The chill seemed appropriate for Thanksgiving, known by Italians as the Festa Ringraziamento (Festival of Thanks) or, for the more culinarily-minded, the Giorno di Tachino (Day of the Turkey), which we celebrated with many friends here and from which we have finally recovered. Chad made DadO’s famous oyster-walnut-sausage stuffing, truly a meal unto itself, and I finally successfully made Zuppa Gallurese, the traditional layered 
bread/broth/cheese dish of this area of Sardegna that I’ve been trying to master. The secret was a special type of Sardegnan bread and homemade lamb and veal broth, the bones from which Manny delightedly munched on for several days afterwards. After our grand feast, we had nearly a whole turkey’s worth of meat left, requiring a team of bone-pickers to clean the carcasses before the rounds of desert began.
Weather and feasting aside, this has been the season for visitors, starting with Gwynne (a friend from graduate school) and her parents. They only stayed a few days in Sardegna, but we managed to pack in a wine-tasting excursion 
and a fantastic dinner at a local agriturismo among other adventures. This was shortly on the heels of Chad’s parents’ visit such that, after the guests were gone, I enjoyed a lovely girls’ weekend at the spa to appropriately relax. The spa overlooked natural hot springs and the site of the ancient Roman baths of Fordongianus on the river below. I returned much rejuvenated, having soaked and steamed for enough hours to turn me into a human prune.After just a few days back at home, Chad was off to the U.S. for a job interview in Portland, where we will be heading come spring. We are still getting used to the idea of living in a place
that has true winter and where snow isn’t just something you see in the far off mountains but that you shovel by the pound to reach your car in the morning. The morning of Chad’s departure, while hiking with Manny on a headland just south of the airport, we watched his plane fly overhead while also watching a nasty storm come in from the East and just barely managed to outpace it in order to return to the car undoused. Along the way, Manny also had a close encounter with a herd of dogs protecting a herd of sheep up the path from us such that we quickly altered our course and safely proceeded away from the clanging sheep bells and barking dogs.Our next adventure here was to the Festa dei Vini Novelli w
hich celebrated the new wines of the season. I recently learned that the grapes harvested in the fall are put through a quick fermentation process that keeps in a bit of the gasses to produce, in just a matter of months, a light fizzy wine known as the new wine of the year, or “vino novello.” In the tiny town of Milis, about two hours south of here on the west coast, they have an annual festival to celebrate the new wines and, for a small fee, you can purchase a souvenir glass in a handy wine pouch, which you wear around your neck. Then, you can fill your glass at each cantina’s booth with a taste of this year’s product. It was quite a jolly affair such that we had intended to purchase a few bottles for the upcoming Thanksgiving feast but, by the end of all the tastings, forgot to actually buy any. Lucky for us, our local wine shop carried a few of our favorites from the festival. We had yet another wonderful agriturismo experience that evening closer to the coast 
of Oristano, where we had fresh fish caught by Mimmo, one of the proprietors. The next morning, his wife, Giovanna, served us fresh yogurt and homemade cake flavored with orange zest accompanied by giant hot cappuccinos, which we drank by the fire in the breakfast room. This fueled us for our windy hike out to the headland just down the coast. Our friend, Rachael, and her dog accompanied us for the weekend and the two dogs had a ball racing around the watchtower and the tip of the peninsula and then following Chad up to the top.Happily, we relaxed all day Monday, as it was Veteran’s Day and Chad
was off from work, before heading to the airport to pick up Andrea and Charley after their brief visit to Rome. We had a wonderful visit with them and, despite some chilly, wet weather, managed to get in a beautiful hike on Caprera to the watchtower with Massimo, a friend who is a guide for the park, as 
well as a drive along the panoramic road around La Maddalena. Sadly, then, the weather began to deteriorate and we had a series of chilly, rainy days, one of which included hail pelting against the windows, scaring our jittery pup. But, we made the most of it and visited the nuraghe of Arzachena, drove out to Punta Sardegna, and had a grand roadtrip down to the Capo Falcone peninsula to 
see the Pisan watchtower and the old tuna fishing town of Stintino with its many colorful boats tucked into its harbors . According to the rainy weather, lunch was usually the day’s centerpiece and we found many cozy restaurants where we sampled insalata di mare, prosciutto with pecorino cheese, gnochetti sardi, and zuppa gallurese amidst the occasional pizza and hearty salad. And, we ended each day back at home with a fire in the fireplace to warm us back up after our wanderings. As Charley and Andrea had quite an early start on Sunday and quite a long day of traveling to follow, we decided to stay at Le Macine, a small agriturismo in Loiri, just south of the airport in Olbia. After arriving to find the place dark and with no one home, we were a bit concerned, but a friendly woman soon came hustling out and explained that she had been without power during the storms and was scrambling to get ready for us. Soon, we were in our cozy rooms set up with a bottle of wine and glasses for the four of us. She explained that we
would have to eat in the kitchen as the heat hadn’t been on in the main dining room and it was quite cold. So, we sat around her little table in front of the fire, Manny at our feet, and had fantastic homemade ricotta ravioli, pomegranate salad, and suckling pig roasted with branches of myrtle. She also served fegato (liver) which we politely tasted and then tried to feed to Manny, who turned his nose up in favor of the accompanying fried artichokes. This was all a welcome feast after a blustery (in the Mediterranean sense) day of walking around Olbia, looking in neat old churches and down skinny cobblestone 
