by Roy -

Bologna, home to mortadella and ragù, is one of the best places to eat out in Italy, says John Brunton – and one of the cheapest.

Bologna

Bologna is known as “La Grassa” (the Fat One), and this friendly city can stake a strong claim to being at the heart of Italian cuisine. This is the home of fresh pasta, the famous mortadella sausage, and nearby there are the finest producers of Parma ham, Parmigiano cheese, balsamic vinegar. There is no better place in Italy for eating out, and it really is almost impossible here to pay a lot of money for a meal.

Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 155 user reviews.

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by Roy -

This article is written by Justin Rabindra. Justin is a Manager with an Advertising Agency in Delhi. He is also an avid traveler and photographer.

Wandering around the main piazza in Florence, my eye was drawn to the spectacularly bight colours in this bar. I was hoping I could hold the camera steady long enough to get a decent enough exposure (it was night). I needn’t have worried, the lights were bright enough to freeze the frame without camera shake. On the other hand maybe I have rock steady hands.

Justin Rabindra

29 Nov 2008

http://justinrabindra.blogspot.com/2008/11/bar-in-florence.html

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 251 user reviews.

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by Roy -

This article is written by Dr Ruchika Mendiratta

The moment one reaches Rome one falls in love with it. This ancient city of Europe, situated on both sides of river Tiber, is a city of contrasts in many ways. A modern city squeezed into a maze of old streets.

The Piazza Navona, Roma

The capital of Italy, Rome is surrounded by seven hills. Layers of history are superimposed here and they seem to be pouring out of every nook and corner.

Marble bust of Julius Caesar, first century C.E.; recently discovered on the Island of Pantelleria

My husband and I felt elated just to think that we are walking on the streets where once mighty kings like Julius Caesar tread. The Colosseum looks gigantic and makes us wonder how men used to fight with ferocious animals here.

At Pantheon we were awestruck by the imposing architecture. It is surprising to see that when architecture as a subject was not there, the buildings used to be made with such precision. Rome is also famous for its fountains.

The Trevi Fountain, Rome

The Trevi Fountain was breathtaking. Flanked by huge sculptures and water cascading down, it looks beautiful. People here have a belief that if you toss a coin over your shoulder and make a wish it always comes true. So both my husband and I did exactly that.

Rome is a very lively city. Although language is a problem people are quite friendly. We specially liked the hop on hop off bus, which we took to see the major tourist attractions of the city.

Bocca della Verità or ‘Mouth of Truth’

One can get off at any spot, roam around for some time and catch the next bus. I was very excited to visit the Mouth of Truth and put my hand in it. It was like a dream come true for I had seen it in the movie, Roman Holiday.

We enjoyed visiting the museums, street and other places. A high point of our trip was visit to Saint Peter’s Cathedral at the Vatican City. We were impressed by its opulence. Works of Michelangelo and other artists stand out. The fully lit church at night looks amazing. Rome has several parks and some of them are so big that it takes more than half-a-day to see them.

A guided tour of underground Rome showed us how the modern city developed over the centuries.

Besides seeing the churches, parks and other historical places we also had a fantastic time eating the different kinds of pastas, pizzas and the sumptuous gelatos, which are available in several flavours. After staying in Rome for five days we visited a few more cities in Italy and Switzerland and came back with memories to cherish and totally refreshed.

Ruchika Mendiratta

20 June 2011

http://travel.hindustantimes.com/travelogues/splendid-rome.php

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 234 user reviews.

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by Roy -

This article is written by Parmanu, an Indian writer based in Germany

On Sunday, we decided to first visit the small church in our town, Lezzeno, before continuing to Bellagio. Visiting the church on a Sunday morning is a fast-disappearing habit in parts of Europe, and we thought it a good idea to preserve a memory or two of this ritual before it becomes extinct. But what we saw on this Sunday showed that our fears were for nothing. The whole town turned up at the church that morning, some in fine grey suits with sailor caps on their heads and wind instruments in their hands, and the ceremony we watched went back, we were told later, six hundred years.

