The Colours of Sardinia, 16-May 2007
When I booked my trip to Sardinia with my sister and her colleague Roberto (who was born there) I wasn’t sure what to expect… I knew the food would be great (always a plus for a French palate) but feared it might be a bit too barren for someone like me who enjoys thick lush rainforests best.
Indeed, from the air, it did look a bit barren… but the sea colour already looked promising… and we were only 2h10 away from London. Unbelievable.
We took a cab to Roberto’s and had a superb lunch with his family (who were oh so welcoming). My sister has been learning Italian for a few months so she was able to understand them better than I did but I quickly found I could follow 50% of the conversations if I knew the topic as I’d do my mental cross-references with French and Spanish – and there were plenty of similarities.
We spent Wed & Thurs night with Roberto’s best friend, Serenella, who was so hospitable and had coloured her place with wonderful rich yellows which made her home so warm and so … Italian. Great design tastes, we fell in love with her place. She was right in the (old) town centre though we never got to hit the shops (and yet God knows the Italians have got great flair for clothes and produce truly beautiful ones).
Cagliari, the capital, isn’t the prettiest city I’ve seen but had quite a few narrow streets with houses painted with soft colours and most people had flower pots on their balconies (besides the standard washing lines full of underwears!). I noticed that even empty houses had flower pots on their windows (even though the windows may have no glass – seriously quaint or what?).
One of the surprises of Cagliari for me, as a bird lover, was to see they have a big salt lake with flamingos… so, as you’re driving out of town you already have a taste of wildlife and nature. I didn’t even realise we had flamingos in Europe (except maybe in Camargue). I’d only ever seen them in Africa and in the Galapagos (5! They have over 100).
The other nice surprise was that, because we landed on a Wed and started exploring the coast line as of Thursday a.m., the roads were deserted – we had had such a bad time with traffic when in Naples last year, this was bliss. The beaches were empty (beats me!) and looked even better as a result. You could really contrast the white sand vs the dazzling blue of the sea. I am kidding you NOT when I say that some of the colours I saw in Sardinia rivalled the ones I saw in Australia, Thailand or Barbados. Such purity. I didn’t expect that as the French Riviera is a lot duller and greyer (so my sister tells me, I’ve never been myself!). Even the coastline from the mainland of Italy didn’t seem as striking. We would stand on a hill top, look down at all the patterns in the sea and go ‘wow’… My pix are good, but do not reflect reality because I didn’t have a polariser on my digital camera. It was a true case of ‘you have to see it to believe it’… sorry guys.
It being May, it was also pleasantly colourful. Bushes of red leaves all over the coastline added gorgeous splashes of colour among so much green, grey and blue… roads were lined up with bright yellow genets that perfumed the air (we always put the window right down to breathe it in fully), some streets had ‘walls’ of pink, red and white azaleas, and some fields we passed were absolutely covered with tiny yellow flowers, some had poppies, or even purple flowers. I’m not good with flower names in English but Spring was spelt all over in massive carpets of colours. I totally loved it. Even the cactuses were all in bloom (yellow) and the lemon trees too (covered in lemons). Oh, and the bougainvilleas were all over too, fuchsia pink or bright red. Real ‘wow’.
I wanted to buy post cards, but, as usual, couldn’t find any that I liked enough. I felt my pictures would show better what I liked best, instead of using someone else’s (visual) point of view. Most didn’t really show the palm trees for a start and there are quite a few, even in the town centre.
The only downside of May was that the water was positively too cold to swim… well, that’s for us girlies. Roberto, being a true Aquarian and even more of a water baby than I am didn’t even seem to bat an eye lid. Nathalie had goose flesh just putting her feet in and he would go in for 2mns or 20mns. He’d even take his wet suit if need be… but whatever the sea condition (super wavy or calm), he’d never fail to go in. We were impressed! He swims like a dolphin - so fast, I thought to myself ‘if I drown 1 mile away from the beach in Borneo and he can spot me, he’ll be over in 2 minutes flat’… He is bound to find *me* quite slow actually, hum. I thought I was a reasonably good enough swimmer till I saw him in action and realised I was clueless!
The other great news about Sardinia is that it is largely unspoilt (and has no snake at all !). The reason being that back in the 60’s a lot of rich guys or celebrities bought acres and acres of land to go with their villas and so most of the coastline is now privately owned. Hence, when the hotel chains woke up to the fact that Sardinia had such potential as a “scenic” destination, it was too late – there was nothing left to buy.
In Corsica (the island just above), they went for a different tactic to preserve the wilderness aspect of their island: every time a hotel was being built, they’d bomb the place down. After a while, hotel chains got the message that it would be pointless to carry on.
Besides the obvious beauty of the coastline (and you can admire it all just by driving along the main roads that follow it – as stunning as the famous highway in California I’d say) they also have great national parks for hiking. We were surprised at how green they were… the colours do fade over the summer Roberto said, but in Spring, it was still really nice. We did a fairly strenuous walk (again, what was ‘strenuous’ for me was a piece of cake for Roberto, who did it, going up in 1H when I needed 2 to complete it… hum). I started to pray he doesn’t regret going to Borneo with me… I fear his energy level will be 10 times higher than mine. Oops. We may not be such compatible travellers after all… though we both adore nature.
