Blog Sardinia

It was Easter Monday and we left Cagliari to Stintino for a couple of days visit of the Asinara Island and Castelsardo. Unfortunately, despite having had an amazing April the weather changed and the rain decided to come down..

It normally takes about three hours to get to Stintino but it took an extra 30 minutes for us, as we travelled with two young kids. We stopped in Sardara on the way, to pick our friends up. It was a shame that we did not have time to visit this really pretty village or to take a SPA in its famous historic venue – we had our Easter Monday lunch booked at the Farmhouse we chose for the overnight in Stintino. We stopped again at the Tramatza Autogrill for a coffee and a quick wee and off we went.

"Agriturismo Palmas"

Stintino is pretty easy to reach although the “Palmas” Agriturismo (farmhouse) was not so well indicated and we had to call them up for extra directions. At the end we found it. It is at the top of a hill two kms before the village. We could admire the coastline from there but the day was so grey that cows and horses wandering around the Agriturismo seemed a much more interesting attraction to have a look at.

We were hungry and decided to eat before even checking in. The dining area was welcoming and pretty crowded with locals. We were given a nice table. Drinks and starters (mushrooms, cards, cheeses and hams) came soon after. If you have eaten in an Agriturismo before, you would know that you do not pick from a menu but you are given what is available on the day. In this case we had two kind of pasta, “Malloreddusu” and delicious ravioli filled with ricotta cheese, then roasted suckling piglet & lamb, potatos, crudities, Sardinian sweets, liquors. Everything was so tasty and freshly made and we were stuffed by the end.

Stintino - Pelosa Beach by Blog-Sardinia

It was about 4 PM by the time we finished lunch and decided to check-in, before visiting Stintino. We went for a walk to the popular beach of la Pelosa, the pride of Stintino. It only took us 10 minutes to reach it by car. It was incredible, despite the gloomy day the sea still looked cobalt blue. A Spanish Tower on a close islet made the place even more charming. We were not lucky though, it started to rain cats and dogs and we had rush to the cars.

We were tired and disappointed, so we just entered a little shop to buy some groceries for our pick-nik to the Asinara Island the next day. The shop ripped us off. 25 euros for some ham, tomatos, bread & cheese slices and four cans of beer. Ridiculous!

Here we were again, at the Palmas. All rooms were on a detached new building, they were simple but spotless (although our materass was not comfortable at all). The staff was really kind and they agreed to add an extra bed for our child at no extra cost. We were not even charged for his meal.

We woke up pretty early the next day. When I opened the window I saw a cow staring at me from a close distance and maybe thinking I was invading its space. I was relieved to see that the weather was improving.

We knew we could not depart from Stintino on the touristic ferry as this did not reach the minimum number of passengers to depart, so we planned to reach Porto Torres and leave from there with the regular ferry service. The Agriturismo would not serve breakfast before 9 AM so we left early hoping to get a coffee and a pastry at the pier. It takes about 30 minutes to get to Porto Torres from Stintino but we did not find our ferry departure point so easily and we reached it just on time. What it looked to be the ticket office was closed and therefore we asked the ferry crew for advice. They told us to come on board, we would have paid there.

All fine then, but things looked really weird on the ferry. There were not many people at all. Ten minutes later the captain came to us to say that there was a forecast of strong winds for the afternoon. It was likely that the ferry would not come back later to pick us up. The ferry was too small and too flat and he did not feel like risking it. We would arrive at 10.30 and as we were travelling with kids he suggested we would come back with the same ferry at 11.00. We were otherwise going to be the only people on the island. Even the only hostel available for an overnight was closed, as the staff did not travel to the island because they had not bookings for the night. The captain had apparently called the ticket office to let everybody know… disaster! We were furious.

Asinara Island by Blog-Sardinia

I went outside for a walk, the sea was calm, the sky opened up and sun was shining – there was not any wind at all. The kids were having fun on the ferry but I thought that we had waisted our morning on a silly ferry for nothing. How could it be possible to use such a thing to cover a regular route on a normally rough stretch of sea? A mystery to me..
As we approached the island I felt like reaching a little paradise, so quiet, so lovely, so remote. Old fascinating buildings nicely reconverted for tourist purposes which we could not visit. We walked away from the harbour towards the beach through fields covered on lovely flowers and we were lucky enough to meet the symbol of this island: the small white donkeys. We came really close to them and took some pictures as they did not seem to care. And this was all we could see on the Asinara Park where for 30 minutes we were the only humans on land.

Back on the ferry, we had an early lunch with our expensive ham and sandwiches. By 12.30 we were in Porto Torres again..what next? Well, a coffee first, then we decided to go towards Castelsardo and visit the Elephant Rock, “la Roccia dell’Elefante”. The children got asleep as we travelled towards this site on the SS134 road.

Roccia dell'Elefante by Blog-Sardinia

The rock and its setting are both amazing. A big rock, elephant shaped by nature and standing on the border of the road that runs along a beautiful green valley. It looks exactly like an Elephant, amazing. But this is not all. The Elephant rock is also what Sardinians call a Domus the Janas ” a Fairy House. Inside, there are several little rooms with some graffiti that go back to the neuragic times. They had probably been used as a burial site thousands of years before Christ. We were intrigued and amazed.