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Upon seeing this crowd — with its band, and the jollity all around — our excitement knew no bounds; Wife and I promptly took up positions and pointed our cameras at the locals, like tourists from the city descending on a tribal ceremony in the Amazon. I wondered if anyone noticed the reversal: in the land of the Paparazzi, the hunters were now the hunted. If they did, they didn’t seem to mind; some gave us generous smiles, but most of the locals ignored us, busy in their chatter on this fine Sunday morning. We waited across the road and watched as the band stood in line with their flutes, saxophones, trumpets, cymbals, bass drums and kettle drums, played an upbeat tune, after which everyone walked into the church. We followed, tentatively, through a side door. Inside, they all stood up for a hymn, and then a sermon began. We listened to the Italian pastor, invisible to us from the aisle, speak in a solemn tone as the congregation sat listening in rapt attention. After a few minutes we quietly slipped out, again through the side door.

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This was better than what we had hoped for, but more was to come later that day. There was, however, an interlude in Bellagio.

If someone hatched a plot to get rid of all the tourists in the world, Bellagio would be a good place to start: with a single stroke a good third of this community would vanish from the earth. On a more constructive note, the town is an ideal site for an anthropologist studying the habits of this curious breed. We found, on our short walk through its winding streets (in Italy, all towns have “winding” streets), a young woman attempting a self portrait in a corner of a small square. As she went back and forth between her camera and her position, taking and retaking a shot in the manner of a fashion shoot, other tourists crossing the square forgot, momentarily, the town they were exploring and stopped instead to look at this unfolding spectacle. The woman, to her credit, was unmoved by this attention.

After a couple of hours of winding around we grew tired of jostling with the tourists; it was time to return. In Lezzeno, walking back after another good lunch at the Aurora, we ran into a traffic jam. A policeman, standing at its head, was followed by a tail of cars and bikes, all with their engines shut. They were made to wait for the procession of the feast of the Madonna, a festival whose beginning we had seen that morning. We stood next to the policeman, our cameras ready. Soon a column of Italians emerged, first the children, followed by women, then the handsome marching band, and finally the men carrying Virgin Mary’s statue.

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As they came down the SS583, I could see why this road is so narrow: it was made not for two cars to pass each other, but for this marching band, whose beginnings preceded the automobile by a few centuries.

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The column turned into a small alley, climbed up to the next block, and returned to the church along a parallel street. After the serendipitous encounter in the morning, this was another stroke of luck: ten minutes later we would have missed this beautiful procession.

Later in the evening our landlady explained, in French, some elements of the festival. Recalling the Assumption of Mary, the procession took place around the end of September each year; this tradition was about six centuries old, and she had taken part, like everyone else in town, since childhood.

Parmanu

23 Oct 2011

The feast of the Madonna

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 171 user reviews.

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by Roy -

This article is written by Harkirat Singh, Managing Director, Woodland, who is based out of Delhi

The serene ambience and quiet of Riva Del Garda wins hands down as my preferred business travel destination. When travelling out of the country for business, I look for not just completing official engagements at breakneck speed but also someplace I can just let go and merge with the landscape and beauty, without having to worry about deadlines and protocols. Going often to Italy for work, I try to squeeze in two days to visit Riva Del Garda and though I cannot manage it evertime, when I do, I always come back feeling a lot lighter and happier. Seeking freedom from the regular humdrum of city life, this small city offers much needed solace and comfort. Europe has a lot to put on the platter for an international business traveller today – from large cosmopolitan cities to small towns that are almost always a pleasant experience. And I for one, do like to explore cities and towns that are not necessarily on the popular, must-do tourist circuit, having done that years ago.
The town of Riva Del Garda at the southern edge of the Italian Alps suits my sensibilities perfectly. In close proximity to Milan in Italy, the town is unique in itself and is known just as simply as Riva. The place with its unparalleled scenic beauty is probably Italy’s best kept secret. The biggest tourist attractions here are The Museo Civico, the medieval fortress placed on the lake, Varone falls, Tenno Lake, Lago di Ledro (with its pale ethnographic museum) but it is the international shoe fair that is hosted by the city twice every year, that sees maximum attendance.

