As we left Bosa, we programmed the address of the Hotel l"Oasi into the GPS. The closer we got to Cala Gonone, the worse the weather became. It was raining and there were occasional bursts of thunder and lightning and to add to the worries the GPS was directing us to smaller, narrower, more twisted and remote roads. We couldn't imagine where we were going to end up. Surely, this wasn't the right way? We thought we were heading to a beachside resort. Instead we were navigating our way up and down the side of a mountain. Finally, we arrived and were treated to a beautiful spot with a spectacular view. (We later found out that we came into town on the old road. It is more frequently used by the local goats than by cars. There is a lovely, new road with a wide tunnel, but it wasn't the route our GPS took us on.)
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It's so rewarding when you take a stab in the dark and achieve success. Lynda randomly selected this destination and our hotel based on a couple of comments she read on Trip Advisor. We couldn't have been happier with the results. Cala Gonone is approximately three hours from Alghero, located on the east coast of the island. The actual population is 1200 people, but in August when all the Italians take their holidays, it balloons to 30,000. We can only imagine what it must be like. We are very happy to be here now with only a few tourists. The Hotel l'Oasi is a family run business that has been in operation for over thirty years. It is run by Massimo and his wife Caterina, who are absolutely delightful. We can honestly say that, over nine months of travelling, l'Oasi makes our top places to stay list. The fact that they serve an authentic Sardinian dinner every night for 17 Euros each has only enhanced our experience. If we lost any weight prior to arriving here, we have certainly put it back on over the last six days.
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What have we done here? Not much, actually. The area is surrounded by beautiful beaches so we have tried to go to as many of them as possible. Unfortunately, a lot of them are only accessible by boat and at this time of year, the boats are not operating on their full summer schedule. One of the most famous beaches, Cala Luna, is accessible by boat or by foot. We did have one energetic day. We drove down to Cala Fuili, parked our car and hiked for two hours to the beach at Cala Luna. Along the way, we met a German couple from Bavaria, Lydia and Bernhard. We started talking with them and hiking together. The conversation was interesting and lively. We ended up spending the rest of the afternoon and the entire next day with them. (A funny thing about Italian beaches: it may be remote and you may have to hike in, but it won't be completely rustic. More likely than not, you will be able to get a cold drink or a coffee because there will be a restaurant/bar in operation.
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Again, the weather has been temperamental. We have had a few warm, sunny days, but a scirocco rolled in and since then the town has been blanketed by a sticky mist. We can barely see the bay from the balcony of our hotel room. We have three more nights in Sardinia. Tomorrow we are driving north to the town of Santa Teresa di Gallura. This is the closest point to the island of Corsica. If we have time and the weather cooperates, we may have an opportunity to touch down on French soil before heading back to Rome where we will spend the final days of our European vacation.
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It's so rewarding when you take a stab in the dark and achieve success. Lynda randomly selected this destination and our hotel based on a couple of comments she read on Trip Advisor. We couldn't have been happier with the results. Cala Gonone is approximately three hours from Alghero, located on the east coast of the island. The actual population is 1200 people, but in August when all the Italians take their holidays, it balloons to 30,000. We can only imagine what it must be like. We are very happy to be here now with only a few tourists. The Hotel l'Oasi is a family run business that has been in operation for over thirty years. It is run by Massimo and his wife Caterina, who are absolutely delightful. We can honestly say that, over nine months of travelling, l'Oasi makes our top places to stay list. The fact that they serve an authentic Sardinian dinner every night for 17 Euros each has only enhanced our experience. If we lost any weight prior to arriving here, we have certainly put it back on over the last six days.What have we done here? Not much, actually. The area is surrounded by beautiful beaches so we have tried to go to as many of them as possible. Unfortunately, a lot of them are only accessible by boat and at this time of year, the boats are not operating on their full summer schedule. One of the most famous beaches, Cala Luna, is accessible by boat or by foot. We did have one energetic day. We drove down to Cala Fuili, parked our car and hiked for two hours to the beach at Cala Luna. Along the way, we met a German couple from Bavaria, Lydia and Bernhard. We started talking with them and hiking together. The conversation was interesting and lively. We ended up spending the rest of the afternoon and the entire next day with them. (A funny thing about Italian beaches: it may be remote and you may have to hike in, but it won't be completely rustic. More likely than not, you will be able to get a cold drink or a coffee because there will be a restaurant/bar in operation.Again, the weather has been temperamental. We have had a few warm, sunny days, but a scirocco rolled in and since then the town has been blanketed by a sticky mist. We can barely see the bay from the balcony of our hotel room. We have three more nights in Sardinia. Tomorrow we are driving north to the town of Santa Teresa di Gallura. This is the closest point to the island of Corsica. If we have time and the weather cooperates, we may have an opportunity to touch down on French soil before heading back to Rome where we will spend the final days of our European vacation.View More Photos
I was most interested in your article on Sardinia. You might be interested in my recent novel, Sardinian Silver, set in Sardinia in the 1960s, when it was a very different place (including the infamous "bandit" village of Orgosolo.) Incidentally, I think it would make a very good film.
