the off season

There's a reason they call it the "off season." Maybe it's the cold weather. Or the wind. Or the windy cold weather. But what's clear is that Sardegna in October is not the Sardegna of postcards and travel agency posters. The beaches aren't blanketed with golden Italians taking in the sun. And the sun, for that matter, often doesn't come out at all.

But the Sardgena that we explored, and that we appreciated, wasn't hibernating at all. Rustic Sardegna was there in all its wild and untamed glory. The greatest part of this island, and what it has in spades, is the feeling that this place has yet to be overrun. The land is still rough and ruddy - the hordes haven't yet come along to polish it up.



We started our visit in Alghero which is touted as a mini Barcelona for the Catalan personality (and language) left behind by its previous conquerors. Being October, the beachfront bars and restaurants weren't the thumping social hubs that might develop in the summer but the sea was still there with its magenta sunsets and views of Capo Caccia in the distance.

We ate well enough in Alghero. One night was spent in a family place where de-boning the fresh fish we enjoyed was as ceremonial as the dramatic dishing of the paella - referred to as seafood risotto in Italian. We also went to a restaurant highly-lauded for its cheese selection and indeed the highlight was a wonderful plate of gnochetti enveloped in creamy gorgonzola and scattered with chopped cacao beans - such a brilliant combination of flavors and textures.



The lowlight of this restaurant was a young British lad at a nearby table who spent his entire dining experience quizzing his parents about Star Wars minutia. Each sentence was some version of: "Mummy/Daddy, if the death star encountered -- (insert various players from the star Wars saga) who would win?" I wish we could say that for our trouble we learned a lot about the Death Star and its powers, but the parents had far more hushed voices than their child so while we were privy to the questions, the answers will ever remain well-guarded secrets.



The seas were a little choppy during our visit but we took a boat out to Capo Caccia to see the Grotta di Nettuno (aka Neptune's Cove). It's a grotto at the base of a dramatic promontory point and it's filled with stalactites and stalagmites. (In Italian: "stalagtiti" and "stalagmiti" which sounds so goofily beautiful.) The cave is also the site of one of the largest saltwater lakes in Europe whose waters eerily reflect the rock formations above.



From Alghero we took several buses to get to Cala Gonone at the other side of the island. This cove of a community is known for its incredible beaches, turquoise waters, and unspoiled nature. The beaches along the coast are renowned to be some of the most beautiful in the world and you can reach them by either taking a boat or taking a hike. But as the boats generally aren't running in the off season so we decided to hike to one of the beaches - Cala Luna.

We'd been told it was a 2 hour hike so we headed off down the highway and after about an hour of walking, we thought we'd found the trailhead and we went in that direction. For almost two hours we clambered through a deep canyon of rocks and wild olive trees with craggy walls and caves rising around us. We kept following the well-worn path and wondered just when this legendary beach was going to make an appearance. With every curve of the canyon we thought we might come upon it. But there was no sound, not even muted, of waves breaking against a cliffy shore and the only thing we eventually found was a pack of Brits who'd just scaled down the canyon wall.



This group was kind enough to enlighten us to the fact that there was no beach at the end of the line and that we were headed only to the ravine that they'd just climbed down. In fact, the beach was in the opposite direction. So, following the Brits in their helmets and climbing gear, we turned around and climbed back in the original direction. The climbers eventually pointed out our correct path and we followed it.

This time the path was in a generally upward direction. It was very rocky and we soon realized that rather than the beach being a two hour hike from our hotel it was actually a two hour climb from this point. We found this out because we kept running into hikers on their way back from the beach who would, no matter how far along we'd gone, tell us that we had over an hour to go. Really.

When we asked the first group of hikers, 20 minutes into our own hike, how much longer it was to get to the beach their leader said that they'd been walking for one hour and that they were "fast" walkers. When we asked what they'd thought of the beach the woman actually said, "It was... how do you say...? Disappointing. It was disappointing."

Ok, great - thanks for those encouraging words.



Our second appraisal came after our brief lunch break in which we spent most of the time regretting our decision to wear Tevas for the hike. Thinking it would be two hours max, and that we'd eventually end up in the water, the sporty sandals originally sounded very appealing. But after about 4 hours of rocky climbing we were praying for a shoe shop along the rocky cliffs but instead ran into a couple coming back from the beach.

The man had their baby on his back and swore that we had over an hour of tough hiking to go. He said that the most dramatic part of the beach was deeply flooded and that you couldn't even reach the water. He also told us that we should "beware of the darkness" because the sun would soon be setting and we didn't want to have to find our way back in the dark.

Again thanks for the pep talk.

We soldiered on for about 15 minutes more before we came to a very deep and steep ravine that we were going to have to traverse to keep up with the path. It was then that we took serious stock of the situation, and our battered feet, and decided it would probably be best to turn around. It was a hard decision to make but the ravine was deep, our feet were killing us, and apparently the beach was flooded anyway. Plus, if you've seen a horror film you know better than to ignore the advice of any character who warns you to "beware of the darkness."



