Ciao, For Now

During our last full day in Sardinia we made the long drive from Cagliari, which is far in the south, all the way up the east coast back to Olbia. Along the way we passed through the mountainous regions, even catching glimpses of snow-capped peaks in the center of the island. The road, known as l’Orientale, also took us through some incredible towns that seemed to barely cling to the sides of the mountains, where the side streets were pericolosissimi–not only was there barely enough room for one little Fiat on the two-way streets (which people natually parked on anyway), but they twisted around blind curves, and were unbelievably steep. One such town we drove through was Orgosolo, famous for its beautiful and fascinating murals, many of which comment on life in Sardinia.

welcome to Orgosolo

welcome to Orgosolo

Olbia, when we finally arrived, was much more charming than my guidebooks had made it sound, but was another town that I could tell would be unpleasantly swarming with tourists in the summer (and way out of my price range, since it’s close to the posh Costa Smeralda resort area). Now, during the off-season, it was calm and pretty, perfect for window-shopping in the expensive stores, and wandering down the quiet alleyways and along the shore.

Olbia in the morning

I felt like we had just arrived, and it was hard to give up the keys to the rental car, but soon we were landing again in freezing Milan, after having enjoyed the mild weather of the Mediterranean (it was in the 60s for most of the week). During the last 15 hours in Milano, we toured La Scala opera house, and wandered around the fashion district a bit, returning to our new favorite Asian-run Italian restaurant for one last pizza. I’ll be back before long though…I’m returning to la bell’Italia with my Italian Slow Food seminar in just two weeks! We’ll be leaving on the 21st of January, and I’m looking forward to seeing Milan again, as well as journeying on to Bologna and Naples…so look forward to more blogging coming soon! I’m in the process of adding the most recent trip photos to my Shutterfly site, so continue to check back for a closer look.

Buon 2010

a Milan office building wishing a happy new year

Update: As of the evening of Jan. 8, the new album is all up.  Enjoy!

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One Response to Ciao, For Now

  1. lostandfoundinfrance says:

    Looks like your trip was amazing! And I especially love the little hitchhiker puppy dog. Ciao Bella!