Sardinia: Part One
Sardinia!! We spent a little over 3 days on the island over Valentine's weekend, gobsmacked by how beautiful everything was. We certainly "earned" our weekend getaway, after all the countless hours that we put in to get us moved over to the new house.
At the end of my last post, Scott was building us a sturdy new dining table. Now it sits elegantly in our new dining area, surrounded by several newly assembled chairs. With extensions for each end of the table (in "secret" compartments that are tucked underneath), we can comfortably fit 8 people, with the potential for 10 or more. Yep, that's an invitation for you to come on over to see us in Italy!
Meanwhile, I vacuumed the entire house with our new vacuum (it's much faster in cleaning up the dust bunnies!), I mopped everywhere, dusted, wiped everything down with Clorox wipes, cleaned all the bathrooms and showers, sanitized the kitchen - leaving it way more sparkly clean than when we first moved in originally, and gathered up all the last-of-the-last miscellaneous items that never seemed to end.
Video of the egrets: (12 seconds)
Here is the recipe link:
After the old house was 100% cleaned out, we made preparations to leave town the following day. I met up with my friend, Kelly Campbell for a little visit that morning before I flew back to the U.S. a few days later. Her husband, Trevin, is a licensed therapist for military personnel and their family members. Kelly is super fun - and is an excellent (and very thrifty) shopper. If I ever need to find something, she's one of my go-to people to ask for recommendations on where to go. We met at the Caffe Amoro for some cioccolata calda ("chockolotta kahlda" - or hot chocolate). This time, the waitress delivered the whipped cream in a separate dish instead of piled on top. Italian hot chocolate is thick, almost like pudding. It's seriously SO GOOD.
I was surprised to see that when we booked a rental car - and we selected a Fiat Panda - this ended up being the exact car that we got! Ours was the grey car next to this bright and snazzy periwinkle car.
After doing a great deal of research on where to go and what to see in Sardinia, I quickly learned that it would be best to stick to one main area - either the north or the south. Since we were flying into Olbia, which is up on the NE side of Sardinia, it made good sense to look for things to do in the north. It takes roughly 3 hours to get from Olbia down to Cagliari, but we didn't want to spend that much time driving when we only had a short weekend there.
I found this local tour guide's website to be extremely helpful:
He breaks down the four main regions of the large island and makes it much easier to choose where to go and what to do. We decided to spend most of our time over in the NW portion, in Porto Torres and the surrounding areas. Therefore, we only spent a morning at the front end and an evening at the back end in the Olbia area, to be closer to the airport.
We visited a beach called Spiaggia de Bahas . . .
We encountered a small section of flooded road on the way: (13 seconds)
Video of the small bay: (16 seconds)
The colors of the Tyrrhenian Sea were exquisite! Sardinia offers a smattering of aquas, teals, navy blues, and everything in between.
Another view of the same bay while out on the dock: (7 seconds)
*Speaking of which: there was a little issue with my Cyprus post being seen when I tried to publish it a few months ago. Scott had accidentally published it before we were supposed to go "public" with the fact that he was there, so when I WAS finally ready to share it, unfortunately it just slipped back into the same month of when it was originally published (Valentine's Day 2024). If you want to read it, you'll have to scroll back through the list of weekly posts for the past year until you get to it.
As I was saying, on our drive across the top of Sardinia, we saw a landscape buffet: ocean views, curvy back roads over the mountains, groves of trees (including the cork tree), and boulders that reminded me of the Sierra Nevadas.
Someone even built their house upon a rock . . .
On a portion of the windy and curvy mountainous road, we passed these cows quietly grazing next to the road. Scott dutifully found a place to safely pull over so I could walk back and talk to them. :)
Our conversation went something like this:
Me: Buongiorno! Comestai?
Mr. Bull: (startled upward jerk of his head from the grassy lunch he was in the middle of) (*no comment*... just a blank stare, as if to say, "How in the heck did you find us clear out here?)
At one point, I really needed to go to the bathroom. Lucky for Scott, he's a male. He found two places between the windy bay that we had visited earlier and Mr. Bull's meadow, where he "took a walk" into the trees. However, I 100% prefer an actual toilet. So I looked for a restaurant nearby where we could grab a bite to eat AND use their toilet for free. As it turned out, we were less than 5 minutes from a lovely restaurant that was rated 4.7 out of 5 stars. Voila!
The name of the place is Lu Maestrali, located just outside the tiny town of Viddalba. Scott ordered a saucy pasta dish with beans and sausage. He shared a bite with me and it was really yummy.
Video of the cat: (10 seconds)
Our waiter was a young man with a delightful exuberance and enthusiasm for life. He spoke somewhat comfortably in English, even though it was choppy at times. Certainly it was more than I could say for my Italian capabilities!! Picture lots of gesturing and expressiveness as he would animatedly say to more than one of the lunch guests, "Relax . . . it's Sardinia!" He told us it was his biggest dream to go to America. When I asked where he wanted to go in the U.S., he promptly replied with gusto, "Detroit!!" Um, okay . . . that wouldn't be my first choice (or my 43rd choice). I wondered what got him so excited about Detroit, but he had trouble trying to explain himself in English, so I guess we'll just have to keep wondering what is so special about Detroit . . .
