An Introduction, reaching there, our first bnb and travel pics :)
Sardinia, a beautiful yet mysterious island of Italy located in the Mediterranean sea was my choice for a summer vacation in 2018. Mystery, because there was not much useful information online, apart from their regional tourist offices claiming that each beach was the best beach and each place the best place. Hmmm...
As I was travelling with a friend who uses guide books (and I don't), we agreed on a route that best appealed to both of us. I searched for a national park (because that usually means beautiful nature) closest to Cagliari, the capital city. Gennargentu National Park was located on the east coast. So we sought an affordable accommodation (about 50€ for a room with two beds) in its vicinity on booking.com. A B&B in Siniscola seemed fitting as there was no vacancy at the coast. We decided to make day trips from there.
We flew in to Cagliari from Hanover with Eurowings. A rental car is the best way to get around Sardinia. Motorbike enthusiasts will enjoy for sure.
How do you feel when you land? I feel very happy and quite hungry. Right next to the car rentals at the airport was this really welcoming snack bar. Hot puffed pastries filled with cheese and tomato sauce sounded tempting to me :)
It was after mid-August and the forecast for the next days was rainy and stormy. Oh I prayed for sunshine as the windshield wipers swayed frantically.
Visiting the islands in the Mediterranean sea in July and August is ideal. The water is warm: 25 degrees and above.
When we reached our B&B in the hilly terrain of Siniscola, the sky had cleared. Everything seemed so distanced from city life. Old, warn down houses and hardly a resident in sight. Google showed only three places to eat. One was closed. The other fully reserved. So we headed for the third. Which required a surprisingly adventurous walk.
The hilly road was pitch dark so we used our cell phone torch to see the path and to avoid getting run over by passing vehicles. Just as I was starting to wonder how trustworthy google maps was, we saw the colorful lights hanging on the open terrace of the secluded pizzeria.
The Pizzeria La Lanterna di Farris served us the yummiest, the biggest and the cheapest pizzas we had on the entire trip. They also had the regional dessert of Sebadas- deep fried pastry with a filling of pecorino cheese and topped with honey. We in fact returned there the next day for a repeat experience and bragged about it to every other tourist we met in Siniscola. The white sweet wine they served was ohhhh!!! so good!
Come morning we did not feel in the middle of nowhere anymore. There were four other guests who joined us for breakfast. One of them was a recurrent visitor. She told us about why she returned to Sardinia every summer.
''Sardinia has the most clean waters, due to the current around the island. Also you can walk long distances into the sea and the water will only be waist level.''
She also gave us an insider beach tip, which we decided to try out in the next days. But first we needed the warm breakfast which was two to three different types of cake with hot tea and coffee. The very kind and considerate owner of the B&B Le Grazie Seniora Francheska had prepared it for us. That and the pretty view. Now we were convinced, our vacation was officially on!
Siniscola
At least in the year 2018 we found it difficult to get around without a dictionary or google translate. There was hardly a trace of English. Its okay, we learnt some basic Italian along the way. Our attempts (and requirement) to speak the local language and the joy of immediately or finally being understood (for all involved) was an inherent part of our trip.
And yes, we were bestowed with luck. Every day turned out to be more memorable than the previous. For my travel diary from day 2 to 6, more tips, insiders and destinations in Sardinia click here.
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