Thursday 11th July 2019 We were misinformed about Olbia as the books and on-line travel guides we consulted all said there was little to see. Consequently we stayed at our hotel and enjoyed the pool and the sunshine in the morning savouring a welcome moment of relaxation. However, when we did head down to the town in preparation for our overnight ferry, we found that it was really a very pleasant city and we could have spent more time there. Despite Matilda’s stern expression, the ferry was very comfortable and. . . . . .the view as we left the harbour around sun set was beautiful. We have enjoyed spotting the Disney characters painted on the ships in various ports during this trip: they are a feature of the Moby Line and we assume that they are also used for Disney cruises. We arrived in Genoa early in the morning and although we were slightly delayed, entering the old port past pleasure cruisers, industrial vessels and the ancient lighthouse – the Lanterna di Genoa – was a treat. We had seen it before but the Batman artwork has been a particular favourite on this trip. And Wonder Woman always deserves […]
Sardinia
Tuesday 9th to Wednesday 10th July 2010 From Sassari we travelled south by train almost the length of Sardinia to its capital city, Cagliari. Even though we have had to use buses for some of our trip, Robert was pleased to be greeted at the station by the sight of a stream train. We found our hotel was closer to the airport than the centre and there are many hills and steep gradients in the city, but having taken a taxi to the hotel we found that, happily, they are not outrageously expensive. The hotel provided us with a map which included a walking route past many of the major sights. Despite the cloud cover it was still oppressively hot and we decided to take a taxi to the centre to get our bearings and after a stroll around, we found the Antico Caffe, with a fine view of the Bastione San Remy and tasty snacks to accompany our chilled beer. Whilst there, we experienced a little light rainfall. On Wednesday, having seen the topography of the city and the number of steps and steep streets as well as noting that three lifts had been installed around the Bastione San […]
Monday 8th July 2019 The day started with what should have been a train journey from Alghero to Sassari, but no, we had another bus replacement service. I seems as though the narrow gauge railway is closed so that they can replace it with a tram service. Sassari is the second city – or as some might say – Sardinia’s equivalent to Birmingham. On arriving in Sassari we walked in 36ºC heat [almost 97ºF] to our hotel. Google maps said it was a seven minute walk but it took significantly longer than that and was most definitely not “mostly flat” as claimed. Sassari was a stop-over for us rather than a destination in its own right on our itinerary but despite the heat, Matilda insisted on going out to see the Piazza Duomo and the cathedral which is dedicated to Saint Nicholas. We passed through Piazza d’Italia . . . . . . where the arched porticoes reminded us of an enjoyable trip to Turin and recreating scenes from the film The Italian Job. Then on to the cathedral. The cathedral appears bright in the sunshine with clean almost modernist lines from the direction we approached and looks as though […]
Saturday 6th to Sunday 7th July 2019 Although we could hear the Friday night revelling from our hotel room, it was not as loud as we had feared when the receptionist warned us and happily neither of us had recourse to the earplugs which had been provided. As we walked back along the marina to catch the ferry to Sardinia, staff on the more luxurious yachts were polishing the chrome and hosing down the decks whilst chefs were negotiating with local suppliers for fresh produce to be delivered. Unlikely as it is, if we ever have that sort of money we have promised ourselves we will return to Bonifacio on a luxury yacht. Regular ferries run between Bonifacio to Santa Teresa di Gallura on the northern tip of Sardinia and take about an hour. From here we were scheduled to catch a bus to Sassari and then a narrow gauge train to Alghero. Having taken the indirect route up to the bus station, a bus to Sassari was pulling out just as we arrived. The very accommodating driver allowed himself to be flagged down and accosted in pigeon Italian [unspoken ‘O’ level Latin] and agreed to let us put our […]