Blog 4: Sulcis and Carloforte

My, my, my.... where to even begin! 

Our first weekend trip was absolutely incredible. We started off strong with the land rover ride - our carpool energy was UNMATCHED. We made our way through 2000s classics (Baby is still stuck in my head), country (Annalisa's fave), Spanish music (thank you Ian!), and more. Here's a pic of the band (first album coming soon):

Voices tired and spirits high, we got off the rovers at our first stop - a mining complex named Montevecchio of the Medio Campidano province in the Arbus/Piscinas area. This complex was central to mining in south-west Sardinia, and is now a UNESCO world heritage site. We got a glimpse of the mining lifestyle (the 6-person lift system, the tools involved, the minerals - lead and silver - in demand, the associated dangers, and more). Then we channeled our inner 7 dwarves/District 12/Minecraft energy, donned our hard hats, and ventured down into the mines to explore:

After our underground adventure, we hopped back in the rovers for more tunes (lots of Bruno Mars in the queue), winding roads, and gorgeous views to head to the Piscinas dunes - the largest sand dunes in Europe! We had lunch (spritzes + some lovely fruit and salad), then I went for a swim in the beautiful blue waters. The beach stretched for a long time, so a few of the girls and I ventured further down for some peaceful floating in the water. We ended the beach trip off with some ice cream before starting the karaoke up again:)

Next up was an Agriturismo named "La Quercia," one of the first family-run farmhouses in the area. We met Carletto the goat, climbed into the treehouse, and then headed into the ristorante for an incredible meal. We became certified master chefs (learned how they make pasta dough, and shaped it with a basket, paddle, grater, or fork) and also made our own desserts- here we are hard at work:

The (5 course?) dinner that followed was amazing: excellent wine; bread; locally produced cheese, meat, and veggies; our pasta with a yummy sauce; cheesy-lemon-honey desserts; and limoncello to finish it all off. I said good night to Carletto and the stars, then went to sleep quite full and satisfied:)

The next morning I had another yummy meal (croissant, yogurt with jam, and juice) before traveling to our next site: Fluminimaggiore and the cave of Su Mannau. We ventured underground again to see the continually growing calcereous formations, and (unfortunately) avoided any tiny Sardinian bats along the way:

Then it was back into the rovers and off to Ristorante Bar L'Ancora along the coast for our next incredible meal. We enjoyed a sea view while tasting lots of fresh fish dishes - sardines, calamari, mussels, tuna, and more! We walked down to the water to take in the view before heading to our next destination:

We drove to Portovesme to board the ferry to the Island of San Peter and the town of Carloforte. Along the way, we stopped to take pictures of Pan di Zucchero ("sugarloaf"). Here are pictures of Pan di Zucchero and the view from the ferry:

After settling into our hotel in Carloforte, we drove across the island (more car jams and winding roads) to catch the sunset on the western side, overlooking the lighthouse of Capo Sandalo (and pet the cats in the parking lot):

I would have been perfectly happy with our day at that point, but it still had even more to give! We finished off the night with a phenomenal dinner at Al Tonno di Corsa, a Michelin-recommended (!!) restaurant in Carloforte.( And, oh boy, could I taste it!) I skipped bread (a lesson I've learned well by this point in the trip) to enjoy antipasti (a platter of 5 different tuna dishes, accompanied by cous-cous and cappunadda), primi piatti (incredible pasta and a bean soup), secondi piatti (tuna filet), and finally dessert (lemon sorbet). The staff were absolutely delightful, and I felt bad that I couldn't finish most of my plates of delicious food. We walked back to the hotel, then I went for night walk around town and down the dock with a few other people - the perfect way to relieve some of my food baby and end the night:

The next day, we enjoyed the view from the top of our hotel at breakfast, then toured the town of Carloforte. Our tour guide, Natalia, was a tad unhinged but entertaining, and assigned us all parts to play in reenacting the history of Carloforte (see Ian aka Napoleon):

Perhaps my favorite part of the weekend (hard to choose!) was hiking to volcanic pools near Piscine Natural di Nasca. I had an amazing time climbing down to the water, jumping in, swimming through to the ocean, and embracing my inner mermaid:

Our last beach of the weekend was Spiggia La Bobba, near the southern tip of Isola di San Pietro. We had a lunch of salad, sandwiches, carrots, and fruit with a view of the water. I swam to the rocks and caves for some exploring on both sides of the beach, and spent the rest of the time floating in the beautiful blue water:

We finished off our time in Carloforte with some amazing gelato, took the ferry back to mainland Sardinia, enjoyed one last rover ride, then bid farewell to the drivers (and I'm sure all settled in for a good night of sleep). It's hard to sum up such a great experience in a few words, so thanks for ready the far-more-than-a-few I settled on!

Ciao, Annie