Sardinia – A Little Island in the Med

Spring had sprung, and like a lot of Europeans, we decided a trip to an island of sand and sunshine was well deserved. Something you find out rather quickly, when you live elsewhere, is that there is a reason people embark on specific holidays at specific times for a reason. Think about it like living in Minnesota – as you reach those golden years, trips to one of the Sunshine states is about a lot more than Spring Break. As Later Gap Travelers, just like snowbirds, it isn’t about the party, but about feeling a little warmth – although a nice glass of wine or a cold beer on the beach isn’t a bad thing. With that in mind, we turned to our old reliable sources for information – blogs and vlogs – for where to go and what to do. Sardegna (Italian spelling) came up a winner.

The first thing we figured out was that this little island, off the middle of Italy, is actually pretty big. Reality quickly told us that we would not be able to see the whole thing in one long weekend, so it was time to pare down our where, what, and how. We decided to stick to the northern part of the island, actually, the northwest corner, and focused within 30-40 miles of Alghero. In this small corner, there were plenty of wineries, beaches, scenic areas, restaurants, and hotels that we could have spent a couple weeks there and still not had to repeat. Plus, we planned to rent a car, and with gas prices and roads as they are, we wanted to spend more time enjoying and less time with white knuckles or lost. We booked a couple nights in Hotel Sa Cheya Relais, a small but pleasant place, with a pool and a great breakfast, and started planning our days.

Getting there

Fights from Pisa to Alghero are pretty cheap – Ryan Air is the only airline that flies direct and prices when you look out a month or two are around $30 for a round trip ticket. Of course, there isn’t a business class, and you only get a small carry-on, but we were heading to the beach so that was just fine. The flight is also scheduled fairly early in the morning, but that just gave us an extra day on the island. We got to the airport, and soon found out that we weren’t the only ones with ideas of getting away for a long weekend. We boarded the full plane and one hour later we were disembarking in the sunshine.

The airport is pretty small, and without needing to go through customs (which is always a bonus), we quickly grabbed our rental car and headed out towards Alghero. It was way too early to check in, so we figured we would explore and eat first. We spent a couple hours walking around the old town of Alghero, wandering along the battlements, and looking out over harbor and the blue of the Mediterranean. Getting hungry, we stopped for a quick bite, sat back, and just enjoyed the view and warmth – going back to the first paragraph, that is what heading down to the sunshine for a Later Gap Traveler, during this time of the year, is all about. Warm, sated, and tired after an early start, we headed out to our hotel. After check-in, we enjoyed a little time by the pool and then slowly wandered over to the hotel restaurant for an early bite (in case you haven’t read Dining Out, we aren’t real late diners).

A Day at the Beach

Saturday, we had decided to head out to the beach. There are some wonderful beaches in the area, and we had read and heard about Spiaggia La Pelosa – a beach on the northern tip of a peninsula. From 1 June through 30 September, you need to book online (here) to reserve a spot – cost is around 3.50 euros – and parking can be tough, it may take a little walk back along the road. You need to bring a mat to sit/lay on (even if you have a towel), which you can buy from street-hawkers or an official shop – the price is the same, around 15 euros for 2. Although somewhat crowded, there was plenty of room to lay down and the water and scenery were gorgeous (albeit a tad chilly). We spent 3-4 hours just relaxing, with a couple short walks along the shore and some people watching. I managed to catch a little extra sun; I didn’t quite end up looking like a lobster, but I was a couple shades beyond lightly rosy.

We had booked dinner at a restaurant right next to the hotel – Fogo Churrascaria. The place is a meat market – really. The menu has two options – both consisting of lots of meat, served with Sardinian and Brazilian side dishes. There were seven different skewers of meat, from chicken to pork to beef, brought out one at a time, and sliced at your table. We figured this was okay, we could try a little slice of each, enjoy our side dishes, end up pleasantly full, and just wander back to the hotel. One quick note, there are seven different skewers, but they keep rotating them and bringing them out until you say stop – but that information isn’t in the menu. Almost through the second round of the skewers, I thought I was going to pop. My eyes were watering, and I was trying to figure out how I was going to waddle back to our hotel. I finally cried “Uncle” (the servers were probably wondering why and how I kept putting it down – I just didn’t know any better. Chalk up another lesson learned; it is better to ask than assume they will just stop. Getting back to our hotel, we decided to allow a little digestion to happen while we tried to figure out our tomorrow.

Enjoying the Sites and Wines

Sunday – We had booked a winery tour for the afternoon, but were looking for something to fit into the morning. We had heard about Neptune’s Grotto, and decided it would be worth a visit. There are few ways to get there, but with the weather supposed to be nice, we settled on a boat trip from Alghero’s harbor. After missing the first boat (we didn’t know where to meet it and it had filled up rather quickly), we booked ourselves onto the next option. The wind was down, the sea was pretty calm, and the ride was pleasant. We arrived at the Grotto, along with about five other boats (it is pretty popular, and a neat experience, especially on a nice day). People were working their way down steps along the cliff-face (another option is to drive and hike down – and then back up), and our boat backed into the narrow opening and dropped us off. The cave itself was pretty spectacular. You walk along on a pathway, basically in a long trail like ants marching, and wander through various lit caverns with stalactites and stalagmites. The walk/tour took about an hour, you have to keep moving and stay with the people in front of you, but it didn’t feel rushed or over-hyped. Overall, it was well worth the visit. After the boat ride back to the dock, we grabbed a quick bite of lunch then headed out of town for our afternoon winery tour.

We had booked a tasting at the Cantina Ligios Winery, about an hour out of Alghero and near the north coast. The drive up was nice, but when we got there, the place looked closed and deserted. We walked around the building and then called to see if we were at the wrong place. We got hold of the manager, who said he would be right over. He arrived about five minutes later and apologized, saying he had forgotten that he had plans to attend a soccer match that afternoon, but that his parents (who were inside) would take care of the tasting. However, they didn’t speak any English – and our Italian is still nothing to write home about. He showed us around the vineyard, and we then went into the cellar, where he handed us off to his folks. They quickly went about setting a table in front of a large fireplace and loading about 6-8 bottles of wine on a side table. We went from closed and deserted to preparing for a feast. The short story is that the experience was outstanding, the wines were excellent, each was accompanied by a side dish (including sausages that were cooked in the open flame of the fireplace), and we ordered three cases to be shipped back to us in Guasticce, in care of our landlord as we still don’t have a true local address.

Heading Back

On the way back to our hotel, we stopped by Elephant Rock, an interesting formation that was mentioned in one of the articles we read or watched (after a while, I forget where I find some of these things) – it was on the way so worth the quick stop. When we got back, we wandered over to the hotel restaurant for a small pizza, to share, as we were pretty much good on eating for the day.

Our flight back to Pisa left around midday on Monday, so after a nice breakfast at the hotel and an hour relaxing and reading by the pool, we made our way to the airport. The return trip was uneventful, and after our short one hour flight, and 15 minute drive, we were back in our agriturismo in Guasticce. Overall, we felt that we did pretty well on this trip – biting off a reasonable amount. We were able to experience and enjoy several different aspects of Sardegna, without trying to overdo and see everything. We always have the option of going back to see and experience another area or town; Alghero is only an hour away – and airfare is definitely reasonable. What we are continuing to learn, is that as Later Gap Travelers, we don’t have to do everything in one trip. We have the opportunity to slow down, sip the wine, and smell the roses.