93. Sardegna

Fri. Civitavecchia


Yipee! We broke up from school yesterday… no more work for 6 weeks! Staff party is done and we’re packed up and ready for our holiday on the enchanting island of Sardegna. The ferry leaves at 6.30pm from the port at Civitavecchia near Rome. We leave nice and early at 10.30am which turns out to be a good move because a truck spills toxic chemicals on the A-1 motorway and the trip takes a little longer than expected! Still time to have a look around the very uninspiring Civitavecchia and at 5.30pm we roll on to the ferry.

Our cabin is tiny, but everyone is in happy holiday mood. We have dinner on board at 8.00 – just time to see a gorgeous sunset together...

Sat. Costa Rei

It’s a 16-hour crossing! So arrival time in the capital, Cagliari is 10.30am. I somehow manage to wake up at 5.30 and watch the sunrise (Annette is somewhere in snoozeville!)

The drive to our apartment in Costa Rei is only a 70 km drive and check-in isn’t until 6pm, so the plan is to find a nice beach on the way. I've bought a cool book with pictures of all the best beaches on the southern coast and have been told they are somewhat reminiscent of the Carribbean, but seeing them for real is quite another thing!

We drive out of Cagliari and along the coast past some unbelievable beaches and it’s oooh! Followed by aaah! And wow! Cove after cove of sandy beaches, rugged mountains, forests and the most incredible turquoise sea...

First a stop for lunch is in order and we find a cool restaurant called the Blue Spider, with great views overlooking the sea and by 3 o’clock we’re ready for a dip!

We stop at Simius beach near the famous Villasimius. It’s on a promontory with sand on both sides, wow! We buy a huge sun umbrella and those bat and ball thingies and settle down, getting into holiday mode- unfortunately we eventually have to tear ourselves away to go and check in. We drive on to Costa Rei, via a wild goose chase in Muravera. The flat is huge and we can even see the sea from our terrace. Time to unpack, shower and hit our second restaurant, 'Sa Cardiga e su Pisci', in the lively town only a 5-minute drive away. Annette has a seafood pizza and I have a fried fish mix. Afterwards we sit at a bar and watch some traditional dancing and then go for a romantic midnight stroll along the beach, interrupted by some strange man with a stick, a man sleeping on a sunbed and some hippy playing the bongos! Now that wasn’t in the script...

Sun. Cala Sinzias

After a sweltering night, today the plan is to do a bit of local exploring and essential shopping for the week. After lunch on our terrace we decide on beach no.2, Cala Sinzias and very beautiful it is too! A 20-minute drive and we’re relaxing on a long sandy beach, with emerald coloured water to cool down in... In the evening I try out the barbecue and grill up some lamb chops.







Mon. Piscina Rei & Torre Salinas

Today we agree on a double header, beach in the morning... beach in the afternoon! First we check out our local beach, Piscina Rei, a whopping 5-minute drive away! It turns out to be one of our favourite beaches... Between midday and three we have to be off the beach to spare our pale white English skin, so we take a drive to one of the local farms selling fruit and veg. After lunch we try out beach no.4 at Torre Salinas. We try out our new bats and ball and manage a 23 ralley! After our long day at the beach, it’s home, shower, change and restaurant no. 3, 'L’Aragosta' (lobster) and a seafood melangue is the order of the day and very tasty too!

Tue. Nora and Chia

Our plan today is to venture out a bit further. Even though we have perfect beaches where we are... The island is dotted with Roman, Phoenician and Nuraghe ruins, so today we are heading back past Cagliari, (where it’s just too hot to visit) and on to Nora where there is an ancient Roman settlement, oh and then on to the beach at nearby Chia.

We take the inland road to Cagliari and get more than we bargained for... a long windy road through some spectacular mountains, complete with goats nonchalantly wandering across the road. On past Cagliari and we reach Nora, just time for a picnic lunch under some palm trees and a snooze on the rug.

Our visit to the extensive ruins at Nora is taken in excrutiating heat... although it is quite interesting. There is a cool amphitheatre where they stage summer concerts and Greek plays.

On to Chia, where the beaches look even more stunning than at Costa Rei! First stop is at Monte Cogoni and quite impressive it is, the only problem is it's very windy and the sea too rough. We stay for a while and then move on to the beach at Turreada, which is a little calmer and very beautiful. We stay til about 8 o-clock, before the long journey home...







Wed. ‘Is Laccus’

Again we manage to make it out for the morning stint at the beach, nice and close at Piscina Rei. We’re rather shattered from yesterday’s long trip, so after lunch we have a rather long ‘pisolino’ (siesta) ready for our anniversary dinner, although we’re making it a celebratory week.! We open our bottle of Gosset Grande Reserve champagne (very expensive present from Annette’s brother, Phil) and have a couple of glasses to get us in the mood... Our meal is at ‘Is Laccus’. It’s a 10 course set meal affair at an Agriturismo in the mountains. Complete with local dishes, Malreddus (a sausage and tomato pasta) Porcheddu (a spit roasted pig with myrtle and juniper berries) and Sebadas (a ricotta filled pastry) for dessert. We down about 2 litres of the local red wine, Cannonau and finish with the local liquore, Mirto made with myrtle!



Thur. Cala Anniversario and La Quercia

Today is our actual anniversary day- 4 years! And this morning there is a local market opposite our appartment, so we take a leisurely stroll around. I pick up some shorts and two pairs of swimming trunks. In the afternoon we find this tiny secluded cove with no name, so we christen it ‘Cala Anniversario’ In the evening we go back to a restaurant we spotted the other day, La Quercia again in the mountains and we gorge ourselves on some wicked fish dishes, before returning home for more champagne!



Fri. Cruise

It’s our big cruise day on a wonderful 25 metre yacht!

We’re up at 9.30 for our 10.30 departure from Villasimius. As always it’s a beautiful sunny day and our first port of call is Punta Smolenta to an absolutely gorgeous secluded cove and sandy beach, inaccessible by land. We enjoy some snorkelling and I swim to the shore. Lunch is on board and it's Malreddus again washed down with copius amounts of red wine. Next we sail round to the tiny island of Serpenturia. Some go to shore, but we are happy diving and snorkelling off the yacht in the beautifully clear sea. A very splashy return to Villasimius, bringing a wonderful day to an end. We pop into the town at Villasimius for a wander and  granite. It’s our last evening and we’re just too tired to cook! And so we head for yet another restaurant, 'Gianni’s', again out of town and enjoy some more local Sardinian cuisine. Fotunately we aren’t sunburnt from our cruise!

Sun. Departure

Check out time is 10.30am, but our ferry doesn’t leave until 6pm, so one last trip to the beach is a must. This time to the fabulous Cala Pira a tiny cove and another sandy beach! It’s our last go with the bat and ball and we manage a new record 31 ralley! Just time to find a last restaurant for lunch on the way back to Cagliari, a trip to the hypermarket and we’re back on the ferry, a very sad good bye to the very beautiful Sardegna...