CUADERNO DE VIAJE CERDEÑA 1 {TRAVEL NOTEBOOK SARDINIA 1}

AGOSTO 2017


Recorridos 1 y 2

1. Routes 1 and 2

Me encanta volver a recordar los lugares que he visitado cuando he salido de mi ciudad, como os digo siempre está bien disfrutar el pre, el durante y el después. Os voy a enseñar un poquito de Cerdeña, siempre te quedas con ganas de mas, de que podría haber hecho esto y no aquello, pero han sido unos días maravillosos, con un calor sofocante, eso sí, pero lo volvería a repetir sin ninguna duda. Nuestro primer recorrido por la isla fue el trayecto en un coche de alquiler desde el aeropuerto de Olbia en el norte hasta nuestro hotel en la costa centro oeste. Duró unas 2 horas aproximadamente con una parada para comer en Nuoro donde empezamos degustando la cocina Sarda que tanto hemos disfrutado en este viaje.

1. It´s cool to remember those places you´ve been to specially out of your city, and as I always repeat, it´s nice to enjoy the pre holidays, the during and the post. I´m going to show you a bit of the Sardinia I´ve visited, well you always come back thinking you should have visited this instead of that and that you wanted more, but believe me, I´m not going to change anything we´ve seen and I would repeat this holidays with my eyes closed, no doubt. Our first route was the one we took after we rented a car on our way to our hotel from Olbia airport in the north of the Island, towards our hotel located on the west coast. It lasted 2 hours, more or less, with a long stop for lunch where we started to try Sarda cuisine, which we have really enjoyed during this trip.

Nos instalamos en el hotel en San Vero Milis, que es un pequeño municipio situado en la provincia de Oristano en Cerdeña, a unos 20 kilómetros.

1. We checked in our hotel in San Vero Milis, a small comune {municipality}in the Province of Oristano in the italian region of Sardinia, 20 km away from our hotel.

La verdad es que cuando llegamos nos parecía que estábamos solos en medio del campo, no había nada alrededor de nuestro hotel, pero para el segundo día nos dimos cuenta de que estar en Cerdeña y sobre todo en esa zona que por cierto nos recomendaron mis vecinos, fué un lujazo. En temporada alta los puntos mas conocidos de la isla, sobre todo en el norte son imposibles. Hacía muchísimo calor, aquí todo el mundo se mueve por la noche, durante el día descanso, lectura, playa o trayectos en coche.

1. The truth is that when we arrived there, we thought we were in the middle of the countryside, in the middle of nowhere, but later on we realised that to be in Sardinia and at that area, recommended by my neighbours was the best option. During the summer, the most famous spots in the island, most of them in the north are impossible. It was really hot and there was nobody in the streets during the day but at night. Travelling by car, swim in any of the awesome beaches around, reading or ease in relaxation mode was the best we could do during the day.

Oristano se localiza en el centro de la isla, a la altura de la península de Sinis. Está rodeada de lagunas y muy cerca del mar, por lo que se pueden visitar las diferentes playas y calas de alrededor. Es bastante grande y en la época medieval tenía murallas defensivas que recorrían toda la ciudad, y que fué destruída al final del siglo XIX. Es una obligación visitar la Catedral de Santa María, la Catedral mas grande de Cerdeña fundada en el siglo XII.

1. Oristano is located in the centre of the island, in the Sinis península. surrounded by lagoons and very very close to the sea, so it was the best option to visit the different beaches and hidden coves. It´s quite big and in acent years there was a defensive wall around the city, destroyed in the end of 19th century. It´s a must to visit the Duomo, the biggest Cathedral in Cerdeña, founded in the 12th century.

1. Centre of Oristano. Piazza Eleanora and Statue of Eleanora D´Arborea

1. The Tower of Mariano II marks the beginning of the pedestrian street in the centre. More here

1. Route 2, another day

1. From Is Benas in San Vero Milis towards Alghero, a 2 hours route. Motorways are fast and connecting major cities, well this one was free but horrible. It was hard to find a place to park but we were lucky to find one close to the old part of the city. I personally think they are much more interesting.

1. Alghero is one of the most beautiful cities of Sardinia, at least for me. The medieval area of the city walls. The part facing the sea has a beautiful port from the 13th century which was fortified to defend the city of invasions coming from the sea. The old town is known as La Barceloneta. We love to hang-dry our laundry outside in the warm sunshine. Quaint town squares and narrow cobbled streets slope down towards the bay and sandy beaches. Many of the inhabitants are descendents of medieval Catalan conquerors and so Catalan is one of the official languages and the culture and architecture has Catalan overtones.

