Photos and Travel Diary for Golfo Aranci and Porto Cervo
Our breakfast with a view (click here for day 1) and the exuberant company of fellow B&B guests had fueled more holiday spirit into us- we were quite excited! Our goal of the day was a famous port in the northern region. My friend's guidebook claimed it to be a 'must see'. If the roads were clear, we would reach there in an hour and half by car.
The sun was hot and there were many signs of beaches on the way. We had come a long way but were not all that close to our destination. So we decided to take a random detour for lunch and let google maps to take us to the nearest beach. Almost 24 hours on Italian soil and not tasted noodles in tomato sauce topped with grated Parmesan.. that just cant be!!!
Golfo Aranci
Over the years I have become accustomed to the German way of reacting when a beach is in sight. It means put on swimwear and 'chill' (just be). On German shores there is a 'Strandkorb' (Strand:beach, Korb:basket) to shield you from the sun. Here weren't any. We let our sunhats and tubes of SPF-50 protect us. The water was so warm and so clear!!!! There weren't many tourists. Almost felt like we were at our own private beach.
My friend was grinning with excitement. She said that the water was very salty and it held the body very easily afloat. Then showed me how to.
After leaning back on the water with my hands spread out, if I only pushed my waist up and let my legs rise to the surface, the sea took over from there. So that was our noon, spent floating around in the waters of the Mediterranean sea. The sight of the summery blue sky, the drifting sight of breezy tips of trees and the soft sound of water were great company. I was on top of the world. My body and soul felt one with the universe.
Now, we happened to be at the main beach of Golfo Aranci. But there are other beaches close by too, if you would like to drive by: Cala Moresca (Cala: Cove) and Spiagga Bianca (Spiagga: Beach, Bianca: White). The main attraction in Sardinia is the nature and it is chiefly at the coast. According to me this is where the confusion starts. The island is lined with hundreds of beaches to choose from and one has about only a week of vacation at hand.
That is why, I think specially in Sardinia you have to be clear about what you really want to experience. As with a beach at every corner, it can get overwhelming.
Quite tanned from the 30 degree sunshine and dusting the sand off our feet, we got back on our original route. Making an occasional stop at a Viewpoint or two.
Finally after a lot of traffic that we encountered, we reached the highly recommended by guidebook destination 'Porto Cervo'. If you want to see a harbor with elegant yachts, it may be interesting for you. But it wasn't our cup of tea.
Porto Cervo
There was much more traffic on the way back. At such times I feel ignorance is bliss. Alas, the region was hilly, subjecting us to the unsparing sight of the long lines of cars before and after us.
But we were very proud of our detour of indulgence at noon. To balance out the bummer afternoon, we thought of going to a place not more than 10 km away the next day. Spending more time on the land (or water) than in the car sounded tempting in our current state. Just as we were closing in on our B&B in Siniscola my friend, who was at the driving wheel noticed a little mountain with what seemed like a castle on top. ''Looks pretty'' she said. The decision to spend the next morning there was unanimous. I looked up the name of the place on the map.
Little did we know, this little coincidence would lead us to one super gorgeous day in the countryside.. (for travel diary day 3 Click here)
We had dinner at Trattoria Bar Da Bovore, in Siniscola. I had learnt when on a previous vacation in Sicily, that a 'Trattoria' is a family owned restaurant and serves price-value regional food. Now at the Mediterranean coast, we are not averse to a scrumptious plate of grilled fish, are we?
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