La Maddalena and Caprera
Trip Start
May 04, 2012
1
2
5
Trip End
May 08, 2012
Where I stayed
Hotel Piccado
What I did
Garibaldi Museum
Cinco de Mayo in some places but didn't even think about that until this evening when saw some Facebook entries. We slept until 8:30 and I got up then so we would have time to get to breakfast before 10. Breakfast was not that inspiring. there was some cheese and meat for sandwiches but both of us chose to put that in a croissant rather than on the hard roll they had for the meat. Also had a store bought yoghurt and a coffee. not the best of breakfasts. Some other people there for breakfast had brought their own tomatoes and cheese and other things to supplement. maybe we should do the same tomorrow. Our hostess had suggested going to one of the other islands via the ferry and seeing the Garibaldi museum and the beaches. she said there was no way to get lost as there was just one road around each island and a bridge to connect them. My husband drove down to the harbor and we managed to find a place to park to go and get tickets. We walked into the harbor office and stopped and got tickets at the first counter we saw. Unfortunately, we realized later that almost all the counters had boats that went to the island of La Maddalena and we could have taken any of the other boats because ours didn't go that often. Then we watched a boat come in and unload and reload. We still aren't sure where to park our car for the ferry and ask one of the workers on the boat that is loading and he points to a couple of trucks that are parked and tells us to go there. We pull the car over there and still aren't sure so hubby asks one of the drivers and he points behind him and chatters. Hubby thinks it means that we should go to parking area #2 rather than area #3 where we are but I think he meant, 'see, your ferry is coming". we were in the right place. Crossing only takes about 15-20 minutes and then we are on the island and drive off the ferry and just follow the road to go around the ferry and look at the sites. it is very much like Palm Desert. plus here are lots of ice plants as well and in bloom which are very pretty. very rocky and desert though. We climb up through the middle of the island and stop to take photos when we can find a pull off of which there are usually plenty as they are proud of their scenic views. We continue around and finally find the turn off to the other island, Caprera, where the museum is located. The entire island is a natural park and in the middle of it is a large chunk of pine tree forest with a few eucalyptus trees thrown in as well. We stop for some photos and then continue to the museum of Garibaldi It is 5 euros each to get in and we have to go with a guide. she gives us a couple of flyers in English which we read and it explains the artifacts and furniture in each room. We still have no clue who this guy is other than a "hero of two worlds". A guide comes out shortly and says Prego, Prego and waves us and three men into the compound and begins our tour. She doesn't speak very much English but we can understand some of the Italian and with the brochure, it is enough that we can figure out what we are looking at. mostly the rooms were furnished with very old paintings and portraits and beds and dressers and often, a wheelchair or chaise lounge of some kind as Garibaldi had arthritis when he was older and lived in the chairs. One of the older gentlemen speaks some English and tells us what a few of the items are but his English is very hesitant as he searches for words. When we leave the house and move down the hill towards the gravesites, he engages my husband in a conversation about Obama. They would all like to see him reelected. Around the corner and there are 6 gravesites. some are the kids and one is Garibaldi's and one is a wife (I think he had 3). A young lady is there doing restoration on the writing on the sarcophagi. Finally we go into the small boathouse. There is a small crew boat there and they are trying to explain that it is a competition boat for 4 with the 5th person in the back calling the stroke. Then we are done. We stop on the way back to the car for a bottle of water. Next we want to go to Trinity Bay which we have seen signs for it on the other island. We cross the bridge again and head back the way we came and stop at the grocery. We get some wine to take home with us and hopefully it will be better than the red wine we got last night. some strawberries and some cookies and such. My husband has lost his sunglasses yesterday but they don't carry any there. When we arrived, the parking lot was full but by the time we are checking out, it is empty except for one lady and her son who checked out ahead of us and he was making a great show of putting the items on the belt for the checkout clerk and then putting up his small stuffed toy. He was putting on a show for us and we smiled a lot at him to show we appreciated it. Back around to Trinity Bay. Again, the scenery is just lovely and so we stop in several places to take photos. We get to Trinity Bay which has a wide parking place and a walkway to the beach and a lot of sand dunes and protection for the dunes. We park and hike to the dunes. there are a lot of stones in the water too and we walk on them a bit. there are maybe two sunbathers on the beach and one is a topless lady. I didn't even notice it at first but naturally my husband did. She's probably lucky I didn't accidentally take a photo of her. As we don't have swimsuits and no desire to get into the cold water anyway, we head back to town to find some lunch. Again it was hard to find a place to park and I finally just parked at a bank. There is a time disc on the windshield and I guess you put the time you park on it and then if it is just an hour free parking, the cops know when you have used up your hour. Several of the cars parked there had times of 10 or 11 on them so I'm thinking we're safe enough. we walk back along the road which is running along the water front and finally find some restaurants. We stop at Bar d l'adventura. Hubby ordered pasta Sardinia and I ordered Golden Archipelago which by the name should have tumbled me to the fact that it would have been a mix of all the fish they find around there but I was thinking it was only one fried fish. He thought he had ordered pasta with shrimp and asparagus but he didn't get that and he got a shrimp and mushroom pasta. the pasta is tiny little cubes. I got a plate of fried fish of all kinds mostly calamari which I hate and one that looked like a SG-1 Gau'l so I wasn't able to eat much. did eat a bunch of the bread plate and some of the mixed salad but even the greens tasted a lot different than usual lettuce and tomatoes and carrots. I think they noticed we weren't that thrilled with the meal but we were polite and so were they. We walked on around the square and back up one street to head back towards the car and there were many more shops there but most were closed for lunch of the afternoon or whatever. not too many had anything that we would be interested in any way. No sunglasses for my hubby yet as I teased him that some were girly. luckily we found the car again. Our ferry doesn't come until 4:15 so we sat and watched the other ferry come in and unload and load up again. Then we got in our car and moved it into the parking lot and just sat there on the outskirts with another 3 or 4 cars who were waiting for the same ferry as us. A bus load of German tourists is also on our ferry and they were slowly filing by us to their bus as we waited. the ferry at the dock left and then our ferry came out of a dock close by to pick up the 4:15 group. they had a break so they didn't even come from our main island but were just sitting there waiting for the proper time. A man rides by on a scooter and motions us to line up but the car in front of me ignored him so I sat a bit longer and then drove around and got in line. When the ferry docks, the bus starts up and tries to get in front of everyone but we all block him besides, he has to sit somewhere close to the middle of the ferry when it isn't full, for balance. Easy getting off the ferry but there is a one way out-of-town and we aren't sure where it will take us but we continue driving and the two bicycle riders who were on the ferry are making their way up the hill and doing almost better than the Fiat Panda. Then around a corner and I take a wrong turn and we drive by the bus which has stopped for a picnic dinner. Back out and we find out way back to the hotel and am able to drive up to our parking space without stalling and rolling down the hill. We haul inside and sit down outside to relax and read for a while. I am overcome with sleepiness and lie down on the bed to sleep because my husband keeps waking me. He finally comes inside at about 7:30 and wakes me. We get out our wine and cheese and crackers and decide to just eat in tonight as we have strawberries too which had been a bit smushed but are still edible. I work on this; he plays on his kindle and phone. There is a huge moon tonight because it is close to the earth. lovely. hit the bed about 11 or so. We are on vacation after all so let's relax and enjoy it.
