Day 3: Luxory resorts and mountain tops

After whizzing through the west coast and much of the north, we put on the brakes in the eastern part of the island. Much of this area, particularly the mountainous inland region, is overlooked, even in the peak of tourist season. The people who live in these isolated little villages boast the second longest lifespan in the world, just behind Okinawans. I imagine that in addition to climbing hills all day and drinking warm goat's milk, the secret to their longevity must lie in the very fresh water, which we made sure to drink a lot of ;o)

But first, we started off with a run from our hotel near Arzachena, called La Borgata. The hotel website made it appear that there were endless trails for lovers of the outdoors, but we were disappointed to find out that there was nothing of the sort, so we made-do with the busy road and a maintenance trail under the power lines. Not very lovely, but at least there was some dirt involved.

The view from the back of the hotel/bar/restaurant. It reminded us of a fancy Australian-style roadhouse.

Under the glare of the flat screen TV and a slot machine, we had our breakfast of typical bar food (a cappuccino and brioche), embellished with fruit. Very amusing.

We checked out and took a little tour of the Costa Smeralda, a cape just to the north. In the last 20 years this extremely beautiful part of the coast with sparkling blue water has become a luxury resort for the rich and famous. Though we could care less about posh resorts, we heard so much about this place that we just had to have a gawk, especially since we knew it would be a ghost town during this time of year (it would be just 'too cold' to lie out on the beach before July).

Heading towards the Costa Smeralda

Spacey stucco buildings

Not many yachts docking today

A roadside cheese and salami van stands lonely and bored, but enjoys a fabulous view! This is our little injured rental car in the background.

Moving on down south and more inland, we pass lots of rocks...

and cows

and gnarly cork groves.

Heading into the mountains again

We made a stop for our typical lunch in the deserted town of Bitti

Another traditional flat bread. This is softer, like a pita.

We made a stop in the city of Nuoro. Not very picturesque, but still interesting. Many things were closed until April, including the tourist information office, but the town was lively and had a nice atmosphere.

Nuoro's duomoSome ladies wearing the traditional Sardinian black dress. This was a common sight in the mountain towns.

We drove up nearby Mt. Ortobene to the observatory which was capped with a gigantic Christ the Redeemer ('Il Redentore'). He was under restoration, unfortunately. (There were updates on his progress on the morning news.)

The view from the top of Mt Ortobene, looking at our next destination on the north side of Mt. Corrasi

After checking into our hotel outside of Oliena, we were pleasantly surprised by both a room upgrade (because the hotel was only occupied by one other couple and the room was free) and a spectacular view of the sunset from the porch (looking back at Nuoro and Monte Ortobene).