It took us almost 3 hours to get back to our hotel and when we got there we sat on our balcony, overlooking the sea and the sunset, and listened to the waves slapping the rocks. We had beer, Coca Cola and Pringles and we'd taken off our Tevas long before. To hell with Cala Luna - we were pretty happy to just sit there.

The next day we joined an excursion to an ancient settlement at the top of a mountain. The settlement, Tiscali, is in a collapsed cave where thousands of years ago the eventual inhabitants found a site both protected by the elements (as there is a wide overhanging rim remaining) and also an ideal micro climate where plants and trees thrive. It's also quite easy to defend your position and your settlement when you are literally at the top of a mountain. For the same reasons, reaching this settlement makes for quite a hike.

First we took a ride in a Land Rover through the Lanaitto valley and into the mountains. I've never been in a Land Rover before and I've never been in a car that drove on any of the kind of surfaces we drove along. It was straight out of a movie - rocky and uneven, steep and scary. We had our seatbelts on because if we didn't we wouldn't have stayed in the rover for long. I was shocked the tires didn't pop. And after so much city living I was shocked to find out that SUVs actually have a purpose.



The hike was steep and rocky and our guide Gian Paolo took us along a path that wasn't always clear. At times we were accompanied by his second wife who was a tough cookie if not a little crazy - she was an adventure-driven retiree who thought her husband was too much of a chatter and took to perching on cliff edges to kill time while Gian Paolo told us about the vegetation. Our co-hikers were a nice German couple who spoke perfect English and thankfully were not as expert as some of the other Germans we've run into on our hiking adventures.

The views along the path were stunning and raw and so were the rocks. You could rarely put your hands down without first checking to see if a sharp rock would take a chunk out of you if you did. The mineral make-up of the rocks makes it so that the stone erodes away easily and then flows into the mountain where it carves out caves and drips itself into stalactites. Left behind on the surface are ridged groves of sharp rocks - stunning but not comforting when you're hiking on steep paths covered in loose rocks.



We eventually made our way to the top, and looked over the rim into the collapsed cave. You could see the rubble of the community far below and the small glen replete with trees and brush. We kept hiking to the slash in the wall where we entered this once-covered space now open to the elements. We wandered past the ruins along the edges where the rim formed a protective awning from weather and sun and understood how the inhabitants would have found this place such an ideal shelter.

Our lunch was at a makeshift table and benches in front of the park ranger's simple cabin. The meal was three types of cheese, soft bread, salami and wine from an empty juice jug. Yep, wine. Leave it to the Italians to drink wine while hiking steep mountains.



We joined in on the wine drinking and also on the discussion. Lino, the park ranger, took a break from his solitary work as custodian of the ruins and joined in for some chatting on the topic of nature vs. nurture. You know your Italian has come along in strides when you can keep up with an Italian "discussion." It was only when Lino dropped into the Sardo dialect that we lost his trail. But by then it was time for small shots of espresso before getting back on the trail. Again, leave it to the Italians to make espresso on a hike.

The way back down was more tenuous than the way up and even involved clinging to a rope while slinking down a steep rock face. The return trail itself had been blazed by our guide who was proud of the fact that it was not "as boring and easy" as the other way. As if boring and easy are to be avoided...

After our mountain hike we rode to a mysterious cave to learn about how once a year, in wintertime, the caving system becomes so filled with water, that its multiple layers and lakes give way and come rushing out of the cave, flooding the riverbed and roads below. “Sa Oche” as its known in local dialect is very large and goes on for many miles - but its multiple levels are not for amateurs and we only nosed in for a few yards before it became too dark to continue. Thankfully, Gian Paolo told us that when the flood is coming there's a loud noise to alert you of the approaching deluge. Meno male we were met with complete silence.



It's here that I should mention Sardegna's excellent appreciation for, and ability in, the realm of baked goods. Nowhere in Italy is the cookie so well understood as on this island. Here, they're sweet and soft and seem to involve a rotating cast of almond, honey and orange flavors. They even use sprinkles! These cookies are not only delicious but beautiful -- bringing instant joy to our room at the bed and breakfast which had been brazenly decorated in various jungle prints.

The finest bakery we found was in Nuoro and was run by two sisters: one who was a cheerful sort and ran the front counter, the other who seemed a touch more sour-faced and remained in the back. The sweet perfume when we walked in was heavenly... It immediately transported us far away from this rainy tiny town overrun with ragazzi (teenagers) playing grab-ass while waiting for the bus home for lunch.



Sardegna in October is not Sardegna in August. And that can be a fine thing. Unless, of course, you want to squeeze yourself in at the beach and work on a wicked sun burn. Because there are a lot of people who head there to do just that. But not us.

As I was saying, there's a reason for the "off season"... and it may be us: the only two people who think Sardegna is more fun without the sun.

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Excursions, Dorgali: Co-op Ghivine, www.ghivine.com, cell: 338.83.41.618

Pastries, Nuoro: Il Golosastro di Sorelle Mele, Corso Garibaldi 173/175, 0784.37955

Restaurant, Alghero: Taverna Paradiso di Lombardi Patrizia, via P. Umberto 27, tel: 079.978.001

Hotel, Cala Gonone: Hotel Cala Luna, Lungomare Palmasera 6, www.hotelcalaluna.com, tel: 0784.93133