Sardinia4all on a trip to Sardinia - Part 3
We, the Sardinia4all travel experts, go to Sardinia every year with our team. The target? Show our face at properties we work with, review our clients' comments with the property, and discuss whether our findings are still valid. Of course we will also look around for new accommodations with which we are entering into a new partnership and we want to gain inspiration ourselves, so that we can again do what we promise our customers in the coming year: a tailor-made unique holiday. Read today in part 2 about what we do and experience during such a working week.
The Italian villages in the interior
This part of the journey was dominated by the mountainous interior of the province of Nuoro. During a stay in this Blue Zone you can experience the real Sardinia - and we also noticed this during our visits. Each host of a small-scale agriturismo or B&B proudly spoke about life in “their” Sardinia and insisted that we taste at least one local delicacy, such as a sweet snack or homemade wine during our visit. For example, Giovanni did not allow us to leave until we had tried two of his homemade grappas (… at 3 pm).
One of the highlights of this working week was our visit to Ollolai, the Italian village promoted last summer on the initiative of the mayor. Three of the colleagues had followed this series about the houses for one euro from start to finish and they were therefore eager to see the village in real life.
Mayor Efisio & Vermentino on the square
We arrived in the mountain village towards the end of the afternoon, where we were welcomed by Mayor Efisio. He had invited us to the town hall to talk about promoting the tourism in Ollolai. After our meeting and a quick photo session we decided to toast a beautiful day with a glass of Vermentino in the local pub on the main square. Apparently this was quite a happening for the residents, because when four women entered the bar with only men, everyone fell silent. However, that rest was short-lived: as soon as we stood with a glass of wine, we were bombarded with questions and when the glasses were empty, we immediately received a new glass in our hands. In no time we were best friends with half the village.
I eat with my mother-in-law and you can eat with me
Coincidentally, it turned out that the manager of our B&B was also in the bar, so he took us to his house. During this short walk, another man suddenly walked along, Antonio, who casually said: "You will come with me in a minute, I will eat with my mother-in-law tonight and you can join us." We initially objected and explained to him that we were fine with the four of us in the local pizzeria, but Antonio did not accept any arguments. And because it is rude to (continue to) reject when you are invited to someone's home, we followed him to his mother-in-law's house. In the meantime, he quickly called her to let her know that he was on his way to her with four Dutch women.
Sausages, cheeses, bread and wine
After we got to know the tiny nonna, we immediately got a tablecloth, plates, cutlery and glasses pushed into our hands - whether we wanted to set the table for a moment. Extra chairs were placed in the small kitchen, so that we could all sit down. In no time the table was filled with local sausages, hams, cheeses, bottles of wine and bread. These snacks were followed by a simple but very tasty granny stew - all in all, a fantastic meal that no pizzeria could beat! After dinner Antonio was already gesturing that we had to go to the bar for a cup of coffee, but of course we couldn't leave Nonna with the dishes. So we rolled up our sleeves to clear the table and in a few minutes the kitchen was restored to its original state.
After an extensive goodbye to nonna, Antonio and son Marco took us to the bar to do one more nightcap (let's go, maybe two). It was perhaps a good thing that the next morning due to a mistake of the B&B we had to shower under ice-cold mountain water - so we could start fresh and fruity with the rest of the route the next day ...
Coming soon: Working week Sardinia part 4 - What an island!
Would you like help putting together a nice round trip or holiday stay in Sardinia?
Tell us about your travel needs ; we know Sardinia like no other!
The Sardinia4all team
