Our destination today was Baunei
A dull, drizzly day, which is very unusual for a Sardinian summer, but it was an advantage for us as Paola is beginning her tour of the island with us, driving us in her car.
We headed up the east of the island up the Villasimius coast. Beautiful beaches, watchtowers from the 15th century to warn the towns of the arrival of Tunisian or Turkish pirates and lighthouses.
Cottages along the coast with accompanying prickly pear.
Villasimius township - tourist central - stop for a coffee and obligatory pastry. An elaborate cake selection.
Then the rain set in so we abandoned driving on minor flooding roads and headed back to the highway.
Lunch in the town of Tortolí.
Lunch in the town of Tortolí.
At Paola’s suggestion we had Culurgiones all’ ogliastrina. Gnocchi with potato filling in a tomato sauce and grated pecorino.
Near the town of Trieí there was a Bronze Age tomb, set in a field, with stones set up like a stone circle as in the UK.
Trieí, a town up in the hills, with a tradition of murals depicting Sardinian village life.
Santa Maria Navarrese is another coastal town with a beach and attractive coastline. It also has ancient white olive tree in the grounds of the simple stone church. Across from the church is a large rock with cup shapes ground into the top. This has been dated back to the Bronze Age.
Tonight we are staying in Baunei, the town where Paola was born. It is perched high above Santa Maria Navarrese and sits like one of the French balcony villages in the Alpes Maritimes. It has an international reputation of being one of only five communities in the world considered being in a Blue Zone because it has one of the highest percentages of male centenarians.
Tonight we are staying at Hotel Goloritzé, even higher up the mountain. A long climb for our dinner tonight lower in the town.
Found a little hip cafe for dinner amongst all the sports bars. Seafood poke bowl and a gourmet burger for us.
M&M
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