Costa Smeralda here we come...

We're off!!

Finally!!!! After so much talking and so much longing we decide to spend a weekend on the beautiful Costa Smeralda. We had been talking about Sardinia, Sardinia… for a long time, but we never managed to find a suitable period to spend a few days there. That moment has finally arrived. We set off for Olbia with an Easy Jet flight. Flight perfectly on time. The weather is nice and above all it's very hot.

We set off for the Costa Smeralda, headed for the Hotel. Once the necessary check-in operations are done and the suitcases are sorted, we're already in the car headed for the beaches. The first beach we come across is just a few km from the hotel, Spiaggia La Celvia, locality Petra Manna, made famous by the countless villas you encounter as you go down to the beach. Here on the Costa Smeralda, luxury and stratospheric villas reign supreme. The time to lay out the beach towel on the sand and splash, I'm already in the water exploring the seabeds of the coast with our ever-present underwater camera. What a paradise guys, the colors of the sea are hard to make out, turquoise, emerald green….

We spend the evening in a typical Sardinian restaurant, very nice and delicious, and the after-dinner we spend instead in the stunning Porto Cervo, which at night with the thousand lights illuminating the port and the little square becomes even more evocative and beautiful.

The next morning the alarm goes off very early:)) not a minute was to be wasted! We continue our tour of the beaches guided by the usual guidebooks we always carry with us so as to always be informed about everything we're about to see. Spiaggia di Romazzino and Spiaggia di Capriccioli are beautiful beaches, equipped with umbrellas and sun loungers, sand white as flour, but the real pearl in our opinion remains the Spiaggia del Principe.

After parking the car you cross the local vegetation until the sandy path begins to descend. The view is breathtaking, the colors of the water incredible…. so much for the Caribbean!!! Of the weekend spent in Sardinia, this ranks first on our appreciation index for beauty. We continue our tour, also stopping at Liscia Ruja, a very long and very wide beach. I often wondered what on earth there could be in summer on these beaches when tourism is mass tourism, better not to think about it…!!! Another characteristic beach and definitely worth visiting is the Spiaggia del Pevero. You leave the car in a parking lot along the road and then walk. Many beaches are like this, guarded parking and obviously paid, and then you walk to reach the beaches. Before taking a break for lunch we stop at the beach that in our personal ranking placed second, Cala Granu.

A small gulf with almost transparent pale-blue waters. The desire to take a swim was strong, if not for the slightly cool air and temperatures that had decidedly dropped after the night's storm. For lunch we decide to move quite a distance and arrive at Baia Sardinia where we enjoy a good seafood first course in a little restaurant with a sea view. We resume our journey and arrive at Cannigione and Spiaggia La Conia, where from its port you can embark on daily tours that take you to the islands of La Maddalena and Caprera. A shame about the somewhat rough sea that prevented us both from doing the island tour and Selene from being able to dive, and with a sea like that I assure you the regret is truly great! We don't get discouraged and resume our journey toward Capo d'Orso.

Here we visit the symbol, that is, a rock set atop a small hill that over the years, thanks to the wind and other atmospheric agents, has taken on the form and appearance of a bear, so much so that it is a destination for numerous tourists. Unfortunately at the top there's a beastly wind, which is why the guides allow us to go only up to a certain point without getting too close to the rock. From the top, however, you can make out the city of Palau with its characteristic port, a destination for arrival and departure of numerous scheduled ferries to and from the mainland.

Luckily the weather seemed to hold, the sun was even shining, so much so that we spend a few hours like lizards on a small beach along the road near Cannigione. The sun was now setting and on our way back home we decide to stop in Porto Cervo so we could admire it in daylight too. My goodness, how many yachts, but above all what indescribable types of yachts, plasma screens inside them, chrome everywhere… dreamy!!! For dinner we had a desire to eat the Sardinian porceddu, and what a desire it was. Unfortunately many restaurateurs only cook porceddu upon reservation for a minimum of 6/7 people; otherwise it wouldn't make sense to cook it for just 2 people. Finally, after much wandering in the town of Arzachena, we return to Cannigione where we find a restaurant with a sea view that had the porceddu… how delicious guys!!

The next morning unfortunately we wake up to pouring rain. In the afternoon there's the flight back, so we don't lose heart and get back in the car headed for Olbia. Along the way we stop, albeit in the car, at the Spiaggia di Romazzino and the Spiaggia di Marinella, a real shame about the grey sky and the cold air; just consider that we were out and about in jeans, sweatshirt and scarf! We continued our descent toward Olbia, making a stop at Marina di Portisco with its brand-new tourist port; from there we passed through Golfo Aranci. Here the sky seemed to slowly open up, so we head to Porto Rotondo, the VIP destination along with Porto Cervo on the Costa Smeralda.

The walk along the port's quay leaves you breathless when you admire so many super-luxurious yachts all in one go. Honestly Porto Cervo is on another level, but Porto Rotondo holds its own too. A shame only about the fact that we found everything closed, shops, restaurants etc… certainly, partly the time of the season, partly the weekend's weather meant that no one opened their business. Unfortunately time was nearly up, there's nothing left for us to do but return to the airport. Here, looking back at the images from the camera, we realized even more the scenic beauty of Sardinia, a mix of wild and architectural truly stunning.

The beaches and the crystal-clear waters are truly unique and with all due respect have nothing to do with Caribbean waters… certainly the weather wasn't on our side, and this will mean that we definitely have to come back one day to see what effect it has to see the Costa Smeralda kissed by the sun??? Until the next trip Luca and Selene