Top 14 Sporting Adventures that Defy Gravity at Sardinia, Italy

Posted on March 25 by Jennifer Avventura

Sardinia, Italy is an enchanting island and sanctuary for adventure and nature explorers and it’s the ideal place to test boundaries and defy gravity in a multitude of exciting ways. The island is blessed with a 1800km jagged coastline, pristine white sandy beaches and a commanding rugged interior that begs the visitor to climb, play, trek and push limits. There are diverse gravity defying adventures that will suit any type of thrill seeker from sunset paragliding in spiritual and ancient places, to free diving at one of Sardinia’s most magical and controversial islands. For those that want to slowly reconnect with nature and find balance within the movement, there’s a variety of diverse yoga activities to rejuvenate awareness, physique, and consciousness. Come and play with gravity to discover a hidden Sardinia witnessed by few. Continue reading →

Top 10 things I miss the most about Sardinia

Posted on September 21 by Jennifer Avventura

It’s the little things that I miss the most about Sardinia, and seven months later I’m still heartbroken over leaving her beautiful, mysterious land. Considering I’m feeling all sorts of nostalgia over my breakup, I’ve decided to compile a short top 10 list of what I miss the most about her.

Top 10 Things I miss the most about Sardinia

Saying buongiorno when entering any type of shop.
The Mediterranean smell of her salt water hair.
A perfectly poured espresso with a mirto chaser.
The sloping red, granite landscape.
Pasta, oh yes, pasta!
The earthy, dirty red known as Cannonau.
Swimming in the crystal, clear, clean waters only known unto her.
Her secret and seductive language.
Seadas, seadas, seadas!
Her humble and hospitable people.

I lived on her land for six long, beautiful years and there is not a day that passes that I don’t think or daydream about her. I’ve set foot on countless countries but Sardinia really, truly stole my heart.

Have you recently re-expatriated? How are your feelings of nostalgia?

10 things you didn’t know about me

Posted on October 18 by Jennifer Avventura

I studied Thai kick boxing, Jiu-Jitsu, karate, Jeet Kune Do and have a white belt in all four, watch out!
I played soccer at the community level for 15 years, in Canada and England.
I studied lyrical jazz for 15 years and loved it, till I broke my ankle (see #2.)
My first job was delivering Sears catalogs; Christmastime sucked. My second job, I was a chambermaid, where everyday pretty much sucked. My third job was a waitress at a local sports bar which didn’t suck at all!
I’m a professional waitress, who’s worked in Australia, England, Cayman Islands and Italy, and have over 20 years experience serving the public. Yikes!
I can do the splits, both ways (see #1).
I graduated from college with a diploma in Human Relations. My favourite class was Deviant Behaviour. I used my new diploma to sling beer at all hours of the night, then followed my spirit down the path of travel to the center of Australia.
I have super-sonic hearing and can watch a program in Italian, listen to my friends rattle on in Gallurese and hear the kitten mew down the street and, understand everything.
After 18 years I can see my natural blonde locks, and I don’t like it.
I have natural curly hair?

Jennifer Avventura (2)

I would like to give a special shout-out to Lisa from Bites for Babies who nominated My Sardinian Life for the Liebster Award. This marks the second Liebster Award for MSL. Thank you, Lisa. 🙂 Please be sure to check out Lisa’s fabulous, yummy blog. She provides great recipes for children and adults alike.

liebster-award

And now, for the 11th thing you didn’t know about me: I don’t like chain letters or chain blog posts, but I truly appreciate the mentions and links from fellow bloggers. I won’t pass on this prestigious blogging award but I will place it on my mantle for all to see.

© My Sardinian Life/Jennifer Avventura. All rights reserved 2010-2013. All pictures, unless otherwise stated, are property of My Sardinian Life. Do not use without written permission.

Tell me something I don’t know about you.

4 fabulous blogs I love right now

Posted on September 23 by Jennifer Avventura

I should be out running or taking a nice September afternoon walk or preparing fresh, local ingredients for a traditional Italian tomato sauce, or even attempting to write my book. Instead, I’m inside being delightfully pulled in by the following four fabulous blogs and I just can’t get enough!

