On the road again...

There are many islands in the Mediterranean Sea of which the largest are Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus & Corsica, in order. We decided it was time to explore Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily. Unfortunately, for us, we started this exploration in March which is low season. This means ferry schedules are minimal to non-existent! We flew into Olbia, Sardinia, collected our car and were on our way to catch the ferry to Corsica and was informed there is no current ferry to Bonifacio, Corsica (there had been 1 month ago but apparently not enough traffic, so has been discontinued until April). That wipes Corsica off our plans.

So let's share our experiences in sassy Sardinia! The area we covered is shown by a red line on the map below (actually it is hard to see but just make it up.)

Sardinia has a colorful history influenced by many rulers, French, Spanish, Austrian, African and Roman. Sardinia became part of the unified Italian State in 1861; then in Feb 1948 Sardinia finally became a self-governing region of Italy.

First, I never expected Sardinia to be so green and so mountainous! The rock formations are amazing.  This particular spot is the Rio Pitrisconi waterfall below. The waterfall was lacking but the rocks and crystal clear pool made up for it. We had to do some four wheeling to get to this point in our baby Hyundai!

There are many mountain ranges in Sardinia, the Gennargentu Range has the highest peak called Punta La Marmora (1,834 m or 6,017 ft) and the only ski resort on the island. We skirted the side of this range and travelled down the Supramonte Range along the eastern coast visiting Gorropu Gorge.

You can see the gorge below. We started the hike at Passo Ghenna'e Silana (1025M) and descended 700M to the gorge entry. Easy hey; but going back up that 700M climb was drastically different. Oh boy, we were sore the next few days!

On our descent.

Entrance to the canyon.

As we were getting close to the bottom of the mountain we heard a cat crying...to our amazement we rounded the next switchback and here was a beautiful fat loving cat. After getting a scratch, he showed us the way to the river. The guy at the ticket tent told us he is the canyon cat, lives here all year round.

The gorge was amazing; the walls reached to 500M from the river bed. We could not go beyond the narrowest points (4M) - the gorge is 12KM long but requires expert guidance to go any further as you have to climb the shear walls. Most of the river in the gorge is underground.

Transversing the gorge required a lot of boulder climbing.

In a cave.

Narrowest area.

Local folks have told us this is the best time to see wild flowers in Sardinia. It is very cool to see the wildflowers and ferns growing together with all the cactus

The prickly pear cactus abounds and apparently in the past was used as a hedge row to keep the sheep from wandering.

The Sarda is an Italian breed of domestic sheep indigenous to the Mediterranean island of Sardinia. This breed is highly adaptable; it can be kept on the lowlands or on mountainous terrains. The sheep are used for meat and milk production. The milk is predominantly used to make pecorino cheese.  The long, coarse white wool is of little value; it may be used to make carpets or mattresses.

Sardinia has a big problem with hybrid wild pigs; a mix between wild boars and domestic pigs. We seen a lot of wild pigs at higher elevation. When we were hiking, there was lots of evidence of dug up ground. Last year the wild pigs caused 2 million euro damage to Sardinian agriculture

The Modicana cow is also seen at higher elevation and roams the countryside just like the sheep, crossing the road whenever they feel like it.

The Cork Oak tree is a leafy evergreen. It takes 25 years until the first bark can be harvested from the tree. The trunk must reach 27.5 inches in diameter. The tree continues to produce cork bark and can be harvested every 9 years. Over their lifespan of 150-200 years the cork bark can be harvested 15-18 times. The dark area on the trunk is where the bark has been harvested.

Su Nuraxi di Barumini.

The nuraghe has become a symbol of Sardinia, with over 7000 found on the island. The nuraghi is a truncated conic structure of huge blocks of basalt taken from extinct volcanoes, built in prehistoric times without any bonding. Expert opinion now dates the nuraghi to about 1500 to 400 BC. No written records of this Nuragic civilization have been discovered, although they believe there is some mention of this civilization in classical literature from the Greeks and Romans but mostly considered more mythical than historical. The largest complex in Sardinia is the Su Nuraxi di Barumini above. It is believed that this represented a complete little town. We seen many nuraghes as we traveled about but the ones below where still in a very good state, most are just a few rings of rocks. although no below where

Many of these monumental complexes consist of a church, a nuraghe, a giant's tomb and a sacred well. The complex below has all 4 but only the nuraghe and the church is seen. This complex is called Di Santa Sabina church and nuraghe.

Like I mentioned, these complexes usually had a giant's tomb. This consists of a semi circular rock formation with some central large menhirs and behind these central stones is a burial tomb. We visited Tomba dei Giganti S'Ena e Thomas whose central menhirs were 7 tons of granite and there was a 11M funerary corridor and burial tomb behind the central stones. These giant tombs were built during the Bronze Age by the Nuragic civilization. They were collective tombs and can be found throughout Sardinia, with 800 being discovered there.

Remember Asterix and Oberlix, Dusten loved these comic books and still has the entire set. Oberlix would be in his element with so many menhir to carry around.

 Lots of beautiful coast line.

And many, many beaches.

There were many pretty villages and interesting cities.

Gazing west across the Mediterranean toward Spain, sits the charming city of Alghero, which feels equal parts Iberian and Sardinian. The city’s official language is Catalan. It is a walled city with fortified towers; canons and trebuchets doting the sea wall.

Lots of pretty cobbled streets where it is fun to dine at night under the lights.

The promenade along the sea wall had these interesting looking trees. We were informed that they are pruned plane trees (sycamore) and apparently look very pretty in summer. They were just starting to leaf out.

This is quaint Bosa, loved the little colorful homes along the river.

Many towns and villages look like they were built with colorful Lego blocks.

The lively capital, Cagliari, has a walled historical center. #1 This area is virtually car free and very fun to meander, shop and dine. #2 We loved this double decker antipasto board with all the traditional Sardinian cuisine. #3 I laughed as we entered this huge department store and there amongst the ladies bags was a bar to plant the husbands at, so as the ladies could shop 'til they dropped....onto the bar stool next to their husbands to down a martini after all the $ damage was done!

Bastione di Saint Remy

I absolutely loved this street, each home had their own little garden, what an amazing difference it made.

Cathedral of Santa Maria. This is the first church that I have seen such elaborate stone-work within and the first time I have been into a crypt.

Slow day at the confession box!

#1Interesting facade to the Parliament building below. #2 The council room. #3 The entire building was full of chandeliers. The green one below was venetian glass from the island of Murano (we have previously been to this island and seen them blow these incredible pieces of art from glass.)

#1 Off to church #2 OK, it is 15 degrees C (59F) but this is the 3rd little dog we have seen with a down jacket on...YES, a puffy down coat with a hood that has ear slits! #3 Always our trusty scavengers are near by to get any handout being offered.

Sailing on Grimaldi ferry from Cagliari to Palermo, Sicily, a 12 hr journey.

Leaving Cagliari.

Goodbye & Goodnight Sardinia!