So this weekend we took a bus through the mountains of Eastern Sardinia. This involved some very thin windy roads which were difficult for the bus to navigate. On the road we passed all kinds of animals: cows, pigs, sheep, and horses. In this region, a lot of people let their animals free roam so we passed a lot of cows that were literally on the side of the road. I have no idea how the herders find their animals. 

Our destination in the mountains was a shepherd’s house. They had this cool structure made of juniper wood where shepherds used to stay while they were with their herds. 

We had lunch at a shepherd’s house in the mountains where we ate a lot of fresh food that they grew/raised themselves. The food was good (pretty much everything we eat is good) and I tried limoncello which I found to be tolerable. I told Annalisa it would have been better without the alcohol and she said “so you want lemonade” and I was like “yes.” The lunch was another long Italian meal but was more tolerable than most because I took period breaks to hang out with the local cats, of which there were FOUR. 

There was one full grown orange one and three kittens. All the kittens were skittish and wouldn’t let anyone pet them but they seemed to like being around people. The grown one was the most friendly and would let people pet him. The owners of the farm said this one just showed up one day. 

After lunch we went to a stream to go swimming. I found the stream unimpressive compared to all the beaches and not worth swimming in. Also the people who did go swimming in it said there were leaches. I don’t even have a picture of it. Picture a stream in New Hampshire. Looked like that. We then drove to our hotel which was a pretty isolated spot in the mountains. We were in a pretty popular hiking area and the hotel was a place hikers usually stay before starting their trips. The view from the hotel was pretty amazing. 

The next day we went on a hike down to a beach that is considered one of the most beautiful beaches in Sardinia. It was about an hour long hike down and we were warned by people coming up that there were a lot of jellyfish in the water. Bad sign. Upon arriving at the beach we did see that there were a lot of small brown jellyfish, all spaced about 5-10 feet apart so it was hard to avoid them. Everyone was pretty bummed at first because this was supposed to be the best beach experience and we couldn’t even enjoy the water because of the jellyfish. We were going to be at the beach for SIX HOURS so some people said F it and went for a swim. They discovered that the water farther from shore was pretty much jellyfish free. Annalisa brought some goggles and snorkels for us to use so I put one on and braved the water. It was kind of scary swimming around and trying to avoid the jellyfish. At least six people did end up getting stung. 

I was wondering what about this beach made it one of the most beautiful in Sardinia. It wasn’t until I swam out that I realized it. The beach was bordered by tall, sheer stone cliffs, unlike anything I’ve seen. It was really beautiful. The view was best from the water but I couldn’t get a picture. Also there were lots of fish which I was LOVING. There were still jellyfish in the water far from shore but they were deep so they weren’t an issue. The water in the Mediterranean is pretty salty so it’s very easy to swim in. I probably swam for two hours. 

There was a stone arch on the side of the beach that some people in our group climbed up. The side of it was very steep so they realized once they were up that there was no way down beside to jump. They were at least 30 feet in the air. A bunch of boats were anchored around us and people were watching us. They probably had their popcorn out and were thinking “let’s watch these stupid Americans kill themselves.” The first girl jumped and was ok. Once learning it was not deadly, more people followed. I was not among them. 

Annalisa arranged for us to get picked up by boats so we wouldn’t have to do the hike back up. The boats weren’t allowed to land on the beach until 6pm so we were at the beach for a long time. Finally the boats did pick us up and the boat ride was possibly my favorite thing we’ve done so far. 

Going along the shore was breathtaking. There were enormous stone cliffs leading right up the water. I’ve been a bit jaded about the sights of Sardinia because a lot of them remind me of California, but I’d never seen anything like these cliffs. They were SO tall and SO sheer. I love a seaside cliff and I was in love. 

The boat ride itself was fun because we were going fast and hitting waves so the boat was bouncing around. Everyone was laughing and trying to hold on. 

Finally we arrived at a seaside town. We got some pizzettas (square slices of pizza folded in half like a sandwich) and headed back to Cagliari. We took a group photo in front of the bus, which was funny because we’d seen so many beautiful sights but never remembered to take a group picture with them. 

This was definitely my favorite trip we’ve gone on.