Each blog is jam-packed with hilarious tales of life, cooking, learning languages and eating! So, it’s no wonder I haven’t accomplished much since I finished working at the beginning of the month. I’ve continuously come back to each blog excited to discover something new and I haven’t been disappointed. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

4 fabulous blogs by Jennifer Avventura My Sardinian Life

Lady Of The Cakes – Vignettes from a multi-lingual, multi-cake-eating freelance existence. LOTC and I are similar in many ways: I too am not sure what to say when people ask me “where are you from?” Is where we are from our birth place, the place we spent most our adult life or the place we call home, now? Plus the fact we both seem to fail at doing the required things and all the rest we do in the wrong order. LOTC is beautifully witty, full of sarcasm and worth a read.
Maple Leaf Mamma – Where feminist motherhood meets expat life in Italy. Firstly, her blog name is HOT and creative, it makes me wish I had been more original naming my blog. Michelle is full-on funny with posts like: Bilingual toddler speak (complete with cute video) and her latest post: On deceptive appearances and silver linings which made me reflect on my own ups and downs living in another country, all the while, others outside the realm of expat-hood seem to think I have it all.
Bites for Babies – Spicing up baby’s meals one recipe at a time. Written by a Canadian who spends her summers in Sardinia with her family! Instant like! She also whips up amazing dishes for her children that would make any adult jump for delicious joy. Lisa has virtually taught me how to make polenta, after a dreadful attempt to ‘wow’ my husband with my polenta making skills. I am forever grateful.
BarbedWords in Italy – Living and writing in Italy. And quiet a bit of cooking… How can someone move to Italy and not enjoy the food, or speak the language? Well, this Brit did it and shares all the fabulous exploits in this entertaining blog. I love the post: Top Ten Tips on how not to write a novel, find an agent, get published and become rich and famous because so many of the points I can agree with. In 1997 I moved to Australia with the idea of writing my book and sixteen years later, with countless I’m-moving-to-XYZ-to write-my-book statements, I find myself living in a mountainous town in Sardinia, Italy still trying to write my book.

I hope you can find inspiration from these four fabulous blogs like I have.

Care to share some of your favourite must-read blogs? Leave a link the comment section below.

Happy reading and happy blogging. 🙂

Top 10 Reasons I’ll Miss the Italian Job

Posted on October 16 by Jennifer Avventura

It would be a complete injustice if I wrote only about the horrors I faced this year with my Italian job(s). There were a few good points to waiting tables in Italy and I’ve listed them for you in a fun Top 10 List.

Top 10 Reasons I’ll Miss the Italian Job
by

10. The fabulous multi-cultural clients.

9. The extra €20 slipped into my pocket, every other night.

8. Being offered to sit and drink with clients during my shift (was offered many, many times but never took anyone up on the offer).

7. Nightly raids of the (permitted) gelato station – pistachio here I come!

6. Well-behaved gorgeous children from all walks of life.

5. The Russians. They were hilarious, generous and polite.

4. The blazing orange sun-set.

3. My Italian, Sardinian, Czech, Hungarian and German colleagues. They were all a fabulous bunch of people.

2. Packing take-away lunch and dinner for my husband from the staff dining-hall. The food was good – plus I had to pay for it!

1. Speaking English to Italian clients; speaking Italian to English clients and speaking a mix of both to the Russians. They laughed, I laughed, and we all laughed together. Priceless moments.

What are some of the pros and cons of your expat work?

Top 13 Reasons I Quit the Italian Job
The Raw Reality of Expat Life in Small Town Sardinia

Top 13 Reasons I Quit the Italian Job

Posted on October 12 by Jennifer Avventura

I had a job this summer. For 30 days, I was an English-speaking waitress who worked in a buffet restaurant on the island of Sardinia, Italy. Here are the reasons I quit my job.

Top 13 Reasons I Quit the Italian Job
by

13. Being belittled by an angry co-worker in front of 10 other co-workers because I forgot a cappuccino, on my second shift.

12. Being docked €5.00 a day to eat prepared meals in the staff dining-lounge, even if you choose not to eat with your angry co-worker(s).