streets. After a bit of exploring, we headed up to Cabu Abbas, an old nuraghic site just outside of the city and sought refuge behind the old stone walls of the complex after being blasted by the winds. The vista was worth the exposure, as there was visible snow on the mountains down south and the sun was glistening on their white tops. Just before sunset, we headed south to San Teodoro, famed for its large lagoons full of an array of birds including pink flamingos! With the clearing skies, the sunset was beautiful and richly colored over the mountains behind us and was a perfect ending to a week of adventures before relaxing back at the agriturismo.The next morning was beautiful and bright and so we set off for a
hike on Capo Figaro, just north of Golfo Aranci, the major ferry port. This was, of course, after Chad kindly awoke in the wee hours to deliver Andrea and Charley to the airport, while I slept on and awaited his return. The hike was beautiful and afforded views of more snow-capped peaks and hidden bays along the peninsula in the shadow of the dramatic Isola Tavolara. And then, we returned to our quiet little house after a very full week.After many guests and weekend trips, we had planned on staying
at home for the long weekend after Thanksgiving, but saw good weather in the forecast and decided to take the chance and head south to the mountains of Barbagia, where we’d been in the spring and had been wanting to return to in order to hike to the Gola su Gorrupu, known as the “Grand Canyon of Sardegna.” So, after a day of recovery from Thursdays feasting, we packed a few clothes and some picnic supplies for our hike and headed out on Saturday morning under glorious bright sunshine. Unfortunately, the warmer weather during the week had melted the snow that we had seen from Olbia, but the scenery was still quite striking. The hike to the gorge was incredible, taking us along a wooded path that eventually led to a stream bed and to the very narrow passage in the rocks known as the “gola” or throat of the gorge. Limestone boulders lined the gorge, their bright white contrasting against the deep greens of the surrounding vegetation. Some of the trees were actually changing color, making it look autumnal. It was quite a hike and helped us to work up a good appetite for our agriturismo dinner that night. Along the drive on the way back, the colors of the sunset were sp
ectacular, causing us to pull off the side of the road several times in order to try to capture it on camera, but the pictures only hint at the scale of the drama of color and mountains. We had stayed at Agriturismo Didone in the spring and, upon arrival that trip, had came upon Giovanni butchering the lamb that we were to eat that night for supper. Dinner that night was fantastic, and Giovanni and Katy were very gracious hosts, such that we were eager to return there and see them again. This time, rather than lamb, we had what Giovanni described as “la pancha,” or the stomach of lamb and pig, both of which were a bit difficult to look at, but tasted very good. We didn’t make much of a dent in the serving and had to explain that this was our first time to try such a dish. Giovanni replied by saying that perhaps it takes a bit of getting used to.
The next morning, we awoke to rain and puzzled about what to do with our day. At first, we set off to see the famous Grotto Ispinigoli, which supposedly contained the world’s second biggest stalagmite at 38 meters, but, upon arrival, we saw a sign that said, “Next showing: tomorrow.” We wondered how long that sign had been there. The view from the entrance, however, was beautiful and we got to see the clouds moving out over the mountains to reveal a rainbow and the promise of what looked like it could be quite a nice rest of the day. From there, we set out along the Strada Orientale Sarda, a twisty road along the mountaintops that was built in the 1850’s by coal miners, an incredible feat for the time. In search of yet another 
cave that we’d read about, we headed off the main road down an even twistier, more narrow road to a trailhead through the Codula Illune (Valley of the Moon). This road should really have been named the Strada dei Animali as it was full of cows, goats, sheep, and pigs, causing much distraught howling from the back of our car. The valley did feel quite lunar as we hiked amongst large boulders along the river valley 
until the water disappeared underground into part of the large underground cave system that originated at the coast. Along the way, we discovered a sort of shepherd’s camp tucked in a cave complete with a covered porch outside and a wooden ramp from one level to the next. While enjoying another picnic on the rocks, we watched dark clouds moved in and warily contemplated driving back on the twisty roads in rain, but we somehow beat the rain on foot and even for the drive back and returned to a beautiful sunset in Palau.I forgot to mention that, on the morning we left, we were discussing how to make fresh ricotta cheese with Giovanni and he then disappeared briefly, returning with a bottle of warm sheep’s milk which had had undoubtedly just obtained. He also produced a small jar of something called “calio,” which I later learned means “to curdle,” and comes from the stomach of a cow. This, he told me, was the REAL way to make ricotta – using lemon juice was for the inexperienced. So, as I write this, I am waiting for the milk to curdle in yet another Italian cooking/science experiment.
I think that brings me up to the present. This has been quite a busy period, but it is all in an effort to pack in as much as we possibly can before we have to leave here in February. There will certainly be a sustained period of absorption of all of these experiences long after we depart, as things are happening too quickly now to fully take them in. That said, we are looking forward to December’s ski trip up to northern Italy with friends and will likely put together the next travelogue edition shortly after we return in the New Year. In the meantime, we hope everyone has wonderful holidays with friends and family, will miss being with you, and very much look forward to hearing about the feasting and visiting to come.