To break up our drive to Porto Torres, we veered off the beaten path a little bit in order to visit an unusual site. It sprinkled and drizzled on our way, but occasionally some blue skies would peek out briefly, even though it was still super windy.
Per AI: In Sardinia, cork trees are used to make many items, including wine stoppers, flooring, furniture, and clothing. Cork is the outer bark of the Quercus Suber tree, which is common in the Mediterranean.
Uses
- Wine stoppers: Cork is the primary purpose of cork trees, and is used to seal wine bottles
- Flooring: Cork is used to make floors and walls
- Furniture: Cork is used to make stools, benches, and other furniture
- Clothing: Cork is used to make clothing, including skirts, shawls, dresses, jackets, and accessories
- Containers: Cork is used to make containers for food and beverages, such as trays and ladles
- Insulation: Cork is used to insulate roofs and walls
- Fishing: Cork is used to make floaters and line holders
- Nativity scenes: Cork is used to make nativity scenes
Sardinia is the leading producer of cork in Italy, producing about 80% of the country's cork. Cork has been used in Sardinia since the Nuragic era.
Video here: (12 seconds)
This is the listing for the property on AirBnB: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/848391851292018699?source_impression_id=p3_1740067982_P396sqpGFKgGGfU8
It was absolutely perfectly located. Ocean views, a paved walking trail across the street, close to shops and restaurants, etc. And it was only $70/night! We had a full kitchen, too, where we cooked our own dinners each night. (We ate out for lunches though.)
- Gavino: A soldier who was martyred in 304 AD because he refused to sacrifice to the Gods. Also known as Gavin and Gavinus, he was the commander for the Roman garrison at Porto Torres and was converted to Christianity by 2 priests (Protus and Januarius).
- Protus: A Christian priest and bishop.
- Januarius: The deacon for Protus.
- Apparently, Gavino was tasked with arresting Protus and Januarius and was supposed to haul them off to jail. Instead, he was so impressed with their courage, that he asked for their prayers and then he allowed them to escape. The next day, Gavino was arrested for failing to to produce his prisoners. He declared himself a Christian and was subsequently beheaded on the shore.
- After Protus and Januarius learned that Gavino had been martyred, they returned to the city, were arrested themselves, and then also beheaded. Sheesh.
Next to the church are some very old caves, believed to have been connected to multiple churches during the 5th - 7th centuries. Hundreds of graves have been discovered here, and there are some remnants of ancient carvings on the walls. The church is typically closed all year, except for during the month of May. This is when visitors and locals can walk through and participate in a remembrance of the three Christian martyrs.
When we shared the photo of Scott and me with our family, from earlier when we were down in the cove of Spiaggia di Balai, our son Jacob asked for the latitude and longitude of our location, ha ha. It was easy to send the info to him because Google photos saves the details when you take a picture, as long as you have your location mode turned on when you are taking said photos.
It was in a vinegar-y marinade, with parsley and a few other spices. I was nervous to try the first one, but once I ate him and realized it wasn't half bad, I munched on several more. I had to stop eating them, though, because historically if I eat too much of something with vinegar or lemon juice or a high amount of acidity, then I am more likely to end up with a cold sore on my lip. So I stopped. But they were actually reasonably tasty. Would I eat them regularly? Probably not. But I didn't hate them either.
Also, we found two comfortable jackets at the Lidl. They always have a section in the center of their stores with all kinds of random things. Everything from clothes, to bedding, to dishes and appliances, to tools, and seasonal gifts for the next holiday. Scott had only brought a thin windbreaker jacket to Sardinia (plus he had only packed short sleeved shirts), so he needed another layer to combat the cold. He found a nice fleece jacket to wear under his windbreaker and then he was much happier. We also found me a super nice windbreaker with some warmth on the inside. Scott's jacket was $14 and mine was $17. Way to go, Lidl!
I'll share more about our relaxing weekend in Sardinia next week. I am still working through some lack of sleep issues from flying back to Idaho Falls on Tuesday. I added up the miniscule amount of sleeping hours that I got between Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday of this week, and I came up with just over 10 hours for 3 days. Gross. I did really well yesterday (Wednesday) but today (Thursday) I've had a constant headache the whole day. Right above my right eyebrow . . .
I'll end with a few photos of the grandchildren. Prepare yourself for a Maisie Fest. XOXO
Jacob recently sent us this photo of Maisie, explaining that in a matter of seconds she went from Point A (the pink stick figure) to Point B (her current location).
Video of Maisie trying her darndest to drink out of her mom's water glass: (10 seconds)
Video of Maisie "eating" something that's very bright green (possibly peas?):
(18 seconds) https://photos.app.goo.gl/1a4WvdZTCgrHGuxMA
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