For our 20th wedding anniversary, I was hoping to receive a big, brillant rock to wear on my finger but I think S misunderstood and thought I wanted to SEE some amazing rocks! lol!
And did I ever get my share of rocks! lol! We spent an amazing week in Sardinia, Italy. I absolutely fell in love with the island. I wouldn't mind visiting Sardina every year!
We spent 4 days in Cala Gonone & 3 in Villasiumius. Both areas were GORGEOUS but Cal Gonone was by far my favorite. The vibe was more low key and more rustic. I fell in love with the landscape... I mean how can you not fall in love with these beaches. The coastline is breath-taking.
Every morning we were greeted by the sun. When you live in a sun deprived country, waking up to clear, blue sky and lots of sunshine is something I've learned to appreciate and savor. This was our view from our hotel in Cal Gonone.
While driving to Cal Gonone, I couldn't help compare the landscape to Southern California. Very dry and arrid.
It took us almost 3 hrs to drive from Cagliari to Cal Gonone.
At certain points the roads were very narrow & quite windy. When we were close to arriving we turned a corner and wow, the ocean came into view.
It was really beautiful.
Once we checked into our hotel, we drove down to the city center and inquired about the boat options. According to the research I did on Cal Gonone, the most beautiful beaches are only accessible by boat. There are tours, taxi's, and of course you can rent your own little boat. Since it's not high season yet the taxi service was only going to Cala Luna. Of course I already made up my mind of what I wanted to do. The idea of choosing which beaches we wanted to visit was very appealing. But S wasn't completely comfortable about renting a boat since... well neither one of us has ever navigated a boat! lol! But everyone assured us that driving the boat would be no problem and because it's so small you don't need a special license to rent the boat. In my mind it was a no brainer. But we didn't make any final decisions that night.
The next morning we ate a wonderful European breakfast by the pool that included prosciutto, a variety of local cheeses, and a delicious range of cakes and pastries. And they also had my favorite.... fresh rocotta drizzled with some local honey. I had to restrain myself from taking the entire bowl to my table and eating it all! lol!
When we got to the port, we went over our options again and Artsy Boy & I pressured convinced S that renting a boat was the way to go! I even said I would drive. I mean how hard could it be if there are so many people who do it! Right? After a short lesson we were off on our adventure!
S did a great job navigating and we were having a great time.
Our plan was to go to the farthest beach and work our way back throughout the day. We didn't have to return the boat until 5:30. But what we thought was Cala Mariolu was actually Cala Luna. When we realized our mistake we laughed how silly we were to think we had already reached the last beach. We were completely disoriented! lol! It's a rather big coast when sprinting along in a little boat. Deciphering which beaches are which was a little confusing since there aren't any signs and it was our first day out. Now if you're looking at a map that would help since the beaches are recognizeable by theire landscape but we were enjoying the scene so much the map got stuffed into a backpack.
S managed to pull the boat into the shore without much difficulty and C & I got out and found a spot on the beach while S took the boat out again.
Cala Luna was beautiful. It's recognizable by its three caves.
C enjoyed exploring the caves. The next beach we visited was a little inlet we found right next to Cala Mariolu.
We spent most of our day on this beach with it's huge boulders and crystal clear water. The boulders reminded me of the beaches S & I visited years ago in Virgin Gorda. Gorgeous! But the boulders in Virgin Gorda are surrounded by colorful tropical fishes.
At this time of the year the water along the Golfo di Orosei is freezing! At least for this grrrl who's used to the beaches in Florida and the Carribbean. lol! C dared me to jump in and when I did I thought I had jumped into ice water. But if you let the sun warm you up sufficiently the water wasn't too cold.
As the day passed, the sun was overtaken by shade so we left in search of a beach with a few more hours of sunshine. And we found it at Cala Sistine. When we arrived there was just one family there.
Poor S, by the time he docked the boat and swam back to shore he was absolutely exhausted! I'll admit the rocks at Cala Sistine were huge and after a day of walking on rocks our feet were screaming. But on the bright side, there was plenty of sunshine and we spent a relaxing time lounging on the beach.
It was about a quarter to five when we decided to leave and by this point we were completely alone. S went out to get the boat and we packed everything up. But when we or I should say S tried to get the boat out far enough to start the engine the waves were so strong it completely washed the boat ashore. And everytime S tried to move the boat the waves pushed it further onto shore. Our little boat kept filling up with water as each current came in. It was awful. I can still see him now using every muscle in his body to move that boat. I'm sure he was thinking, "WHY, Did I agree to this?!" It's funny now but at the time it was a completely different story. I jumped out of the boat and tried to help. After a few minutes we developed a rhythm and were able to get the boat out to shore.
Once we were out on the water the current were so strong that the boat was bouncing like crazy! C & I were hanging on for dear life! At any moment I thought the boat was going to flip over. But thank god, we got back safely. A little tired & beat up but we were safe and happy to be back on land. ;)
