Giovanni from B&B Cappuccine kindly drove us to the Cagliari Airport on the day of our departure so we could pick up a rental car for our remaining nine days in Sardinia. We had reserved a VW Polo, but surprise of all surprises, an Alfa Romeo Giulietta was available... for just a little more money... and it didn't take us long to say yes!
Our next destination was the coastal town of Oristano, about an hour north by the fastest route, but true to our values, we took the much slower coastal road, which turned out to be spectacular. Our first surprise happened just minutes after leaving the airport.... as we were crossing the low bridges through the lagoons west of Cagliari, we started seeing pink flamingos... lots of them! They are difficult to see in the photo, they were a fair distance away and the camera in the phone isn't great.... oh, and trucks were whizzing by as we parked along the edge of the road....
A little further along we encountered a second surprise... ancient coastal watchtowers. Apparently there are over one hundred of these still standing on the coast of Sardinia, and many more that are in ruin. Not all of these are on the road from Cagliari to Oristano, but all are in Sardinia....
We saw a herd of bighorn sheep grazing on the hillside along the road, and a beautiful train trestle....
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| Bighorn sheep.... |
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| Great old stone railroad trestle.... |
We finally arrived in Oristano. We stayed three nights at B&B Eleonora, situated in Piazza Eleonora....
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| Our room was on the top floor of this building... |
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| Piazza Eleonora.... |
We settled in, then walked around the easily walkable old town of Oristano. Some interesting sights....
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| Nice old Cathedral... |
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| Interior of Cathedral... |
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| A small park... |
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| Rosticceria "Joe Joe".... |
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| Horses and Vespas.... |
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| Fountain and small carousel in the main piazza... |
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| Cagliari is known for pottery..... |
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....and local potters display their wares in public places...
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While in Oristano we drove to the Sinis peninsula on the coast and saw something very unique... a large beach named Mari Ermi... covered not with sand, but with rice-size pebbles of white and pink quartz crystals! Apparently the only beach like this in the world....
In San Giovanni di Sinis, we found an old 11th century church....
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| simple interior of the church... |
Maybe the most memorable meal we had in Oristano was at Pizzeria CIVICO 35, one of the coolest pizza places we've ever been to....
What other discoveries would we make in and around Oristano? What other surprises would this amazing Sardinia offer up? Any chance we would climb through caves and be hot on the trail of wild horses... ? Maybe....
Touch any photo to enlarge....
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