We decided to go for a walk and visit Sedini and this was also an unexpected wonder. Sedini is a tiny village built on rocks with some houses actually digged inside the rocks. The most spectacular one is a very ancient Domus de Janas that goes back to 3000 years b.c. when it was probably a sacred and burial site. Over the last centuries was used as an animal stall, shop, party headquarters, house. Today it hosts a very fascinating museum.

Domus de Janas, Sedini by Blog-Sardinia

We were lucky enough to find it open as there was a group visiting (normally it needs to be pre-booked to visit). We explored it all with huge interest and surprise – we really loved it. We also went for a walk around the village and visited some of the pretty country churches around it. All worth it.

At night, Francesca prepared a delicious soup for us. We also ate some boiled meat and wild boar stew, salad, cheeses and homemade sweets. She ate the same with her family sitting on a table next to us and we had a long chat after dinner.
We slept beautifully that night. In the morning Francesca’s mother made us breakfast and later we visited the pretty church near the Agriturismo. Finally we left for Castelsardo.

Castelsardo by Blog-Sardinia

Castlesardo is a medieval town built on a promontory. It is a bit of a hard work to get up to the top of the Castle by foot, so we looked for a free and nearby car park. We managed to get one at midway and we walked through the tiny narrow streets to reach the Castle. The view from there was great.

The entrance fee was very cheap. The castle is small and a museum of Sardinian traditional frail art-craft takes place there. I found it interesting, although I would have maybe liked to know more about the history of the castle itself. Lots of beautiful churches, the cathedral, traditional shops, and tiny restaurants are also around. It got very hot and although we were very temped to sit in a restaurant and have lunch taking advantage of one of the inviting and cheap set menus, at the end we decided to get a sandwich and drive to the closest beach for a bit of sunbath before heading back to Cagliari.

It was fun at the end!

So now, let me tell you about my last experience in an AUTHENTIC farmhouse that we visited last summer on our journey back from Cala Gonone to Cagliari.

After eating lovely seafood for three days, I was  really ready for some MEAT!  We were recommended the Agriturismo PAULES near Dorgali/Orosei. Although it was not really on our way we decided to make an effort to get there .  We gave them a call  to advise that we were coming and the owner kindly explained us the best way to get to them.

I must say that the journey was not as easy as we had assumed, and the road direction boards were just terrible, but eventually we got there in just over half an hour.

It was an extremely hot day and so sunny that we could barely keep our eyes open.  Towards the end of our journey we drove through a little alley and finally got to the farm. We spotted some trees that offered a little shadow where to park our cars and prevent the wheels from melting! The hit was so unbearable that despite seeing cute donkeys waiting for some kind of greeting, we rushed into the farmhouse desperate for air conditioning and a shed on our head.

The place looked very welcoming and full of atmosphere. Ancient farm tools, traditional Sardinian carpets, black and white pictures and thick wooden chairs and square tables. There was a group of people already sitting down. We were welcomed straight away and offered a table and some pillows to place on our son’s chair, so that he could reach his plate.

No menus exist in the real farmhouse, you are offered what the chef cooked on the day. So we were brought fresh cheese (ricotta) and honey, local thin bread (pane carasau), Sardinian dry sausage,  row ham and wild cards as a start. Everything was absolutely divine. The hosts were all very efficient and friendly. They asked us about our journey and stay in the area and gave us some insights of the area and their farm.

The first course came then: “potato agnolottusu ” (Sardinian fresh stuffed pasta) generously dressed with tomato sauce and grated pecorino cheese. By the end of it I was staffed myself..! Soon after, a nice plate of  succulent boiled lamb and potatoes got to the table. This is not something you normally get in hotels or restaurants in Sardinia. Delicious! just like my grandma would have cooked it!

Not the end of it though: traditional roasted piglet, fresh salad and tomatoes, local sweets, coffee and liqueur (mirto) had to follow! Everything tasted extremely fresh and was presented always with a smile by the owner and his family. Even Luca’s father was impressed, while the little one was covered with food and had soaked the pillow with tomato sauce…

We were presented a very modest bill (17 Euro each) which we thought was really not much at all. The only downside I could think of, were the numerous and a bit annoying flies. But the place was extremely clean and off course we were in a real farm in a very hot day of August.

We found out that the Agriturismo Paules, also offers room stay and camping facilities together with horse riding excursions in the area. I can not comment on that as we did not stay longer but that is a thought for you!

If you decide that you do not want to book an hotel in Sardinia but stay or maybe just eat in an Agriturismo here are our tips:

1) A real farmhouse should make most of its income from the farm itself, it does not matter if it farms sheeps, goats, horses or if it grows artichokes and tomatoes. The hospitality side should not take over or be their main business.

2) Most of the food you are offered should not only be cooked, but also produced and processed in that farm.  This makes a farm a real Agriturismo.  If you are offered a seafood based menu (does not mater how good this is) there is something wrong!

3) Agriturismos do not tend to be located on the beach.. and I found that the best ones are sometimes in not so obvious or easy to reach locations.

4) If you are vegetarian, make sure they do have some options in advance!

Manu