My Sardinia

I think that in order to give some credibility to why we chose Sardinia to live, a little about our background is needed.

My wife and I were both born in the Northeast of England. Not far from the sea. But for most of our working lives, we lived in the Midlands which — as the name suggests — is about as near from the sea as you can get. We both said that we would always like to move back to the sea.

We have always loved traveling. In fact, we have recently been on an independent round-the-world trip taking Los Angeles (USA), the Cook Islands, New Zealand, Sydney (Australia) to visit family before heading off to Shanghai (China). But our favorite area of the world has always been southern Europe. It’s the people, the life styles, climate and culture, as well as the wonderful foods that are so appealing.

With some friends, we had several holidays touring France and Northern Portugal. We had every excuse sampling the different wines. We have traveled to Spain, Corsica, Italy (Umbria), the French Riviera, Vancouver, Florida, Singapore, Bangkok, Perth, Sydney and the barrier Reef in Australia. We even managed to visit Fiji which was pretty special.

Then in September 2001 (can’t forget that date) we first visited Sardinia. We stayed on the hill in Porto San Paolo. Somehow, the view of Tavolara seemed so tantalising. The view changed color as the evening light faded, signaling that it was time for aperitivi. We drove into the mountains, Dorgali and Fonni, as well as all the usual places along the coast, Porto Cervo and Porto Rotondo. A great holiday. But at the time, it was all that it was: another wonderful adventure.

A few years later, there was the possibility of us selling up in England and moving anywhere we desired. Well, almost anywhere. We first went to Liguria staying at Ventimiglia. We loved it, except it wasn’t quite right for us. I think it was the fact that trying to get parked before the shops shut in the afternoon was almost impossible.

We then decided to to go to Southern France. We toured all the way down the coast to the Spanish border. It was there at a small bar overlooking the sea that we both said to each other, “what is it we are looking for”? The answer came back the same: the view of Tavolara.

We finished the holiday with a quick trip taking in the old Knights Templars castles, a bit of a passion of mine. Then, it was back to England to book the flights to Sardinia. We really needed to make sure this wasn’t just a “holiday romance”. What we wanted was actually the “home” we had always been looking for.

To make sure we weren’t being hasty, after landing in Alghero we traveled North to Stintino and stayed overnight. Then along the Northern coast of Sardinia, we stayed overnight in various towns. Somehow, we always compared them to what we remembered of Porto San Paolo and the East coast. Nothing was quite right though. Either it was too windy, too exposed, a bit touristy or a little run down. There was always something that certainly turned us off.

We arrived back at Porto San Paolo and stayed over. Nothing had changed, the view of Tavolara is as beautiful as we had thought it would be. Even so we, we headed further south to make sure we weren’t missing something. Only to admit defeat and return to that view, Tavolara.

So as you can see, this was not a decision taken lightly nor was it us following the usual British Expat route of heading to Spain or a dream of owning a vineyard in France. This was us finding a “home” by the sea, as we always wanted to.

The rest, as they say, is history. We looked for somewhere to live. After a couple of expensive false starts, we returned to Sardinia again and, eventually in 2004, bought the two apartments in Vaccileddi where we live today.

When the locals heard we were going to live here all year, most were very curious “why, all we have is the sun and the sea”? Even our bank manager was puzzled. Perhaps, that was once true, but that was before other forms of tourism were taking off. But soon, the wine festivals started happening. So were the wonderful boat shows. There is also the World Rally being hosted. It was serendipity and we were somehow in the middle of most of the excitement. These along with the rich diversity of fauna and flora, history and the spectacular Barbagian mountains.

Do we have any regrets? None. Funny stories? Plenty. In fact, for the last five years I write an e-mail to friends and family about something that has happened that week. Although the first year or so worth was lost after a computer virus.