Wk 12 – The Mediterranean

Mon 1 to Sun 7 August
Tossa de Mar – Barcelona – Bosa – Cala Gonone

Mon 1st to Thur 4th August – Tossa de Mar

A wonderful and well deserved 4 days break, lazing on the beach and getting a Mediterranean sun tan. Not hard to take at all.

Fri 5th Aug – Barcelona / Porto Torres (Sardinia)

But we had to keep moving otherwise we’d miss Roman’s birthday and my life wouldn’t be worth that, so today we’re up and gone by 9am to beat the traffic – a fail in every way.
We got to Barcelona at 10.30 where I’d arranged to have a new set of tyres fitted as the ones on the bike might or might not last the remaining 3,500klms of the journey. They were fitted while we waited and weren’t cheap that’s for sure but worth the security of knowing we’d likely have no problems with them. For those interested I had Michelin Road6 GTs fitted. I’m running 42psi in the back and 38psi in the front which is slightly over spec but we’re carrying very heavy for the bike. The last set lasted just on 10,000klms, so not too bad really considering the roads we’ve travelled.

We did a bit of sightseeing, but we’ve been here twice before and it was very hot and humid so we weren’t too active.

Then it was down to the port just before a torrential downpour with huge lightening and thunder. Good thing Norma noticed it coming.

Our ferry left at 11.30pm and I hadn’t been able to secure a cabin so it was sitting in aircraft style seats that didn’t tilt – not the most comfortable. To add to that there was very little ventilation in that room so if someone had Covid I guess we’ve all got Covid even though Norma and I wore masks. Not a good experience.

Sat 6th Aug – Porto Torres to Bosa – 115klm

We were off the ship by 12.30 and on the road after sorting TomTom who’d decided to object to something or another. Sorted her out and on our way in 35c and heaps of humidity. Not the best day for a ride.

We pulled in to the Porto Conte Tower. Built in 1572 and with a height of 13m and a base diameter of 18m, it ranks among the largest coastal towers in Sardinia and is part of the complex of fortified structures that from the early Middle Ages to the mid-nineteenth century formed the defensive, sighting and communication system of the coasts of Sardinia.

On through Fertilia to Alghero where we stopped at a tiny back street shop for a coffee and panini – delish. There’s a couple of towers here as well.

It was then follow the coast all the way to Bosa. Beautiful views and a fair amount of traffic.

Known to be one of the most beautiful villages in Italy, Bosa has no more than 8500 inhabitants. It’s colourful buildings, narrow laneways, a hilltop castle and with the River Temo flowing right through the village, make it a very popular tourist town.
We stayed in the old town known as Sa Costa. Our air conditioned room made for a lovely end to the day.

We bought salad and sat on the riverside and watched the world go by and thanked our Lord for our lives.

Sun 7th Aug – Bosa to Cala Gonone – 175klm

After a sumptuous Sardinian breakfast, in this case one that attempted to combine all the differing European variants sans milk for the cornflakes, we fuelled up at our first self-serve Italian fuel station – they’d added an ‘English’ language option since we’d last used one in 2019.
We took the road south and east, took a pic as we left, and headed for the hills where it would hopefully be cooler.

We knew we were in Italy because of the hill-top towns and religious monuments.

We dropped into Nuraghe Losa, a great triangular basalt tower dating back to the bronze age. Regrettably we missed the sign for the tickets at the car park – as would most I’d think – and were refused the opportunity to buy them when we got back, which would have entailed a round trip of some 400m in the heat. I couldn’t understand how that was a good business model. We took a pic and moved on.
Those are cork trees that have been harvested.

On through Ottana and Orani with much cultivation happening

To Orgosolo where we stopped for coffee and watched Sunday life in Sardinia go about it’s business.
We were skirting a mountain range and I’d think not too many tourists travelled this road as we saw no other vehicles on this 60 minute of 40klm stretch of winding, picturesque and single lane tarmac. It was slow going and getting hotter.

We dropped in to have a look at Ponte Papaloppe, an old Roman military bridge still in active use.

I’d played with the idea of visiting the ancient Grotta Corbeddu Corbeddu Cave but didn’t fancy the 30klm single dirt track.
So it was 30klm to Cala Gonone which is a very popular tourist mecca. We’ll stop here 2 nights and add to our Mediterranean suntans before heading north and crossing over to Corsica then Italy next week.

See you soon.