The city has a lot of cultural activity, especially during summer months when the afternoons are warm and windy and the nights witness thunderstorms. The International Shoe Fair usually takes me there for work. Italy is the Mecca of inventions and bold trends in the field of fashion–and this is not just limited to garments alone but also to footwear.

Often during the summer months, I extend my stay and dabble in some of the adventure sports that the place has on offer. While back home I play golf and tennis, when in Riva with time to spare, I end up going for conducted rock climbing expeditions. And more frequently, for sailing and windsurfing. Riva Del Garda has two well kept harbours and plenty of takers for the sport.

The city is also every food aficionado’s paradise and offers authentic Italian food. I love one particular restaurant, which is built on a cave and is cut out into a Mountain rock. It is one of the oldest restaurants there and serves raw meat specialities. All around the lake there are local markets where you can find authentic Italian memorabilia. There are a couple of restaurants around the lake which whip up some truly delicious and fresh sea food. Top it up with Italian wine and you can make it one of your most exquisite culinary experiences. While, Riva Del Garda is in itself a perfect place to just be with yourself or with business associates, family and guests, you can always hop across to Verona and Milan which are a few miles away and add them to your travel itinerary.

When it comes to travelling to Europe, Lufthansa is on the top of my list as it is convenient and well connected all through.

Harkirat Singh
10 Oct 2011
http://travel.hindustantimes.com/travel-stories/riva-del-garda-italys-best-kept-little-secret.php

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 233 user reviews.

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by Roy -

This article is written by Cyrus Dadachanji, an avid food journalist, storyteller, non-fiction film and TV scriptwriter, researcher, advertising copywriter and poet, based in Mumbai

Rome is probably the only city in the world that’s so steeped in history, that it’s more proud of its ruins than of the structures still erect! Truly, a city you could easily lose your heart to!

Welcome to the Capital of what was one of the greatest empires in the world, and today is the Capital of Christendom. Welcome to Rome. The only city in the world that actually has a city within a city. Rome boasts of a rich and varied heritage. A legacy of power and opulence that oozes from every pore of the city. Where every crumbling brick has its own tale to tell. Tales of treachery, deceit, power-broking, hedonism or love. Rome is the city of faith and love alike. Where God and Cupid, seemingly inhabit every avenue, every Church and every street corner. For only in Rome are history and passion so intricately intertwined that one would be nothing without the other.

Rome is an art lover’s idea of Paradise. The city is teeming with historical monuments, paintings, sculptures, temples, basilicas and architecture that’s so rich in its diversity, that it would probably take a person a few months, if not longer to appreciate it all. However, Rome’s real attraction lies in the remnants of its ancient history and the only way to truly appreciate the grandeur of the city 2, 000 years ago, is to walk around it. And as you do, Rome will surely take your breath away, every time you round a corner.

“Rome is a city that has been built many times upon itself, layer upon layer.”

Let’s begin our stroll around Rome at the Piazza Venezia, which is almost at the centre of the city. The Piazza is the site of a giant marble monument built to honour unified Italy’s first king, Victor Emmanuel II. This relatively modern monument, with its towering Greek columns, just gives you an idea of the scale of construction, when the Empire was in its heyday. Walk around the monuments, up a majestically sweeping flight of steps, designed by Michaelangelo, to the ancient seat of power, Capitol Square on Capitoline Hill. The Palazzo Senatario across the Square is an ornate palace that’s still the ceremonial seat of Rome’s City Hall. But it is not as simple as it seems. Rome is a city that has built been many times upon itself, layer upon layer. Churches replacing ancient Roman temples. Monuments to one conqueror obliterating his predecessors’. And so on Capitoline Hill too, the Palazzo Senatario s actually built on the ancient Tabularium, where Rome’s archives were once stored. Ring out the old, ring in the new.