Some villages are truly traditional, high up on the hill side, with widows dressed all in black for 5 years and not really ‘allowed’ to get married (it’d be frown upon)… whereas, of course, the widowers are ‘expected’ to get re-married as their needs are greatest…. Same old, same old.
Anyway, as I said at the beginning, if you are in Europe, I’d recommend it for a long week-end at least. The food is to die for, and really cheap (half what you’d pay in England). You have to try real Italian pizzas and forget Pizza Express or Pizza Hut. You have to try salads with just pure virgin oil… and their hot chocolates that are like hot chocolate mousse instead of chocolate powder in a hot milk glass. Vine, I’m told, is superb, needless to say… and seafood is first class if you like it. Even the fish Roberto’s mother served us was just cooked with lemon and garlic but the flesh was just delicious and seemed to have a flagrance of its own. As anyone with a sweet tooth would be in heaven with their cakes and ice creams… Most of their croissants are filled with some beautifully flavoured custard… they also have some delicious amaretto cakes (loaded with calories no doubt but impossible to resist as they were like soft biscuits)… As for ice creams… Italy and ice-creams go hand-in-hand as they do have a reputation for producing the finest ice creams in the world and rightly so! I had found the ones on the mainland too sweet for my taste, but the ones in Sardinia are just perfect. Totally natural flavours and so many to choose from… all equally yummy. We had 2 ice creams per day because there were SO many tempting ones to try out… Eating out is one of Italians’ greatest pleasures and people still allow 2 hours for lunch to make sure they savour and enjoy their food instead of rushing it.
What more can I say? Easy Jet will take you there direct from London Luton for £50 return, you can’t go wrong. Some of the hotels, b&b, pensions or whatever you want to call it are amazing value for money off season. We paid 20 euros / dollars each for a whole apartment (1 double bedroom, twin room, full working kitchen and nice neat bathroom, with terrace and fantastic panaromic view). That’s about £12 equivalent per person per night, and Nathalie & I had an apartment, and Roberto and Serenella shared the one next door. In London £12 would just about buy you a bed in a dorm. Doesn’t compare…
Serenella kept bumping into friends and neighbours wherever we went and did say that it was one of the downsides of being a local here – you can’t have much privacy or many secrets. Everybody seems to know everybody. I guess you can’t have it all…. But for someone over on a short visit, it almost feels like it ! :)
When I booked my trip to Sardinia with my sister and her colleague Roberto (who was born there) I wasn’t sure what to expect… I knew the food would be great (always a plus for a French palate) but feared it might be a bit too barren for someone like me who enjoys thick lush rainforests best.
Indeed, from the air, it did look a bit barren… but the sea colour already looked promising… and we were only 2h10 away from London. Unbelievable.
We took a cab to Roberto’s and had a superb lunch with his family (who were oh so welcoming). My sister has been learning Italian for a few months so she was able to understand them better than I did but I quickly found I could follow 50% of the conversations if I knew the topic as I’d do my mental cross-references with French and Spanish – and there were plenty of similarities.
We spent Wed & Thurs night with Roberto’s best friend, Serenella, who was so hospitable and had coloured her place with wonderful rich yellows which made her home so warm and so … Italian. Great design tastes, we fell in love with her place. She was right in the (old) town centre though we never got to hit the shops (and yet God knows the Italians have got great flair for clothes and produce truly beautiful ones).
Cagliari, the capital, isn’t the prettiest city I’ve seen but had quite a few narrow streets with houses painted with soft colours and most people had flower pots on their balconies (besides the standard washing lines full of underwears!). I noticed that even empty houses had flower pots on their windows (even though the windows may have no glass – seriously quaint or what?).
One of the surprises of Cagliari for me, as a bird lover, was to see they have a big salt lake with flamingos… so, as you’re driving out of town you already have a taste of wildlife and nature. I didn’t even realise we had flamingos in Europe (except maybe in Camargue). I’d only ever seen them in Africa and in the Galapagos (5! They have over 100).
The other nice surprise was that, because we landed on a Wed and started exploring the coast line as of Thursday a.m., the roads were deserted – we had had such a bad time with traffic when in Naples last year, this was bliss. The beaches were empty (beats me!) and looked even better as a result. You could really contrast the white sand vs the dazzling blue of the sea. I am kidding you NOT when I say that some of the colours I saw in Sardinia rivalled the ones I saw in Australia, Thailand or Barbados. Such purity. I didn’t expect that as the French Riviera is a lot duller and greyer (so my sister tells me, I’ve never been myself!). Even the coastline from the mainland of Italy didn’t seem as striking. We would stand on a hill top, look down at all the patterns in the sea and go ‘wow’… My pix are good, but do not reflect reality because I didn’t have a polariser on my digital camera. It was a true case of ‘you have to see it to believe it’… sorry guys.
