We have had a wonderfully relaxing Christmas on Isola Maddelena. Nice to stay put for a few days, eat and drink too much, lots of lovely video calls with family and friends.
We even managed to rouse ourselves to a circumnavigation of the island by bike on Boxing Day (mind you it is fairly small!), it was well worth the effort though. We took the Via Panormica to the highest point of the island and back around the north coast. We were rewarded with views to Corsica, back to Sardinia and even distantly to mainland Italy. We had some lovely meals out in Maddelena and generally enjoyed living like locals for a few days.
This morning we were awake early and raring to hit the road. We were queuing for the 9am ferry back to Sardinia alongside another fellow camper in a jeep with a roof top tent, our French neighbours from last night. Despite our track record of 2 of 4 attempted ferries cancelled to date, the 9am ferry left on time under blue skies. We did not go very far on arrival though as we had decided to stop for coffee and breakfast at our favourite café in Palau. So we parked up in the exact spot we located just under a week ago and headed in for a coffee.
Today’s destination was Tempio Pausania, a nice little inland town with a pretty old town area and close to a recommendation to visit from Simonetta. It was another lovely scenic drive across on very quiet roads through the hills. The signs for mandatory snow tyres in this area from November to April seemed entirely misplaced in the blue skies and 20 degree warmth of today, but obviously it must have the possibility of much colder weather.
There happens to be another InArea Sosta in Tempio Pausania (the only other one in Sardinia we stayed at previously), so we pulled straight in with a scan of the QR code at the gate with the app. Only one other van in currently, although we have seen one other try to enter and give up, obviously failed to sort the app out to get in.
First job is to do a bit of laundry and pick up some fresh supplies at the supermarket, both of which were more convenient here than our last stop.
Early evening we finally made it into old town Tempio Pausania. It turned out to be great timing as they have some really pretty Christmas lights lining the narrow cobbled streets. It all culminates in the main square with a real tree frosted with fake snow where it appears the Christmas market had been set up. The Christmas decorations all over on private houses and every town has given a lovely feel while we have been touring. I am not looking forward to them all coming down. Meanwhile, there are lots of lovely little boutique independent shops, restaurants and bars. We will enjoy an exploration this evening.
In for a Penney 