for tanning (legs only, don’t flip out Mom), cooling aloe in case we burned, hair brush, flat iron, curling iron, transformer for the 220 volt stuff, converter so I don’t blow up anything up….let’s just say that 33 pound limit was exceeded. I know this because I had our scale in the hallway and continued to weigh each bag until it was…well, close enough.

And then we were off! Almost. First stop was the kennel which is never fun. We drive Miss Stella a good half hour from our house (even though there are plenty of kennels around here) because this is the nicest place we’ve come across. Such a diva. They assure us that she’ll make friends the minute we drive away and I have no doubt she did. That’s what I told myself anyway.

Because Brad and I didn’t have the option of missing our flight (the next one wasn’t for several days) we arrived a good 2 hours early. Brad missed his morning coffee since I had him running around like a chicken with his head cut off, so first thing we did was get him an espresso. Then he was a happy camper and we were able to officially start our VACATION!



Alright, it’s geography lesson time. The majority of you probably don’t know where Sardinia is (I sure didn’t) much less, anything about it. Quick overview – Sardinia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and is a region of Italy. Here, maps make things easier.

It was a quick hour and half flight from Frankfurt Hahn to Algehro, Sardinia. Here we picked up our awesome rental car, a Nissan Micra, and hit the road for Olbia in search of our hotel. Now we obviously hadn’t the slightest idea of where we were going but I thought ahead and remembered to bring Karen. And thought even more ahead and printed off MapQuest directions in the event Karen got us lost. Oh, Karen is the name of our GPS lady. She’s Australian and we have a love/hate relationship with her. If she pulls another stunt like she did upon our arrival into Olbia, we may just have to switch to Bernard, the British guy. (If you don’t have a GPS system, you likely have no idea what I’m saying.) But after a few trips up and down the same road, we made it in less than two hours….largely in part to the way Brad drives.

We checked in and made our way up to the room. Now when you’re staying in a European hotel, you never know what you might get. This was no different. The room was simple but nice, not huge but I’ve seen MUCH smaller. But our breath was taken away when we discovered our balcony with the most incredible view. Ahhhh, bliss. Now. Now we’re on vacation.

More to come…

A Break in the Clouds

It's been raining. Constantly. Every. Single. Day.

Nature pulled a fast one on us and gave us beautiful weather about a month ago that lasted not even a week then BAM! It went right back to being cold. Don't worry about the fact that I'd already put away all of my sweaters and busted out the spring/summer wardrobe. Oops.

It's not just that it was cold but the dadgum rain was just depressing. No sign of the sun for days at a time, then we'd get a glimpse for an hour or so....followed by rain.

This was no different last weekend. Saturday was dreary and gloomy and we expected Sunday to be no different. Fortunately, we were wrong and the sun showed her beautiful face that afternoon.

I mentioned last week that I had to cut the blog short because some friends called to see if we wanted to join them for a drive through the countryside and stop for some wine. Let's just say that it turned out to be a good marble weekend.

I'm telling you, the hillsides were the brightest greens and yellows you've ever seen. We didn't travel too far, just enough to truly enjoy the view. Our friends, Alan and Verena, led the way through each little town until we made our way to Weingut Margaretenhof in Schwabenheim. Sidenote: Alan's baby is his Porche GT. You'd think the most beautiful woman in the world just walked by when he drives that thing; people's heads just turn and it's quite funny to watch.

Schwabenheim is a tiny little town and nestled on the outskirts is Weingut Margaretenhof. Alan and Verana had been here once before for a little wine festival (the weekend Brad broke his collar bone so we missed out) and were anxious to come back. It was a little slice of heaven.

We enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine while taking in the view. Great wine. Great scenery. Great company. It took me back to an incredible lunch I had with my family while we were in Italy. Wonderful memories then and now. Before the sun set, we made our way to Essenheim for dinner at the place Brad and I have started buying most of our wine. Turns out they also make a pretty mean schnitzel and I had my very first taste of spargel. I’m sure this is something you could find at Central Market or Whole Foods but we’d never heard of spargel before moving here. It looks just like asparagus (because technically it is) but it’s white and has a sweeter taste. Delicious!! Drizzling it hollandaise sauce only adds to its greatness. Mmmm mmmm.

Unfortunately we had to snap back to reality as the following day was Monday. And wouldn’t you know, it was raining. Yet again. Rainy days and Mondays always get me down (sorry, I couldn’t help myself).

It rained. And rained and rained and rained. And just when I thought I was going to loose it God said, “ok, that’s enough. Enjoy your weekend and the sunshine.” So that is precisely what we’re going to do. We’ve invited several friends over for the evening to have some Sangria, salmon cakes, and other delectable munchies. Out of fear that the sun may disappear once again, I’m going to step away from the computer and go savor the rest of my weekend. You should do the same.