Step into the Capitoline Museum across the Square to see a wonderful statue of Marcus Aurelius, Rome’s finest military strategist on horseback. The Museum also has a 2500 year old bronze statue of a wolf which supposedly reared Romulus after whom Rome was named along with various busts of Ceasers over the centuries and some impressive mosaic work retrieved from Hadrian’s Villa among its other art treasures. In the courtyard of the Palazzo de Conservatori, opposite the Museum, lie the remnants of what was once a giant statue of Emperor Constantine, looking onto the Roman Forum. The head of the statue alone is eight and a half feet tall! The various parts of the statue are arranged around the courtyard and make a perfect photo opportunity.

In the valley below the Capitol Hill lies Rome’s most revered ruins after the Colosseum, The Roman Forum. The Forum was the seat of Government, Commerce and Religion, drawing all of Rome to its majestic halls and temples over two thousand years ago.As you walk around the Forum, the sheer grandeur of Rome as it was begins to dawn on you. What were once giant meeting halls and temples are today reduced to rubble, thanks to age, neglect or sheer vandalism in many cases. Two thousand years ago, the processions of Roman emperors passed by the Temple of Antonio and Faustina, Marcus Aurelius’s foster parents, as crowds cheered by the thousand.

Temple of Antonio and Faustina

Rome’s prosperity can be judged from the ruins of Basilica Amelia, an ancient convention centre built in 179 BC. Note the green stains on the wall caused by the destruction of Copper coins, when the Goths attacked Rome and pillaged the city. The Curia, in the Forum is where the senate met and discussed matters of state, often aided by the predictions of seers and astrologers. The Forum also has its fair share of arches and temples celebrating conquests great and small as well as glorifying a hedonistic lifestyle. Any tour of the Forum would be incomplete without a mention of the Temple of Vesta, where Vestal Virgins once tended an eternal flame and if it went out, the lax virgin would pay for it with her life. Strange, how some things never seem to change…

“Each edifice is grander and more opulent than the last. And the Colosseum is the perfect example of the Roman penchant for imposing constructions.”

Walk around Rome and it would seem as though the word small didn’t exist in the ancient Roman’s dictionary. Each edifice is grander and more opulent than the last. And the Colosseum is the perfect example of the Roman penchant for imposing constructions. Constructed in 80 A.D., the Colosseum must have been the largest open-air amphitheatre in the world, in its day. It was faced with marble and had a huge stone arena with three tires of shaded viewing galleries capable of seating upto 50, 000 spectators! And if the construction seems grand, the programmes held here would put most of our modern day spectacles into the shade. The inaugural games lasted for 100 days, with races and gladiators fighting each other, when they weren’t fighting wild beasts. It is reported that over 5000 wild animals were killed on the first day of the games! Today, the floor of the Colosseum is no more and one can see a maze of cubicles and cells, where the wild beasts and gladiators were kept, before they were brought up to meet their respective destinies!

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 234 user reviews.

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by Roy -

Greek Temple in Agrigento, Sicily

In the event you enjoy archaeology, then once you are in Sicily, you have to go see the Valley of the Temples, the greatest and most noteworthy collection of ancient Greek ruins located anyplace. You will also discover necropolis, residences, avenues and all the other artifacts you’d expect to see in an ancient metropolis. You are going to definitely would like to see the tiny amphitheatre, the quite a few auditoria, and also the world-class archaeological museum. Do not leave out the Concord Temple; it has 13 tall columns that show the effects of the wind. Located outside the city of Agrigento, situated on the southern coast of Sicily, the temples appear dramatic within the evening when floodlights outline their shape and size.

December four, Saint Barbara Day, is celebrated within the Sicilian town of Paterno on the slopes of Mount Etna volcano. Right after the parade citizens set up a nativity scene. Santa Lucia Day, December 13, is celebrated in quite a few Italian localities including the city of Siracusa whose huge parade includes a golden coffin carrying the saint towards the Church of Santa Lucia. There is a week of festivities culminating with a major fireworks display over the harbor and a different parade that brings the coffin back towards the crypt. Among the a lot of nativity scenes be sure to see one in Custonaci, which is re-enacted inside a cave. The exhibition consists of a regular nativity scene and an ancient village total with shops. The town of Acireale is also known for its nativity scene. Celebrate New Year’s Eve in Palermo with fireworks and an outdoor music show.

