Sunday at the beach

We took advantage of our Westerly resident parking pass to enjoy a walk on East beach. It was a misty but quiet time to get Zealand out for a run. We have been avoiding the woods since Zealand got a Lyme disease a month ago. The beach is a pretty good alternative!

Sa Perda Pera (Sardinia)

On our last day in Sardinia we decided to head back to the coast for one last 'hike by the sea'.

It was going to be a very hot day, so we left early in the morning.  It took a while to find the trail-head, but then the route-finding was easy.  The path followed a well beaten track up from the coast to a high point with spectacular views to the north and south along the coast.  The route ended with a short road-walk and we were pleased to find an open cafe by the beach when we got back to our car.

A lovely finish to our wonderful relaxing vacation in Sardinia!

Ulassai (Sardinia)

After several days of long drives to see the sights we were pleased to finally have a destination closer to our Air-B-n-B house.  We decided to go to the town of Ulassai and hike along a loop trail that would give us good views and interesting sights.

The trail started in town and headed up to a small gorge where the locals had created an outdoor climbing venue for top-roping just a short distance from the town-center.  The trail then explored some lovely pine woods and eventually wound its way up to a summit with a wonderful view down into the town.  Finally, the path took us back down to where we had started.  We arrived just in time for gelato and espresso...

The impressive town of Ulassai

The gorge just outside of town (with plenty of climbing options)

Native flowers

Rosemary growing wild and in flower

On the trail again

Views from the top

Looking back towards town and the climbing gorge just behind

A well marked trail

Back in town in time for gelato and espresso

Tiscali (Sardinia)

The destination for our next day's adventure was a bronze-age settlement in a big limestone cave called Tiscali.

To get there we had to navigate around several closed roads and drive along some improbable dirt tracks in our rental car.  Then we had to hike up to an enormous cave at the top of a very steep limestone cliff.

It was great adventure and the weather was warm and dry.  We saw lots of wild flowers and even managed to stop on the way home for gelato and espresso!

Orgosolo (Sardinia)

The next day we made a much longer drive to visit the town of Orgosolo.  This town is famous for its murals which have been painted ever since the 1960's.

Many of the murals have an anti-war sentiment, and they are both colorful and creative. They are all over the town and can be seen best by simply wandering around at random amongst the old buildings of this mountain town.

At the end of the day we stopped for gelato and espresso, and enjoyed watching the world go by.

Gola di Gorropu (Sardinia)

After a week of hiking in Sardinia we still had another week to explore the island.  We started out with a trip to the Gola di Gorropu, which is a natural limestone gorge to the north-west of where we had been hiking.  

The drive to the gorge was breathtaking with many steep mountain passes and narrow roads, and the last few miles required us to hike down to the gorge by foot.  The water level was quite high so in places we had to wade along the path in the gorge and the water was very, very cold!

On our way home we stopped at the town of Urzulei where we wandered around for a few hours.  The mountain town had some great old buildings and a few impressive murals of life in the hinterland of Sardinia.

An old shepherds hut

Approaching the gorge from above

In the gorge

Icy cold water

Time to wade

A home in Urzulei

 

Murals in Urzulei