A Desperate Housewife No More

I know, I know....it's been a while. But I have a good reason this time - yours truly landed herself a great job as the Marketing and Sales Coordinator with Andrews Federal Credit Union and I couldn’t be more excited. Actually, WE couldn’t be more excited. But it does leave less time for the blog, ho hum.

So here’s the story: a couple of months ago I went to a career expo that was held on the Wiesbaden Airfield. The advertisements for the expo said there were going to be multiple employers looking for all types of positions and to please come dressed professionally with copies of your resume. Easy enough. Touched up the good ol’ resume and pulled out my favorite suit (which hasn’t seen the light of day in who knows how long). Unfortunately, the expo wasn’t all it was cracked up to be and I left quite disappointed. I was told by multiple companies that they weren’t hiring. Even better, I was told I could take an immediate position with Subway or Baskin Robbins…mmmmm, think I’ll pass, me working with ice cream would end badly.

Fast forward about 3 weeks and I get a phone call from Andrews Federal Credit Union and it’s the Vice President of the European Region. As it turned out, leaving my resume with their recruiter paid off. Even though he told me they were only hiring for teller positions, I asked him to hang on to my resume and if something opened up that they thought would be a good fit to give me a call….so they did.

I couldn’t have asked for a better interview and I left being told I’d hear something I liked by Friday. Sounded promising, right? Friday came and went then Brad decided he wanted to spend some time in a German hospital. Ok, so that’s not EXACTLY how it went but we all know what happened that Saturday. I didn’t even have time to think about the fact that they didn’t call. I knew the VP would be traveling to the States shortly after our interview (Andrews’ headquarters is in DC) so I figured he left before making a decision. I was right and he called with an offer just a week later.

That was on a Thursday and I started the following Monday. So there’s my reason for not blogging; I’m no longer a desperate housewife….ok, so maybe I was never all that desperate but housewife, yes.

So far things are going really well. I like the people I work with and I’m learning a lot fast. I can already tell there is a lot of opportunity for me to succeed here.

It took a few days to get used to the fact that I had to sit in traffic again. But I must say, I almost enjoy it now. The views I have are incredible and right now the fields are the most amazing colors. Thursday was a German holiday which meant the roads were clear. Did anyone else hit 105 (legally) on their way to work? I did.

But it’s not all work and no play. Brad and I are gearing up for our big vacation that’ll be here in less than two weeks. Look out Sardinia! Here we come! We’ve been trying to catch a few rays before we go so we don’t look like complete ghosts on the beach. This means taking advantage of every sunny weekend we can get….which have been few and far between. But when there is sun, we do it up right. Sangria anyone?



Other than that, we’ve been taking it easy. Brad still isn’t able to exercise or play golf but he’s actually healing really well. Better and faster than they expected him to. I don’t think he’ll be swinging a bat anytime in the near future but we’ll see.

Well I’m afraid I have to cut this one a little short. Friends just called and asked if we wanted to go for a drive through the countryside and stop for some wine. Ummmm, yes please. Until next time…..

Metal Detectors Beware

Check this out...

As Brad so eloquently put it - "Six screws and a titanium plate... just like on the space shuttle Forrest."

German Hospital...Round 2

“Don’t freak out, I’m ok, but I think you’re going to need to meet me at the hospital.”

That’s how we kicked off last Saturday. The weather was beautiful so I had walked down to the farmers market to do some shopping and Brad was meeting a buddy to ride bikes. As I mentioned before, we recently bought some new mountain bikes for each of us. While I love to ride, I’m not much for the “serious” trails….apparently Brad isn’t either. Not five minutes into the ride, he took a spill after dodging a tree trunk and BAM! Bike went one way, Brad the other and shoulder first. He told his buddy he was pretty sure he’d broken his collar bone.

When I arrived in the emergency room, I was bracing myself to see my husband’s clavicle jutting up through his neck or something….fortunately, that wasn’t the case. He was covered in dirt and in a fair amount of pain but all in all, he was in good spirits. It was no surprise that it was going to take FOREVER for an actual doctor to come see him. We decided if they didn’t hurry up we were going to lick all of the tongue depressors and put them back. Maybe next time.

An X-ray quickly confirmed what we had expected – broken collar bone. The bad news was that it had broken right in the middle and into several pieces which meant surgery would be necessary. A titanium plate would need to be inserted to reconnect the bones. The doc said Wednesday would be good. Pause. “Excuse me doc, did you say Wednesday? That’s not for 4 days!” He wasn’t kidding; Brad walked around with a bone literally trying to poke through his skin for FOUR days! And he did this with nothing stronger than ibuprofen. Such a manly man.


