May 20, 2019
Muravera to Bari Sardo
Our host had laid out a beautiful spread of warm and cold breakfast goodies, just for the two of us. An entire pot of espresso and a pot of hot milk was a nice touch. My eyes kept wandering as I sipped on my coffee, taking in the antiques and collectibles displayed on the walls and throughout the room of this 300 year old house. I have no sense of style when it comes to interior decor but I know what I like when I see it and this one was spot on.
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Our visit to the Archaeological Museum in Cagliari really paid off as I now recognize the significance of these Sardinian historic objects. The basketry is an ancient tradition, one that I hope to learn more about when we get to north Sardinia where there is a centre devoted to it. The masks here would be replicas as these go back over 2000 years, the clay one being the root of the term ‘sardonic smile’. The metal stick man is another replica of a casting from the Bronze Age, made by the original Nuraghic people. Mind blowing, I know!
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I really do love lemons so I couldn’t resist getting a picture under these big fat lemons hanging from the tree in the back courtyard. Our host picked a couple of honking big ones for us to squeeze and put in our water bottles
The town of Muravera didn’t reveal its charms to us, aside from all the citrus groves and this B&B, so we were stoked to get on the road when we saw the blue skies this morning.
We are following a set of gpx files I found on an Italian website while researching our route for this tour. I loaded the files to the Wahoo Element GPS, Strava, Guru, Ride With GPS, and Maps.me before leaving home. So, we are pretty well covered on the electronic mapping strategy. We also have a paper map which we consider an essential tool for cycle touring as it gives you an overview you just can’t get from e-maps. But, you never know when you pick up files from a foreign country how they will turn out. I am happy to report after just a few days, I give them top marks.
We expected the first half of the ride to be uphill on today’s inland route. The winds were blowing from the west at about 15 kmh first thing in the morning and we were heading north. So, conditions looked to be good for a long steady climb. By about 10am, the wind had picked up significantly, sometimes it was right in our face, sometimes pushing us from behind and the occasional whack came from the side. And how about that climb? Well, lets just say it didn’t really materialize. We have many more miles to ride so this might be premature, but we might need to lighten up on the notion that the hills are going to be quite challenging on this tour.
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One of the benefits of travelling slowly is experiencing the smells and sound of your environment. Today, for instance, we passed by several stands of eucalyptus trees with their nose clearing sappy scent. Then there is the dreamy scent of jasmine that’s in full bloom right now. As for the sounds, we are enjoying hearing the ba-ah-ah-ing and the jingling of bells coming from the sheep and goats that roam the bushes, fields and dry river beds.
We spotted a bench as we passed through the small village of Tertenia so decided to take a snack break. That is, “let’s buy a melon and eat it along whatever we have collected along the way”. I had a raisin bun and an orange; David had cookies and peanuts. Seriously? Well, yes! We are easily satisfied when it comes to lunch. Dinner is when we get serious.
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After Tertenia, the road led us uphill to the head of the valley we had been travelling for a good part of the morning. We spotted a confluence of several mountains ahead and could see a doozie of a storm brewing. Neither of us have brought any serious rain gear so my fingers were crossed we could somehow avoid getting caught in a downpour. We crested the summit and had just started the downhill when a huge wind gust came at us from the side. We both screeched to a halt and did an about face so we could take shelter on the steps of a pizzeria at the summit. There we sat watching the storm and weighing our options. In just a few minutes, we both deemed it safe to proceed.
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The villages of Jersu and Olassai came into view as we started our descent. What a sight to behold. It reminded me of the Himalayas in some small way because the villages were built on such a severe slope. We both had the same thought —- what country are we in?
Our route continued downhill and took a turn to the east which meant we now had a pretty wicked tailwind. We were soon heading across the river in the bottom of the next valley and were swept by the wind in to Bari Sardo.
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We arrived at 2:20 and quickly located Le Petunie B&B where we were greeted by the owner. She took us in and showed us a parking spot for the bikes, next to a fully loaded kumquat tree. I don’t know kumquats all that well, so she encouraged me to try one. The skin of this little citrus fruit is thin and sweet while the flesh is slightly tart. Zowie, it was a flavour bomb. As we settled in, our host offered us a pot of coffee and little chocolate cakes on the veranda, which we graciously accepted. What a great way to cap off today’s ride.
Our dinner options were fairly limited tonight but luckily, the Tre Mori was open and it is a great restaurant. David was in the mood for caprese salad and spaghetti al pomodoro, and I decided to have the seafood option. Check out that little crab on my plate. His pinchers were a tad too tiny to extract any meat from but let’s just say all that remained when I was finished were a few shells. It was absolutely delicious. We finished off with tiramisu and a citron parfait and then waddled back the 2 blocks to our B&B.
Today's ride: 65 km (40 miles)
Total: 183 km (114 miles)
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