Sardinia, I Want to Return!

Our port of call before Olbia in Sardinia was Sorrento.  I was feeling tired and, as I had visited Sorrento several times before, I decided to take a vacation from my vacation.  Pretty pathetic, eh!  The next day we docked in Olbia.  Coming into the harbour, we passed lots of "shellfish farms".  

The pilot boat arriving

I had booked in independent tour with Viator called Small Group:  Costa Smeralda, Porto Cervo, San Pantaleo.  And, it really was a small group, just three of us plus the guide in a very comfortable Range Rover.  We left the port just before 10 and headed toward the Smeralda Coast (Emerald Coast).  The scenery was spectacular - amazing rock formations and coastline.  The first stop was Porto Rotondo which our guide, Luca, told us was a Venetian harbour because of its shape.  Not sure I quite understood that.  However, it was a pretty village with a lovely private church that was owned by a Muslim even though it is a Christian church. Much of the glass in it - windows and statues inside are made with Murano glass.  There was also a little bridge that was a bit like the Accademia in Venice.  What was quite unique was the cobble-stoned street running up from the harbour.  The stones at the bottom were arranged like the sea, then a beach and then lots of fish designs starting with small fish and, as we walked up the hill,  the fish became bigger until they were sharks.  Luca explained it was depicting the food chain.  It was very clever.

From there, our next stop was a picturesque village called San Pantaleo.  There were some charming buildings and an old church.

Next, we headed for the coast but first with a stop in Arzachena.  Quite frankly, I did quite get why we were stopping here.  It looked like a typical Italian village to me.  Terra cotta rooftops, cobblestoned streets and steps going up and down.  When I looked at that staircase, I told Luca there was no way I could manage it so he drove me to the bottom while Laura and Bob, the couple on the tour with me, decided to walk.

However, when Luca dropped me at the bottom, it became quite clear why we were here.  The staircase is an art installation and it changes regularly.  Luca showed us some previous renditions and they looked amazing but so did the one in front of us. As we left the village, we got a glimpse of one of the many rock formations around here.  There are even some houses made in caves.  I didn't really get the chance to take as many photos of the landscape as I'd have liked.  

Then, we reached the coast with our first stop being Baja Sardinia, an absolutely stunning beach overlooked by some beautiful hotels.  We stopped there briefly and I sat, admiring the view sipping a limoncello spritzer.  

Our last stop was Porto Cervo and, on the way there, we saw more of the rocky geography of this island.  Porto Cervo which was created by a group of foreign investors around the early 1960s,  It is the main centre of Costa Smeralda.  It has a resident population of 421 inhabitants and has been named one of the most expensive resorts in the world, along with being a luxury yacht magnet and billionaires' playground.  While some of the homes looked quite spectacular as we drove down into the port, I am not sure I agreed it was quite as fabulous but that was just my perspective.  However, it had been a long day and it was already 3 pm so maybe I was just tired.  We were starting to want to head back to the ship. 

It had been a wonderful tour, Luca was great, and I am certain I'd love to return to this island and see more of it.  Back on the ship, we had to get ready for White Night.