Sardinia, Italy

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May 11, 12, 13, 2008

SARDINIA, Italy

Our ferry trip from the mainland was 9 hours and we arrived late evening in Porto Aranci, Sardinia. (near the north).

We spent the next 2 days exploring Sardinia from top to bottom by car. The island is not that big but it takes about 4 hours to drive from one end to the other. Our travels took us first to the north and then west and down the coast to the southern tip at Cagliari. All the roads are good. ( some a little too twisty, bendy, curvy for Alice but fun to drive and in good condition). The main freeway is 4 lanes and goes almost through all of Sardinia

We decided against the trip to Corsica as the ferry schedule didn't work out and we would have been very rushed. A better plan would have been to go to Corsica and leave from Sardinia but we were unable to get the right ferry connections for that on short notice. We encountered our first real rain since we started our adventure months ago and we had had some sun and some rain for the 2 days here.

This is an interesting place with some great scenery, obviously lots of coast line and some decent beaches. They do cater to a lot of campers and tenters here and there is lots to see and do. The island is very mountainous ( not too high, but very nice ) with lush green valleys and some very nice farmland in the south where they grow cereal crops and wheat. Of course there are lots of olives and vineyards. The north is more rugged and rocky. Good for sheep and a few cows. Some of the coast is spectacular with high bluffs on the ocean. Also a few more old forts and castles here.

We took some time to visit some resort type areas and there are some very big villas and huge homes built overlooking the sea. Looks like this is a favorite place for the rich Italians to spend there free time.

We returned to Livorno on Tuesday night on an overnight ferry with decent state rooms and all in all a very nice ship. Not what we are used to with B.C. Ferries.

Tomorrow we will go to Orvieto. We have been there before, but briefly, and always said we wanted more time to visit there.

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