Our Everest

The body clock wakes a little earlier each day, perhaps knowing the best conditions for a run are just after sunrise.  Means I will hopefully see a Sardinian sunrise before we are through.

Made it my goal to run up the hill that we are perched on, so reduced distance and ticked that off as something I wanted to do before the week was out.

It also handily meant we were able to get out and about quicker and conserved a bit of energy that was much needed later on in the morning.

Fruit filled breakfast, and then into the car over to the looming beast of Monte Ferru, hard to have missed it these last few days at the far end of the sweeping coastline.

Missed an early sign so we ended up following some rally trails for a while which took us so far, but wasn't going to get us to the top. Retraced our steps and there it was, a windy, hidden trail upwards.

We had a bit of cover from the trees, although the cacti were stinging and the rocks not always firm underfoot. Needed to scamble a bit but the views got better and the bottles of water I was carrying offset any thirst. Barren land though and never sure where the top was - always another summit around another bend, as is the way with these things!

Finally we saw the Spanish tower on top of the climb (technically not the actual top but it really had to do) and we understand has been sitting there since around the 15th century, the Spanish another bunch who have laid claim to these lands over the years. There really have been many. Perhaps only in the 18th century did it really firm up its links with Northern Italy (Piedmont) before Garibaldi came on and did his bit.

The descent was quite difficult, technical I would say, and all of us took a fall at some point under pretty unstable ground. It was a steady as she goes plan and we really did have to work hard to maintain energy and focus, and dare I say, a bit of relief when we finally returned to terra fima.

Need a bit of R&R after that and our lovely home provided that, as did a stack of leftovers from last night, cold pasta, choccie mouse and a lot of liquid to rehydrate.

But of course the real R&R lay below us, and within 10 mins I was back in my alternative front room sipping the local lager, people watching and reading a bit. The poison of choice out here has been ichnusa  , a fairly flat lager which goes down a treat. We have tried the darker version of it, but light and oceanic  fits the bill next to the beach; also a couple of Peronis for good measure but we know all about them so when in Rome (or somewhere else in Italy) do as they do.

The climb back up to the house keeping the glutes working on this trip, am hoping this kicks London marathon back into gear as have not been training too well these last couple of weeks.  

Outside shower, some tidy clobber and then we walked down to the centre of Costa Rei. A bit disorganised on the meal front so ended up at the first place that would take us - seemed ok, and as I couldn't decide whether to have seafood or pizza I did my usual and have a seafood pizza!  Grub was fine, wine was cheap, service was awful. I'm a good tipper but if you are not looked after my 10-15% quickly drops to zero as was the case today.

Cracking walk back, the moon over the ocean, this is the life ....aperol spritz in hand mulling over favourite Italian artists, Robert Miles, Pavarotti and Joe Doclie in no particular order, let me hear you 'whats a matter you?' 

-Carys-

So it turns out, we did climb the mountain. With breakfast to energise us, suncream applied, and hats on  heads to shield us from the sun, we set off towards the mountain in the car (we're settling on it being called Robert de Niro as we've not come up with much better - no offence to Robert). We got there reasonably early, and it was quite shadowed near the bottom, so I had hope that the exploration wouldn't be too hot or sweaty - of course this did not last long. After walking for a good 40 minutes before realising we could get no further on this route; it was just dirt tracks for mountain bikes and things.

 So we walked back feeling slightly defeated, not a person in sight, as we'd accepted that there was no actual path up the mountain. But then, with a smug look on mum's face, we realised that the way she'd pointed out at the start of the track, had a sign pointing upwards, showing us that that was in fact the actual way to get up the mountain. So of course, we began to make our way upwards, not really knowing what we had cut out for us. We spent a good while getting up, the route being very technical - we had to avoid various bouts of cacti, these little white prickly bushes, and lots of spiky leaves - not always successfully.

 It was hard work but we do like a challenge so we powered up the hill, stopping to appreciate the beautiful views and catch our breath where necessary. Still absolutely no one in sight so part of me wondered if this was just a path trampled out by some people on occasion, and not a popular hiking spot. I saw one family, up on a different part of the mountain, who waved at the sight of me - I imagine they'd felt quite isolated throughout their hike as well. 

We decided the top was where we found a small watch tower, which I tried to climb but could not manage it, partly because there were few rocks to grab on to, and I also feared I'd fall, feeling very feeble at the time. I may have mentioned this previously, but at the shop, instead of normal water, sparkling water was purchased by accident. SO that was what we had to keep us refreshed on our travels, and I can't lie, it didn't do the best job. 

But I was grateful to have something to drink at all. After we felt ready enough to begin the descent, we began - and the disasters also began. We should have kept count, but all 3 of us managed to fall on the way down, amongst many other skids and slides. There was blood sweat and tears by the time we reached the bottom of the trail again. It was good fun though, and I'm glad we did it. It felt very much like us. We felt like proper explorers, just glad to be on solid ground again. 

Feeling a bit weak in the knees, we managed to get back to Robert de Niro, who safely brought us home, where I used the outdoor shower for the first tine, I thought it was great, and worked well at removing the dirt that was caked all over my arms and legs. After a little rest, to see if our legs would ever recover from feeling sore and achey, we walked on down to the beach, had a drink and an ice cream in the bar, and went for a dip in the sea. we didn't stay too long but I am really appreciating how gorgeous the sea is - and i'll really miss it when we return home.

 We all got ready, still removing dust from this morning, and went out for dinner. I somehow managed to fall again on the stairs on  the way down - still feeling a bit feeble I suppose?

 But I didn't hurt anything so had a good laugh over it. Dinner was enjoyable, for me at least. I had a vegan burger and some delicious chips - like flat, fried potatoes. Then we made our way yet again up the stairs (we've covered 17,329 steps with 116 floors in total) so hoping to get another good night's sleep!