Onwards to Alghero

It was a calm morning after the previous day’s choppiness and crystal clear waters greeted us as we dropped the lines from the buoy and set off.

We headed round the stunning island in lovely conditions (for everything other than sailing) and followed the coastline back towards Alghero. We found the cardinal buoys that had eluded us on the way here, marking the natural park zones. We had watched them being towed out of the harbour in Cala Oliva (see a previous blog) and it was nice to see them in place – exactly where we expected to 😉    When we crossed from Menorca we had been to a marina across the bay from the town of Alghero.  This time we were heading for the town itself and a marina that had been recommended to us called Ser – Mar.  Before we could get there we had to negotiate more pots (a bit more sporadic this trip but it meant we had to be on high alert watch all the time).  We took it in turns on the helm and managed to motor sail with low engine revs for most of the afternoon.  We actually made better progress than we thought and arrived on berth about 5pm.

A couple of messages later and Skipper Nigel and I were manically showering and trying to look remotely presentable as our friends from Hoopla, Karen and Robert were coming to visit.  It was very much a one night only opportunity since they were leaving the next day (their boat was in Fertilia, just across the bay from here).  They had very kindly offered to take the bus and come to see us – which we were very happy about, after our early start we weren’t really in a fit state to leave Gemini J.  Two melons, a bottle of frizzante and some Sardinian ham later we had to say goodbye.  We all wished each other well for our onwards journey – Hoopla round Sardinia the way we had been and us back to the Balearics.  It was fabulous to see them and catch up and I’m sure there will be lots more wonderful stories when we all arrive back in Cartagena after the summer.

The next day I went for an early morning explore and found another delightful walled town. This time with a great walk along the walls protecting it – about 3 kilometres (and back). In the afternoon I went into the old town which was fairly quaint and old (like the others we’ve visited) but a lovely pedestrian area makes it really nice to wander about.

The following day, and indeed for the weekend we hired a car ….. not just any car, a smart car !! We needed something easy to park as it’s busy here now but as it turned out it was small, automatic and not the most comfortable car we’ve ever been in. We weren’t sure if Skipper Nigel would even fit into it but actually it was really quite roomy inside and we had no problems on that score. The first job was to go to the chandlery, Skipper Nigel’s favourite shop of course;-) a few euros and a full shopping bag later we were having coffee at the “cake café” – latte machiatto is just the thing for us.

We took a lovely drive out towards Cabo Coppia and found fabulous views and a gorgeous little Italian restaurant for lunch. We enjoyed our spaghetti very much and the shaded terrace was a lovely spot, because it wasn’t directly on the sea front it wasn’t too crowded either. One this we have found here in Sardinia is that very few people speak any English so we have been getting by on an amusing combination of Spanish, French (which lots of people speak) and Google translate. It’s great fun and so far no real disasters…..

The following day we tried for more of the same driving southwards ….we drove and drove and drove along another stunning coastal road but there were no delightful cafés, no quick pit stops in fact there was nothing except stunning views!!! Perhaps we should have done a little more research but when the only bar we came to was closed for a private party we admitted defeat and headed back to Alghero for a coffee and snack. It was a very nice morning – just not quite the one we had in mind. That afternoon we did another expensive fuel run and got all our containers filled back up ready for the crossing to Menorca.

Monday morning came and it was time to say goodbye to the smart car – but not before we did a full re-stock of Gemini J and another trip to the chandlery – this time for a fender that we will use as a step for our dinghy. (If you read the previous blog you might remember the troubles Skipper Nigel had getting back aboard after snorkeling;-)). The smart car had been fun and we certainly took it on a little adventure……

And just like that we’re almost at the end of our Sardinian travels – not without a final few bike photos from Alghero town after another wander. I am assuming the Grio de Italia bike race must have come here sometime. Oh and I just had to have an ice cream (which was as good as it looks) 😉

It would not be our final night in Sardinia without some of the typical cuisine from here. Tomorrow onwards and hopefully all the way back to Menorca.