Practically every region on the island has a museum dedicated towards the history of it. This one is dedicated towards the ancient city of Agrigento plus the surrounding region. Like a lot of other Sicily museums, this one displays antiquities discovered for the duration of excavations that occurred inside the 20th century. The highlights of this museum contain finds from the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento and nearby cities.

Examples of other tours the tourist may well enjoy incorporate: In Trapani, the “Myth, History and Ancient Cookies: Erice and Segesta”
tour, which is often a full day private tour to discover concerning the history of Sicily, view a Greek temple and theatre, and sample the almond cookies and marzipan from ancient recipes; the “Alcantara Gorge and Fancavilla” tour, which is a private tour along the gorge to witness how the lava flows affected the river creating the impressive gorges and ravines and where the tourist can rent hip-waders to obtain the full river experience; there is also the “Messina Taormina Jewish Tour” where visitors can see the Jewish quarter in the city of Messina.

Guest Post by Marla Alexander

Sept 2011

http://travel.internetindia.com/

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 153 user reviews.

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by Roy -

Como Pano as viewed from Lake Como

Driving southeast from Germany, through Switzerland towards Italy, the Italians reach you before you reach Italy. In a service area near the Swiss-Italian border, the small grey-haired lady behind the coffee counter (who turns to customers with a sprightly “Prego!”) is surprised by our request for a Cappucino mit Sahne (cream); for the Italians, coffee goes only with milk. We are heading towards the Italian Lake District, to a town next to lake Como, about 20 kilometers from the city with the same name. Como is close to the Swiss border, which explains the Swiss-Italian blend visible there. The roads are small, but the traffic exhibits traces of Swiss restraint. Fashion shows a stronger Italian influence: the elegant costumes in Como mirror the styles I’ve seen in Milan. The elaborate lakeside villas and the expensive cars – Mercedes Benzs, BMWs, Porches – paint a Swiss-like glossy, rich canvas. You could take in the alpine mountains all around and believe you are still in Switzerland. This isn’t the Italy of the South, not the real Italy, as some would say.

We reach Como on a balmy Friday afternoon, and continue along the treacherous road to Lezzeno. The SS583, a winding road that cuts through the mountainside along the western arm of lake Como, is not more than four meters

wide in most places, and it narrows down to two meters along some curves. When there is time to spot an approaching car I slow down almost to a halt, but there are times when you meet the daring Italian in his tiny Fiat around a blind bend, and at such times the only recourse is to close your eyes and pray to the local diety, la Madonna. After twenty minutes on this highway I can take it no more; I drive into the next roadside restaurant I spot.

The pizzeria, which has a terrace overlooking the lake and the mountains, appears empty, and the only man attending is in no hurry to serve us. He arrives at our table after ten minutes and reluctantly presents the menu cards. We spend the next two hours there. Wife joins a long teleconference, and uses her iPad to give a presentation. (It is a sobering reminder that we belong to the “always-connected” generation, and that we do not control when we go “offline”). I gaze around at the green mountains curtained by a thin mist, at the occasional boat that ferries people across the lake, at the bees leisurely surveying the flowers on the railings. The view probably hasn’t changed much over the centuries; there are surely more settlements next to the lake, but everything else seems untouched. This may be an illusion created by the stillness of water and the immovable, immutable mountains: you feel they’ve been around for thousands of years, and will continue for thousands more. There is a timelessness about this place that make two hours seem like eternity.

Our room is in an apartment in Lezzeno, one of the small towns hugging the mountainside. The landlady is a friendly middle-aged Italian woman, whose second language is French; neither of us know Italian, but Wife claims to understand French: she deals with the handover business. The Italians cannot speak without using their hands, so what ensues is a frenetic display of gestures, emotions, and words, at the end of which Wife sends me a reassuring glance: everything is understood, settled.