1. The possibility of going on excursions during the day when we were in Sardinia was a highlight for us, the proximity of all the interesting places made it easy as we were able to visit them in a few days. Alghero of course is a city nobody should miss.

Con el calor que hacía y que no estaba para pasear, decidimos montarnos en un barco para ir a visitar las cuevas, entre otras la cueva de Neptuno. Es curioso esto de la cueva de Neptuno, también tenemos una en Cartagena. El viaje fué muy agradable, por un par de horas dejamos de estar sofocados por el calor. El paseo por la cueva me recordó a aquel de la cueva de los verdes en Lanzarote y las del Drach en Mallorca, pero el paseo y las vistas merecieron la pena. Así que después de comer, nos fuímos al puerto.
Antes del paseo comimos en Alghero aquí

1. It was so hot and obviously not to have a walk tour, that we decided to go on a ship tour to visit the caves, including the Neptune´s cave. It´s funny about Neptune´s cave, we have one in Spain, in Cartagena. The trip was good, really good and for two hours we left the high temperatures behind. The walking tour inside the cave reminded me of that in Lanzarote in La Cueva de los Verdes or Drach caves in Mallorca, but we really enjoyed it and it was worth it. So after lunch, we headed to the port. 
2. Restaurant in Alghero here

Las cuevas de Neptuno no solo son las más famosas sino las más grandes. se extienden unos 4 kilómetros, pero por razones de seguridad los visitantes acceden solo a una parte importante de la cueva. Se puede ir por barco, pero si alguien se quiere animar, se puede ir en bus o en coche hasta Cabo Caccia y bajar las 656 escaleras que luego habrá que volver a subir. Es maravilloso poder admirar durante 20 minutos un paisaje único de colores y olores de este mar tan precioso. Mas sobre la gruta aquí. Los delfines nos acompañaron en el trayecto.

1. The Neptune´s caves are not only the most famous ones but also the largest ones. They extend for about 4 km, but for safety reasons, visitors can access only to a part of them. You can go there by boat but also with the bus or car and until Cabo Caccia and then go down the 656 stairs that take you to the cave, but don´t forget you have to go up again afterwards. It´s awesome to be able to admire the unique sight of colours and scents of the untouched sea. More about Neptune´s cave in here. Dolphins swam close to us during our boat ride.

El trayecto y la visita duran en total unas 2 horas y media.

1. The trip to the cave and the visit takes about 2 hours and a half.

Volvimos hacia el coche, parando a tomar algo de beber y sacando fotos.

1. We went back to our car, taking it easy and stopping by to have something to drink and of course, to take some pictures of the view.

La verdad es que nos gustó Alghero muchísimo.

1. The truth is that we are fond of Alghero since the visit.

Otros lugares de interes en Alghero para hacer visitas de un día son El Museo casa Manno, el Museo Diocesano y la Chiesa de San Miguel, todos estos puntos de interés, localizados en el centro histórico de la ciudad Sarda y muy cerca de la Catedral de Santa María. Terminamos nuestro día con un trayecto de vuelta por la carretera de la costa. Las vistas impresionantes. Pasamos por Bosa por segunda vez porque ya estuvimos el día anterior en la playa, pero de playas escribiré en otro post. La puesta de sol fué espectacular.

1. Another interesting sites in Alghero to complete a one day tour would be Museo casa Manno, Museo Diocesano and Chiesa San Miguel, all located in the historic center of the Sardinia city, very close to the Santa Maria Cathedral. We ended up driving along the coast to go back to the hotel, the view was awesome. We stopped in Bosa to take a bite, it was our second time in Bosa because the day before we spent the day at the beach there, but I´ll write about beaches in some other post. I can´t describe the sunset there. Simply gorgeous.

Situada sobre una pequeña colina, Bosa es un ejemplo único para Cerdeña de una ciudad edificada junto al estuario de un río. Pero hablare de Bosa en otro momento también.

1. Located on a small hill, Bosa is a clear and unique sample for Sardinia, situated about two-thirds of the way up the west coast of Sardinia, next to a coastal river estuary. I´ll write about Bosa some other time.

¡LISTO! / DONE!