11. The corns and calluses were growing on my feet faster than a speeding jet.

10. Working for 5 hours then sleeping for 5 hours – rinse and repeat twice a day, is no easy lifestyle.

9. Losing 12 pounds off my bones in 21 days is a sickly sight. And I ate like a horse – which is pretty usual for me.

8. Finding out that my co-workers’ rent is paid for the 5-6 six months of employment was utterly shocking! No one offered to pay my mortgage – why?

7. Seeing co-workers bringing in their laundry to be laundered by the hotel – for free. (My laundry basket runneth over.)

6. Button down shirts with a fancy necktie and long black pants should be banned, anywhere where the temperature rests on boiling.

5. Working 4.5 hours on a scheduled day off – is not a day off.

4. No over-time pay – say what?!

3. Management asking for English translations on all menus – without pay!

2. Being told to speak only in English when conversing with co-workers. Wait a minute – I thought I was in Italy, the only Italian speaking country in the world. Hey Dorothy – can I borrow your sparkly red shoes?

1. Working 4.5 hours in the morning + 4.5 hours in the evening = does not equal the 6.4 hours which is clearly stated in my contract.

The Raw Reality of Expat Life in Small Town Sardinia
My Expat Job Struggles | Sardinia, Italy

Top 5 Favourite Expat Blogs of the Day

Posted on October 8 by Jennifer Avventura

I’ve fallen in love with some new-to-me expat blogs and I can’t contain my excitement any longer. If there’s such a thing as a blog-stalker then I’m definitely one. I’ve been ~~stalking~~ reading these following 5 blogs for the last few days, over and over again. I come back to read hilarious expat tales or to witness stunning photography from across the globe.

In no particular order of importance … My Top 5 Favourite Expat Blogs of the Day.

If you click the header you will be swiftly taken to an awesome expat blog.

Mango Mornings is written by Liana an American expat in the Philippines. She’s a gifted story-teller who takes us on a journey around Asia and re-counts her expat tales in the Philippines. Check out an Office Field Trip she took with a cup of Jollibee’s take-a-way breakfast.

2Summers is written by American writer Heather Mason who has lived out her expat fantasies in quirky Johannesburg, South Africa for the last two years. Because Girls Kick Ass I thought you might like to read this post by Heather: Lily and Zulu Girl Kick Ass. This is part three in a series about professional female boxing. Awesome, right? I know!

A City Broad Abroad is written by an American expat living in Malta. She describes herself as eclectic and her favourite childhood celebrity was Carl Ripken Jr. When she’s not saving her pennies to buy a condo in the sky, you can find her writing about her expat (mis)adventures on the tiny island of Malta.

Greek Wanderings is written by a self-proclaimed nomad, pilgrim, vagabond and wanderer. She is now teaching English in Oman and she bides her time between Virginia and Greece. Her photos of stunning Fira, Santorini brought back many warm, wonderful memories for me. I hold Santorini close to my heart and it saddened me when I accidentally deleted 95% of my Greek photos!

Un’Americana a Roma is written by yet another expat American who has lived in Rome, Italy since 2001. Her blog is a hilarious take on everyday Italian life. Learn How to Take a Taxi in Rome and Not Get Ripped Off and Italianate which loosely translates into something being an ‘americanism’ and other Italian ailments.

What are some of your favourite expat blogs?

Top 5 Things I Love About Living in Italy

Posted on June 14 by Jennifer Avventura

Cathy from An Italophile emailed me to take part in her popular expat series featuring expats, who now call Italy home. Thank you Cathy for asking me take part in this great series. I look forward to reading more stories from expats in Italy.

When you’re finished reading this awesome post why don’t you head on over to Cathy’s blog to discover more about Italy. You can find the links at the top and bottom of this post.

She wrote with just one question:

Continue reading →

Top 10 Fantastic Festivals & Events in Sardinia, Italy

Posted on May 26 by Jennifer Avventura

Sardinia is a smorgasbord of colourful annual festivals that are held high in the mountains or close to the sea. Sardinia will not disappoint those looking for tradition, culture, energy and fantastic feasts.