It is a modern, well-furnished apartment, with a hall serving as a common living-dining-kitchen and with two individual rooms. Guests are expected for the weekend in the other room too: a French couple later that afternoon, and a German lady next day, once the French leave. The hall has windows that open out to the lake, about a hundred meters away, and a row of cottages stands in between. But these houses are at a lower level, which leaves us an unobstructed view, similar to the one from the restaurant terrace we just left, but at a lower level. I unload the car and settle down to read. Among the Italian magazines in the apartment is a copy of Vogue with a black & white picture of three plump beauties; inside is a photo essay with the tag-line “Curvy is Sexy”. I am still flipping through these pages when the landlady comes in, followed by an elderly couple, the French guests. My first instinct is to turn the pages to a safer section, but then it occurs to me that we are dealing with the French: why hide anything? After a few friendly greetings – the zestful Bongiorno! has now turned into the sensualBonjour – the landlady goes on to explain the apartment to our fellow guests. When she leaves, the elderly French lady is keen to speak to us: do we speak French? Je parle une petit peu Francais, Wife replies with confidence, and that is enough encouragement for the lady: she begins a conversation; I retire to the bedroom. Some minutes later, when I turn my ears to sounds from the hall, I hear a stream of French sentences punctuated by short mouse-like squeaks. I listen harder: the lady is going on and on, and every once in a while Wife manages to squeeze in an “Oui!” before the lady continues with her discourse. …………. Oui! …………… Oui! ……….. Oui! ……

Church

In the evening, after the sun goes down and before darkness seeps in, we walk to the nearby restaurant the landlady has recommended. The town clings to a small stretch of SS583, and on both sides of this road are the familiar Italian-style cottages, simple houses with small wooden windows, tiny grilled balconies, and orange-tiled roofs in a slight incline. The road is deserted, but every now and then a car or a motorbike whizzes past. When vehicles approach together in both directions we stop and lean back, against a moss-covered brick wall or an aluminum railing, praying that the vehicle on our side is driven by a tourist, not an Italian; then, recovering our breath, we continue walking. The lake, to our left, glitters like a sea of molten lead, and the mountains in the distance fold over the sky as it grows dark. Soon we reach a small church, lit in amber, with a small stone-covered courtyard in front. This space will be the locus of an important ceremony in two days, but we do not know this yet. We take some pictures, and walk over to the restaurant. Aurora, a charming lakeside ristorante, is packed with foreign tourists; conversations are in English – British and American – and the waiters speak English too. My penne pasta is excellent, the best I’ve tasted in years. An hour and half later we walk back, watching the sparkling lights on the far side, listening to the hum of a ferry crossing the lake. In less than half a day, Italy has shown us a different life, a mix of leisure, beauty, terror, and full of character.

9 Oct 2011

This Article is sourced from the blog, http://parmanu.com/, the author is an Indian living in Germany

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 193 user reviews.

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by Roy -

Most of the 48 rooms in the luxurious Hotel Petra Bianca boast striking views of Costa Smeralda’s Cala di Volpe bay.

Sardinian cuisine is all about simple pleasures. Eat freshly caught sea urchins, anemones, mussels and clams in one of the many smart fish restaurants that stud the coast. Or for authenticity without the hefty price tag, go rustic at an agriturismo with farm-fresh flavours like porcetto al mirto (myrtle-infused suckling pig) and zuppa gallurese (pecorino and bread casserole).

Budget: Great-value home cooking means La Vecchia Costa (pictured) is always booked solid. Order lorighittas (ring-shaped pasta) in porcini lamb sauce, €8.50, and sea bass with rocket, fresh tomatoes and basil, €3 per 100g, plus a bottle of house vermentino, €6.50. The restaurant is on the Arzachena-Porto Cervo road.

Clean, bright Mediterranean flavours dominate at Locanda del Tre Botti in Baia Sardinia. Take a seat on the terrace for a three-course set menu, €18. Fish is a big deal here and the plump mussels, €10, and seafood risotto, €14, are spot-on.

