Back to Italy. "Bar-hopping" is a common expression but has any one heard about "island hopping?" In the morning the Caledonian Star dropped anchor in the bay off of Alghero, Sardinia. North of us, high cliffs gave us good protection from the strong winds. The weather forced us to change our itinerary slightly, something that can happen anywhere at sea, and something we can handle.

By Zodiac, we had an interesting and memorable ride to shore. The morning tour brought us to the small town of Alghero. Our guides took us for about an hour's walk through this charming old medieval town. As in most places along the coastline of the Mediterranean it is hard to keep track of all the rulers. Sardinia has been under Greek, Roman, Spanish .. and now Italian leadership. Who will be next?

By lunch we came back to the Caledonian Starand the afternoon was spent aboard ship. Tom Heffernan gave us an excellent lecture about the plague in Europe. This deadly disease originated in Mongolia and was brought to Europe by the Mongols. In a few years it spread around the whole of Europe and the population decreased by perhaps 50%. It had a tremendous impact throughout Europe and it took almost 200 years before the population recovered.

The Caledonian Star is now heading west to reach Menorca in the early morning. As usual we could relax with a cocktail and "recap" before dinner was served.

The photo shows the view from the stern as we left Sardinia.