La Maddalena - Sardinia

Originally, we planned to take the bus to Olbia, the fourth largest city in Sardinia, on this morning. However, when we looked at the weather forecast just before the hotel shuttle to the port (and therefore to our stop) was about to depart, we realized that massive amounts of rain were predicted for the city in the afternoon. Palau, where we were staying, on the other hand, was supposed to be spared. So, 4 minutes before the planned departure, we changed our plans for the day, hurried back to our room, and put on hiking shoes. With a hiking backpack, we quickly returned to the reception, where we discovered that the hotel shuttle wasn't leaving on time anyway. So we waited a bit and then went to the port of Palau to take the ferry to La Maddalena.

We arrived just in time for the departure at the port (although it was naturally later than announced in the timetable) and reached the island of La Maddalena after a short crossing.

This is the main island of an archipelago with seven islands that we wanted to explore on foot today. The islands and waters are protected as a national park.

The ferry docked at the port of the city of La Maddalena, which is larger than Palau with its 13,000 inhabitants.

We first walked through some alleys of the old town and then followed the road out of town, which stretched quite a long way.

At some point, the houses became fewer and the streets smaller. Fortunately, this also meant less traffic, as there were hardly any sidewalks and we had to walk on the road.

After about 5 kilometers, we reached the panoramic road, which also leads to Cala Spalmatore beach.

We sat by the shore next to a (unfortunately) closed bar, where we could have bought refreshments and snacks in the summer. Everything was closed in October. Only a few island employees were dismantling the remaining movable beach boundaries and pavilions, while being observed by two seagulls.

We could have had the beach all to ourselves, but we decided to keep walking. It was warm enough to go to the beach: while walking uphill in the sun, we started sweating quite a bit.

So we walked along the road back to the main town. The passing cars and mopeds were a bit uncomfortable because they didn't slow down or keep a distance.

Finally, we returned to the town and strolled through the old town of La Maddalena for a while.

On the square named after him, Giuseppe Garibaldi, the freedom fighter, sat and served as a photo opportunity for passing tourists.

We treated ourselves to some Italian ice cream after finding an ice cream parlor that was still open in October and then took the ferry back to Palau.

There, we visited the ethnological museum, which is only open for two hours every afternoon.

The small exhibition displays objects from the area from earlier times in two rooms.

Everything was labeled in Italian and Sardinian. Sardinian is the regional language on the island, which is still spoken by some locals today.