Blowout: Understated glamour is what Spinnaker in Liscia di Vacca is all about. On the terrace you can join bronzed socialites for a long lunch. Start with sautéed calamari with artichokes, €12, then try the local rock lobster, €17 per 100g. (0039 789 91226)

Dinner
Budget: Luigi welcomes you like a family member at Agriturismo Rena (pictured) near Arzachena. Bring a hearty appetite for a €30 feast of home-produced cheese, meat and wine, served in a barn-style dining room. Ricotta-filled culurgiones (ravioli) are followed by abbacchio (suckling lamb), dolci and grappa.

Set above the marina in Porto Cervo, La Petronilla feels a million miles away from the Gucci-clad crowd below. Specialities include spaghetti with granseola (spider crab), €15, and seadas (pastries filled with ricotta) drizzled with bitter honey, €5.

Blowout: Perched in the hills above Porto Cervo, rustic I Frati Rossi uses local ingredients to stunning effect in dishes such as spaghetti with clams and bottarga (mullet roe), €18, and ricotta ice cream, €8. A tree-lined terrace adds romance.

Drink
Budget: Right on the church square in the quaint village of San Pantaleo is blissfully relaxed Caffè Nina (pictured). Sit on the piazza-facing terrace or in the arty stone interior for a glass of tangy white vermentino, €5, with a cheese and salami tasting plate, €10. Or stop by for an after-dinner mirto (myrtle liqueur), €5.

Cafè Mediterraneo in Porto Cervo marina has prime views of the mega yachts yet modest prices. From its waterfront terrace, you can watch the floating mansions over a glass of wine, €4, frozen cocktail, €8, or zesty lemon sorbet, €6.50. (0039 789 91155)

Blowout: Round out an evening stroll in Porto Cervo with drinks at Il Sole on see-and-be- seen Piazzetta square. Bag one of the white sofas on the terrace to check out passing film stars over a flute of Ferrari spumante, €10. (0039 789 931709)

Hotels
Budget: Nestled amid myrtle trees in hills above Arzachena, boutique b&b Lu Pastruccialeddu (pictured) is an idyll. A 19th-century farmstead houses light, tasteful rooms, doubles from €75, and suites overlooking a tranquil pool from €100. Catarina puts on a sumptuous breakfast, with homemade preserves, cakes and biscuits.

Just a minute’s drive from the harbour of Poltu Quatu is Bed and Breakfast Costa Smeralda in Lu Cumitoni. Its breezy blue-andwhite rooms have free WiFi. Doubles from €80. Enjoy fresh breakfast pastries on a veranda with a sea view.

Blowout: Luxurious Petra Bianca sits high above Cala di Volpe bay and is fringed by Mediterranean gardens. Most of the elegant rooms overlook the sea. A terrace restaurant serves market-fresh dishes. Doubles from €200.

Must do
Budget: Hidden in an Olbia backstreet, Anticas Licanzias is a wonderland of Sardinian sweets (around €19 per kilo). Indulge in papassinos (moist amaretti biscuits) and casadinas (mini ricotta cheesecakes with saffron). You can also pick up pane carasau (wafer-thin flatbread baked until crisp in a wood oven), €7 per kilo. (0039 327 882 8331)

On the Arzachena-Porto Cervo road, look for a ‘formaggi e salumi’ sign to find Azienda Agricola Mossa Alessandro (pictured). Buy creamy goat’s milk ricotta, €5 per piece, mature Fiore sardo pecorino, €13 per kilo, and salami, €22 per kilo. (0039 380 366 1325)

Blowout: Sample the region’s vermentino white and cannonau red wines at Cantina Surrau near Arzachena. A €30 tasting gets you five different wines, accompanied by local cheese, salami, bottarga and Sardinian sweets.

Kerry Christiani – BBC Olive Magazine

4 Oct 2011

http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20110928-budget-and-blowout-guide-to-costa-smeralda

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 239 user reviews.

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