At the Sea Urchin Festival

Sardinia...1997...Me, Roberto and Roberta...the middle of January, the ideal time for Sardinia...no thronging crowds, no atrocious heat. Calm and tranquillity. We arrive in Olbia from Civitavecchia by ship and immediately set off south. After a sightseeing raid in Nuoro we finally reach Arbatax, where we pitch our tents. So many things to see: Domus de Janas, Tombs of the Giants, a few nuraghi and lots of beautiful sea. The only daily train that was supposed to take us to Oristano strands us because of a strike at Lanusei, the birthplace of Mameli, a pretty little town on the hillside. We take the bus and get dropped off at Villagrande on the Flumendosa, a bucolic spot where we wait for the strike to end so we can resume our journey west. No luck, we have to hitchhike in the afternoon and get taken to Isili, where at last we can sleep in a soft bed.

In the following days we finally head for Oristano, but since time is now short we decide to go straight to Alghero, a beautiful little town on the sea in the north-west of the island, with Catalan echoes. Here we come across the sea urchin festival...what can I say, after the first urchin I didn't want to eat anything else...On the way back towards Olbia I stop in Sassari while waiting for the train to the east coast. In the evening we re-board and head home.