Frank, Lucy and Holly escaped England for a few days to Sardinia, Italy. They were looking for sunshine, cheap wine and strong expressos. We were not disappointed!
We flew into Alghero on the north east coast. It is a historic port for the island and retains much of the original defense walls and narrow cobbled streets in the old town. The cannos are fairly old as well - but they dont work anymore! Just outside the walls on the headland we discovered a cat colony - obviously well fed and looked after in a sheltered area where they could worship the sun out of the wind.
Part of the appeal of going to Sardinia was the evidence of ancient civilisation all over the island. The Nuraghe people are believed to have lived between 5-3000 BCE. They built towers called nuraghe all over the island, usually on hill tops. That meant they were in hailing or smoke signal distance from each other. That also meant that it was pretty chilly for the people living around them so they dug their living quarters into the hill and built up around them. Despite the January wind, rain and general chill, it was really quite warm and pleasant inside these little caves, and would have been even better with a few animal skins hanging in the doorway.
Life got even colder when we went up the highest mountain on the island seeking the place from where you can see 360°. We had to stop halfway because the road was deep with snow. It was still a fabulous view from our slightly less elevated position despite the goes-straight-through-you wind!
Palmavera is the remains of one of the earliest era villages. The round stone huts are all clustered around the central nuraghe. It was our last day and we enjoyed the sunshine in the village meeting house with it’s thoughtfully provided benches.
Click on any of the thumbnails below to see the photo album for this holiday.
