Enough of the whinging… Our last night in France we stayed in Nice and after a brief stroll along the promenade, which could have been anywhere in England, except for the weather of course, we entered the old town; all very charming. The Marina and old harbour area is definitely worth a visit and great for people watching…some of the yachts are mind blowing. Now here is an admission: the people were also friendly…, we must be in the ‘nice’ part of France! (Sorry!)
Typical street scene in Nice
The drive to Genoa was a delight for the road is unbelievable Italian engineering at its best, comprising of numerous tunnels through mountains and bridges over 500 metre gorges…the only problem is whipping off your sunglasses quickly enough on entering the tunnel: or you really would be driving blind. Thank heavens for the SatNav; for we would never have found our ferry terminal, there are so many in Genoa; it is a little bit of a lottery. Of course the OGGY tradition lingers on and we arrived so early we could have knitted a jumper in the time that we had to wait. The GNV ferry to Porto Torres was huge (we hardly felt it move the entire night) and the boarding very organised, but due to it being quiet and off-season, only the self service canteen, serving school dinner type meals was open, not very Italian. Well, at least the beer was cold and the barman a real character, who took a shine to FOG…, feeding her with warm sausage rolls! Disembarkation was, on the other hand, back to the usual Italian chaos but you just can’t get worked up about things somehow…it’s all done with charm, a lot of smiles and, and of course, the arm waving.
Sardinia is, quite simply, a beautiful island. After the congestion of the Riviera, the vast emptiness of this island, especially in the central mountain region, is a pleasant change. The North East of the island around Palau and Baia is the most touristy and expensive but certainly worth a visit. We stayed near San Teodoro, just south of Olbia, and the beaches with the stunning rock formations took your breath away.
View from our beach apartment
The wild life is everywhere…
A Heron finds his dinner
The local beer has quite a punch and can affect one’s eye sight:
Before After
FOG commented that the scenery was as good as the Caribbean and as our little apartment was only 20 yards from the beach we trotted, bare footed, down to the water’s edge looking forward to a cooling swim…, where upon the first encounter with the freezing water melted our enthusiasm for a dip… no, we certainly weren’t in the Caribbean.
FOG has now updated our Caribbean travels in the sister blog – Facts- Old Gits Gap Year:
www.facts-oldgitsgapyear.blogspot.com
On our way south down the East coast to our next destination (an apartment in a villa in a more traditional part of Sardinia) we felt compelled to stop on several occasions to take pictures. The natural beauty of the countryside, carpeted in wild flowers, the chorus of bird song provided us with utter tranquillity. Some of the rock formations, similar to those found in one of the North American deserts, left one expecting to see a posse of cowboys, led by John Wayne, riding hell for leather over the next ridge… The road down to Cardedu was an extremely steep gorge and had FOG gripping tightly to the dashboard: no more impromptu picture taking now…
Valley scene in Sardinia
Our villa, Pinetrees, did not disappoint…, and it didn’t take us long to decide to hang our hats here for two weeks. If you are looking for a place to chill out then this is it. This may sound very precious, but we have found the constant travelling very tiring; plus I had to remain stationary enough to complete our tax returns! The old adage is true; “The two certainties in life are: Death and taxes!”
My Italian language is not really improving here as most of the people are speaking a very different local dialect called ‘Sardo’. I can liken it to being back in Abersoch with the locals!
The few days we have spent here have been blessed with gorgeous weather but it is the people that make this area special. The surly grunts from shop keepers, which we have become accustomed to, have been replaced by pleasantries and an almost embarrassing helpfulness. Our hosts, Carlo and Rita, have also been very accommodating, so much so that when I crunched the car on a hump in the driveway, leaving a very loud and worrying rattle, we were immediately escorted to the local garage to access the damage… Having found such a haven, I am really looking forward to the next few weeks; except for completing those blessed tax returns…
Typical coastal scene in Northern Sardinia:
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