Kacenka on the road

September 2016;

I have lived and travelled in Italy for a fair period of time. Yet I had never been to Sardinia. My friends’ Marleen’s and Giovanni’s wedding provided a reason for a long overdue visit. September in Sardinia is beautiful – or is it Sardinia in September? The weather is still lovely, but not too hot, and more importantly the season is over, so the place is not crammed.

I avoided the usual fancy east coast hubs like Porto Rotondo and Porto Cervo, a bit because it wasn’t on my way and I was on a tight schedule, a bit because I cannot be arsed about Gucci and Versace shopping in an italian beach resort. I rented a car at the airport in Olbia (which is a thing I advice to everyone, as in Italy anywhere outside Milan or Rome having your own car gives you the independence to explore, as you cannot really rely on public transport. Wait – what public transport?). 2 hours of rather unpleasant drive (mainly due to constant road works – they call the Olbia-Sassari road a “never-ending highway” for a reason – and terrible italian radio) got me to Alghero, which became my base for the following six days. From here I took several day-trips.

Day 1 – Bosa: a lovely village about an hour drive south from Alghero (the coastal road itself is spectacular to be honest), where the houses in the medieval center are painted in bright colours. Bosa is also home to the local Malvasia wine, so the climb to the castle above the village was a good idea, as I needed to get rid of my malvasia-based lunch.

Carmine church, Bosa

Bosa

Bosa

View from Bosa castle

On my way back I saw a castle on the cliffs at some point, parked the car and decided to hike to the coast and explore the castle, instead I took a wrong turn and found this:

Compoltittu beach

Compoltittu beach

Day 2 – Capocaccia, Neptune’s Grotto. The cave is located at the extreme end of the Capocaccia peninsula, about 40 minutes drive north from Alghero. It can be visited either via sea or by 600 steps descend (and ascend, unfortunately) from the top of the cliffs to the sea level.

Neptune’s Grotto

Neptune’s Grotto

Days 3-6 – Beach babe, enjoying spectacular sunset on the waterfront (usually alcohol-fuelled, too); the wedding, and a desperate attempt to get some colour on my skin in the last few hours before heading for the airport.

Look, I’m dressed like a girl!

Ciao Ichnusa!