But the fun was just beginning. They asked that he arrive Tuesday at 8:30 am to fill out some paperwork prior to his surgery on Wednesday. Little did we know, this was going to be an all day affair. We spoke with all sorts of people, of course they ALL had the same questions (are you allergic to anything, do you smoke, etc.) and they ALL made us wait an absurd amount of time before seeing us. The last person we had to talk to was a surgeon but surprise surprise, he was in surgery and wouldn’t be out for another 2 hours. By this time we’re starving so we went home for lunch and came back with a deck of cards. Another 2 hours later, in walks the doctor. And do you know what he had to say?! “Do you have any questions?”

Blink. Blink blink.

The words “are you serious?” shot out of my mouth before I even had a chance to stop myself. We just waited 4 hours to see you and you want to know if WE have any questions. He admitted the organizational skills on how they do things were not exactly perfect. I’ll say. But that was that and we were done for the day. Finally.

Now then, are you ready for the tale of The Longest Day E.V.E.R?

We were back at the hospital at 7 am the following morning and Brad was shown to his “room.” I’m not sure what we expected, I guess something similar to what I had when I was in the hospital. Mmmm, not so much. Think a notch above what you’d expect in a 3rd world country. Ok, so that’s a tiny bit dramatic but not really. I should have taken a picture. I suppose it was clean enough but there was ZERO privacy between him and his neighbor, there was an old television but it didn’t work, nothing on the walls except for a crucifix and crappy photo (some guy took a picture of a field of sunflowers but it’s from behind so you can’t actually see the flowers, dumbest thing I’ve ever seen) and the bathroom and shower weren’t even in the same room. Ugh.

The nurse told him there were several surgeries scheduled before him but it should be around 11 or 12. Noon came and went. As did 1….and 2…..and 3. We knew our pup was probably crossing her legs by this point so I ran home to take care of her. Of course, the minute I left they rolled him down into the O.R…..then rolled him back up because someone with an emergency came in (note to self – breaking your collar bone is NOT an emergency in the eyes of doctors. Got it.) He didn’t have to wait too much longer and according to the nurse I harassed for answers when I came back, he went into surgery at 3:30.

Please note this surgery that they claim to perform almost daily typically takes around an hour, maybe two.

Tick tock. Tick tock. By 6:30 I’m starting to get a tad nervous that no one has come to let me know how he’s doing. No one seemed to have any answers. All I could do was wait. And wait I did. It wasn’t until just after 8 pm that a nurse walked in and told me Brad was in ICU but that I could go see him.

I think the nurse could tell I was on the brink of losing it and quickly explained that this wasn’t uncommon, they probably just wanted to keep an eye on him following surgery. (He could have led in with that little tid bit of information. I’m just sayin.)

I spent the next hour talking to my completely out-of-it husband who now looked like an oompa loompa, thanks to all of the iodine. An hour later, he was taken up for X-rays and finally back to his room.

Deep sigh of relief. The day was finally over. Well, almost. Stella took it upon herself to eat, not chew, but eat one of Brad’s socks then proceeded to vomit it up in multiple places throughout the house. Lovely.

Brad spent the next few days in the hospital. He kept entertained with the first season of Mad Men on the iTouch and kickin’ my booty at gin rummy. The minute he had the okay to leave on Saturday, we were outta there!

So there you have it folks. The Bingham’s are keeping the German surgeons busy. Now both of us will return home with some pretty awesome scars from our Adventures in Deutschland.

My Never Ending Battle

It's Saturday and it's early. My husband is asleep in bed and the pup has had her breakfast and is conked out....on the couch. This has become our routine on Saturdays and I must admit that I quite like it. Strange, I know, since I have the house to myself all day during the week but there's something almost peaceful about Saturday mornings.

But I can't find peace. Not anymore. Because as I look down at my cup of coffee, there is a Stella hair floating around in it. There always is.

This is my battle. And while I know I will lose this battle day in and day out, I have to keep fighting.

She's a Lab and they shed, I get that. And I know that this time of year they start to lose their winter coat. But come on now! This is out of control. Let me try to put this into perspective for you. Her hair is everywhere. Not everywhere as in I have to sweep and vacuum everyday because that's a given. It's E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E.

On top of bookshelves. In the bathtub. On lampshades. In the curtains. On "clean" clothes hanging in the closet. Inside my workout bag. All over my pillow....she's not even allowed in our room. In the microwave (how does that even happen?). Inside pages of books. And today, not unlike most days, in my coffee.

She hates to be brushed but I hold her down and do it anyway. (Don't worry, she gets treats for doing it.) I typically come away with a plastic sack full of her hair. I've done this FIVE times and it still keeps on coming.

I can't win.

But I can't quit.

*sigh*