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LITERARY FICTION ITALIAN CULTURE………………..CANADIAN LITERATURE
Finding One’s Self on a Romantic Island That Time Forgot
Sardinian Silver
How many young people have dreamt of self and sexual discovery in a far off, exotic place? Arthur Fraser, the main character of Sardinian Silver by A. Colin Wright, not only dreamt of it, he realized his dream. Recruited to represent a travel firm from his homeland of Great Britain, Arthur arrives in the resort town of Alghero on the Island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea and is instantly bewitched. Based on his own time on Sardinia, Wright’s captivating and oftentimes hilarious novel follows the exploits of a young man trying to find love while assimilating to an archaically orthodox society.
Sardinian Silver opens with Arthur sailing across the Tyrrhenian Sea towards his new home. On his journey to Sardinia, Arthur meets a native Sardinian named Gavino. Eager to make a new friend, let alone a British one, Gavino strikes up a conversation with Arthur and quickly offers to show Arthur his island. Gavino is the first in a cavalcade of characters, serious, humorous and tragic, that help make Sardinian Silver the engaging recollection that it is.
Once settled into the Sardinian resort at which he is working, Arthur sets out on achieving the one thing he wants most; finding a Sardinian girlfriend. He knows that this will not be easy, as Gavino has already warned him. Sardinia in the 1960s was still very culturally undeveloped. Sardinia’s residents viewed mainland Italians and continentals (the British counted among them) as immoral and contaminated by modern society. Still, this does not dissuade Arthur from his task.
“It was ten past nine. Quickly the girls had gone.
Parties like this were so promising, yet so empty. I recall another one, with Gavino and some of Marcella’s friends, where one girl enjoyed a few hidden caresses while we clutched together publicly, but reacted scornfully when I attempted to get her outside alone, and the others were quite shocked. Except for Marcella, who made fun of me. Hug and hold tightly in a dance, but be satisfied with this brief, despairing feel of another body, for it’s all you’re going to get unless you pay a prostitute for more: southern Italy in a nutshell. Yet Sardinia was a land of promise, which I loved even if it remained unfulfilled.”
In the tradition of Brideshead Revisited and The Lost Girl, Sardinian Silver is a charming and witty novel of growth, loss and realization that is sure to delight even the most critical reader.
A. Colin Wright was born and raised in the county of Essex, England. After serving as a linguist in the British Royal Air Force, Wright attended Cambridge University where he earned undergraduate and graduate degrees. In 1964, he was appointed a professor of Russian at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. He remained at Queen’s until his retirement in 1999 and still resides there today. Dr. Wright is married and has two grown sons. See also www.sardiniansilver.com, www.acolinwright.ca and www.authorsden.com/acolinwright
Sardinian Silver can be ordered at any bookstore, or online at www.iuniverse.com or any Amazon site
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