It being May, it was also pleasantly colourful. Bushes of red leaves all over the coastline added gorgeous splashes of colour among so much green, grey and blue… roads were lined up with bright yellow genets that perfumed the air (we always put the window right down to breathe it in fully), some streets had ‘walls’ of pink, red and white azaleas, and some fields we passed were absolutely covered with tiny yellow flowers, some had poppies, or even purple flowers. I’m not good with flower names in English but Spring was spelt all over in massive carpets of colours. I totally loved it. Even the cactuses were all in bloom (yellow) and the lemon trees too (covered in lemons). Oh, and the bougainvilleas were all over too, fuchsia pink or bright red. Real ‘wow’.
I wanted to buy post cards, but, as usual, couldn’t find any that I liked enough. I felt my pictures would show better what I liked best, instead of using someone else’s (visual) point of view. Most didn’t really show the palm trees for a start and there are quite a few, even in the town centre.
The only downside of May was that the water was positively too cold to swim… well, that’s for us girlies. Roberto, being a true Aquarian and even more of a water baby than I am didn’t even seem to bat an eye lid. Nathalie had goose flesh just putting her feet in and he would go in for 2mns or 20mns. He’d even take his wet suit if need be… but whatever the sea condition (super wavy or calm), he’d never fail to go in. We were impressed! He swims like a dolphin - so fast, I thought to myself ‘if I drown 1 mile away from the beach in Borneo and he can spot me, he’ll be over in 2 minutes flat’… He is bound to find *me* quite slow actually, hum. I thought I was a reasonably good enough swimmer till I saw him in action and realised I was clueless!
The other great news about Sardinia is that it is largely unspoilt (and has no snake at all !). The reason being that back in the 60’s a lot of rich guys or celebrities bought acres and acres of land to go with their villas and so most of the coastline is now privately owned. Hence, when the hotel chains woke up to the fact that Sardinia had such potential as a “scenic” destination, it was too late – there was nothing left to buy.
In Corsica (the island just above), they went for a different tactic to preserve the wilderness aspect of their island: every time a hotel was being built, they’d bomb the place down. After a while, hotel chains got the message that it would be pointless to carry on.
Besides the obvious beauty of the coastline (and you can admire it all just by driving along the main roads that follow it – as stunning as the famous highway in California I’d say) they also have great national parks for hiking. We were surprised at how green they were… the colours do fade over the summer Roberto said, but in Spring, it was still really nice. We did a fairly strenuous walk (again, what was ‘strenuous’ for me was a piece of cake for Roberto, who did it, going up in 1H when I needed 2 to complete it… hum). I started to pray he doesn’t regret going to Borneo with me… I fear his energy level will be 10 times higher than mine. Oops. We may not be such compatible travellers after all… though we both adore nature.
Some villages are truly traditional, high up on the hill side, with widows dressed all in black for 5 years and not really ‘allowed’ to get married (it’d be frown upon)… whereas, of course, the widowers are ‘expected’ to get re-married as their needs are greatest…. Same old, same old.
Anyway, as I said at the beginning, if you are in Europe, I’d recommend it for a long week-end at least. The food is to die for, and really cheap (half what you’d pay in England). You have to try real Italian pizzas and forget Pizza Express or Pizza Hut. You have to try salads with just pure virgin oil… and their hot chocolates that are like hot chocolate mousse instead of chocolate powder in a hot milk glass. Vine, I’m told, is superb, needless to say… and seafood is first class if you like it. Even the fish Roberto’s mother served us was just cooked with lemon and garlic but the flesh was just delicious and seemed to have a flagrance of its own. As anyone with a sweet tooth would be in heaven with their cakes and ice creams… Most of their croissants are filled with some beautifully flavoured custard… they also have some delicious amaretto cakes (loaded with calories no doubt but impossible to resist as they were like soft biscuits)… As for ice creams… Italy and ice-creams go hand-in-hand as they do have a reputation for producing the finest ice creams in the world and rightly so! I had found the ones on the mainland too sweet for my taste, but the ones in Sardinia are just perfect. Totally natural flavours and so many to choose from… all equally yummy. We had 2 ice creams per day because there were SO many tempting ones to try out… Eating out is one of Italians’ greatest pleasures and people still allow 2 hours for lunch to make sure they savour and enjoy their food instead of rushing it.
What more can I say? Easy Jet will take you there direct from London Luton for £50 return, you can’t go wrong. Some of the hotels, b&b, pensions or whatever you want to call it are amazing value for money off season. We paid 20 euros / dollars each for a whole apartment (1 double bedroom, twin room, full working kitchen and nice neat bathroom, with terrace and fantastic panaromic view). That’s about £12 equivalent per person per night, and Nathalie & I had an apartment, and Roberto and Serenella shared the one next door. In London £12 would just about buy you a bed in a dorm. Doesn’t compare…
Serenella kept bumping into friends and neighbours wherever we went and did say that it was one of the downsides of being a local here – you can’t have much privacy or many secrets. Everybody seems to know everybody. I guess you can’t have it all…. But for someone over on a short visit, it almost feels like it ! :)
posted by Sylvie at 5:22 PM
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