Sardinia

After arriving we had a pretty long drive 

to Cala Gonones, a resort town.

We ate at our hotel; I had anchovy, 

capers and olive pasta

and a seafood salad. Teresa had a 

salad with tuna and

spaghetti pesto which she did not enjoy.

In the morning we drove to Dorgali to 

get items for our picnic

and then went to Gola Gorrupa which 

was a very deep, narrow, dry gorge. For 

25 euros each we took a jeep down

most of the way, and then a 40 minute 

walk to the entrance.

Another 5 euros to get in the gorge. 

Teresa enjoyed climbing over the 

boulders to get deep into it.

When we started back we ate our lunch.

We kept running into a Swiss couple 

during the trek.

We were told a jeep could pick us up at 

3:00, 4:00 or 5:00.

We were back at the transfer point a 

3:00 but did not get

picked up until 4:20.

We drove back to our hotel and then 

walked to the beach where we read for 

awhile.

For dinner we split a mixed salad and

 an olive, onion and salami pizza.

Tuesday was another traveling day; 

down to Cagliari, the capital. After

checking in we walked toward the port 

and found a kebab stand; and a little 

later gelato at Piazza Yenne.

We then walked up by the Elephant 

Tower and PancrazoTower to the 

Archeological Museum which was pretty 

good.

Sardinia was heavily involved in trading 

when each of the Phoenicians, 

Carthaginians, Romans, Spanish, 

Pisans, Saroyans and Italians had their 

turn.

After that we toured the Royal Palace 

and Cathedral as well as part of the 

Bastion of St. Remy.

We then made it back to our room 

before heading out for lemon soda and 

chocolate.

After wandering a while we chose a 

restaurant on Piazza Yenne. I had a 

steak, not bad; Teresa had ravioli and a

salad.

In the morning we drove on a day trip to 

Nora, an ancient port city that was 

founded by the Phoenicians, taken over 

by the Carthaginians and finally the 

Romans. They built on top of each other 

so most of what has been excavated is 

Roman.

We took a guided tour.

We then drove further to Chia to go to a 

beach there- very picturesque.

Back to Nora for the tower tour. Spain 

had held Sardinia for about 400 years 

and built watchtowers along the coast, in

this case to protect tuna fishermen from 

North African pirates.

For dinner we had a plate of cheese to 

go with our thin and regular bread, 

complimentary small bruschetta, and we

shared wild boar stew and pork 

sausage.

In the morning we first drove to Su 

Nuraxi. The Phoenicians weren’t the


 first to inhabit the island. The Nuraghes 

were the first to establish a civilization 

and we visited the largest and most 

intact ruins, dating from 1,500 to 1,000 

B.C. We also went to the modern but 

uninspiring museum.

On to Oristano where we found our 

place and checked in.

We then drove quite a while to a beach 

for some relaxing and then to Tharros,

 the remains of an important Phoenician 

port city.

We walked up to the tower to see the views.

Back to the room.

We walked a bit before finding Kalipera 

(not Greek) for dinner. We both had 

very good chicken cutlets 

with mushrooms, carrots and spinach,

 with french fries and a mixed salad. 

Gelato on the way back.

In the morning we drove north and 

stopped in Bosa, a very charming 

colorful town. I had gelato there. We

 walked up the hill to the castle but didn’t

 go in as we were pressed for time.

On to Alghero.

After checking in we headed to the port 

with the intention of taking a boat to

 Neptune’s Grotto. Weather conditions

would not permit. We decided to drive to 

another beach where we camped for the

 afternoon.

We strolled around the Old Town before 

dinner, checking out a couple of 

churches and a few hundred shops.

For dinner I had marinated sardines with

pesto and walnuts- magnificent. Teresa 

had a mixed salad and we split a pizza.

We both got gelato.

In the morning we checked with the 

boat owners about Neptune’s Grotto 

being open. One was noncommital,

 another finally called and found the 

boats could not go in at that time.

We then walked the bastion walls of the 

Old Town, then through it stopping at the

 Church of San Francisco and its

cloisters.

We asked the boat owners again and 

were told the Grotto would be closed to 

boats all day. We asked if it was still

accessible by car; an affirmative 

response sent us to our car.

A long walk down but picturesque.

It is a large cavern opening to the sea 

with stalagmites and stalactites. As it 

happened, our group of about 50 

included an Asian couple from Australia 

we had met while touring Nora.

After the climb back up we ate 

sandwiches at a snack bar then headed

 to Pelosa Beach. The beach is said to 

be Sardinia’s best. It had nice sand, 

turquoise waters and nice scenery- also-

 jam-packed.

We were there about an hour before the

 weather threatened so we headed back 

to Alghero to clean up.

We ate on the waterfront on the bastion.

 I had seafood pasta,

Teresa spaghetti bolognese. We both 

shared ham with melon and oven baked 

pecorino cheese. Gelato on the 

way back.

In the morning we went first to 

Castelsardo. We toured the castle and 

the town.

On to Santa Teresa. We stopped by the 

elephant rock on the way.

 We checked into the Canne Alvesto

 which was a very nice B&B. We walked 

through the historic district then down to

 the port to buy our ferry tickets to 

Corsica and familiarize ourselves on 

how to get there.

After cleaning up we went close by for 

dinner. We shared a sesame seed salad 

and a spicy sausage, gorgonzola pizza (I

talked Teresa into it)- delicious. We

 walked through the OldTown for gelato.

In the morning we got a huge, great 

breakfast. We then drove to Palau 

where we caught a boat to tour the local

islands including Maddelena, Spaigi, 

Santa Maria and San Stefano. We both 

swam at the first of our two beach stops.

We took several photos but not nearly as

 many as two girls were taking of 

themselves and each other.

Back to the room.

We went to Gastronomia Vesuviano for 

dinner, a small mom & pop place- very

 good. I had fried calimari with a mixed

salad and Teresa had a chicken cutlet 

and a mixed salad.

Naxos- on the recommendation of our 

waitress- for gelato and it was very 

good.

The next day was car return to Olbia

 airport day. On the way we stopped at 

Porto Cervo, Sardinia’s Monte Carlo- 

very posh, lots of yachts, a Rolls Royce 

dealership at the harbor. 

We walked through the shopping area. I 

looked at one price tag-a dress for

 4,224 euros.

On to Olbia, left the car and took the bus

 back to Santa Teresa. A stop at the 

supermarket and walk to the beach-

glad we didn’t pass this one up as 

“Rena Bianca” was a beautiful, large 

beach that was understandably 

crowded. We picnicked there, read, 

walked, Teresa swam, then a 

nature walk on the nearby promontory.

Back to the room.

For dinner Teresa had lasagna and a

 mixed salad. I had spaghetti ragu- 

should have stopped there but also had 

a chicken cutlet and mixed salad. Naxos 

gelato for dessert again.

Got another wonderful breakfast before 

heading to the ferry for Corsica.