#Sardinia Nuoro Orgosolo & Gorropu Gorge (Gola su Gorropu)

We are halfway through our week long visit to Sardinia. We ? Richard - my youngest son and I.

Neither of us have been here before although we have both been to Italy a number of times and I visited Sicily with my brother Rob last year. (it is interesting contrasting Sicily with Sardinia) - so we sort of know what to expect.

Rich and I have a similar expectation. We are here for a general look around - sightseeing - but mainly we want to be outdoors - walking and hiking and indoors trying out the local food and drinks - ha!

We are of course out of season - it is winter - so weather expectations reflect that. Sardinia attracts many tourists of course - but one bonus this time of year - is so far Sardinia has proved very quiet.

Sardinia is a very big island - the second biggest in the Mediterranean after Sicily. (Cyprus is 3rd). We therefore have to be realistic about how much we can see and do in the limited time we have.

We fly into Cagliari - the capital and largest city - but hire a car m nmmn at the airport and immediately drive to Nuoro - pretty much in the middle of (central) Sardinia. We had decided further north would be for another visit given time constraints.

Nuoro is our base in thve central mountain area for three nights. It is late afternoon when we arrive - overcast - raining at times - and the high ground shrouded in cloud - ha! However our B&B is good and the town not too far. Our first night sampling local hospitality is both fun and very filling.

Nuoro is Sardinia's sixth largest town - but still not that big. The guide book describes it as the Athens of Sardinia ! It is a cultural centre. I think the Athens claim relates to the number of museums (none of which we visited ha!). It is however located on the granite slopes of Mount Ortobene.

Our first mornings activity is to walk to the top of Ortobene. It starts off cloudy - but it is quiet and peaceful with nobody around. It is a lovely walk. The summit is marked with a huge bronze statue of the Redentore (Christ the Reedemer). The views from the top over Nuoro and the surrounding hills and mountains are slightly impaired by the weather but only slightly. We were rewarded. It was a really good morning.

We get down and thought is of lunch. I am hungry. Young Rich starving - ha!

Our plan is to head to Orgosolo - a village famed for the 150 or so murals painted on the exterior walls of their houses. The roads seem relatively good in Sardinia - compared to the nightmare of Sicily. They are certainly much quieter. However the roads are mega windey - Top Gear special type roads. Views of the landscape are great - a geologist dream - working out how the mountains were formed and carved etc. On our way we see an amazing sight. We stop and watch. It is large numbers of birds swooping and soaring across the road and above us. They are probably starlings. A murmaration I think it is called. It is small scale I suppose but special to see. Rich tries to capture it on the video below but it proves impossible to capture it properly. We get to Orgosolo and park up. It is very quiet and not much is open. We speculate whether it is the time of year - the time of day - maybe second homes - or is it one of those villages being increasingly depopulated as locals move out to areas with more opportunity.? We walk through the narrow main street. The murals are great but we are hungry. Thankfully we find a restaurant that is open. We are the only customers but it turned out to be memorable and great value. Simple service with traditional food and wine. We also shared a horse rib - medium rare. In the UK many people would be squeamish about that. We are not and it is quite normal to eat horse in southern Italy.

Now we have dined we can give the murals our full attention. We wander around the narrow streets of this hardy place perched on the mountain side. Apparently most of the inhlabitants were originally shepherds. The murals are everywhere. They mainly reference political and social justice - a harsh life - and the struggles to keep land and traditions. Impressive.

The next day we have a walk to Gorropu gorge/canyon planned. It is the reason we based ourselves in Nuoro. The Gorropu trail is recommended in all the guidebooks and it was one we particularly wanted to do. The omens were good - a bright weather day forecast and that is how it turned out. Cool, fresh and windless with good visibility from the start and improving. The most remarkable thing - apart from seeing two old men picking Myrtle berries near the start - a timeless scene - we had the whole walk and canyon to ourselves. We literally saw no one else. It was so quiet and peaceful.

A bit about Gorropu. Gorropu is one of the deepest gorges in Europe. It has been carved and shaped over time by the Flumineddu River. We approach on the Genna Silenna Pass and it is a two hour walk to the main gorge entrance. The cliffs are limestone and the cliffs tower above up to 500 metres high. The boulders are massive and tactile. The scale is amazing. Truly spectacular. A special place made all the more incredible that this force of nature was for our time shared only by Rich and I. Worth every second of the effort.

Our mob photos could not capture the scale - cannot do the magnificent rock formations and boulders justice. Rich and I sat on a huge boulder - rounded and smoothed by millenia of water erosion. We are in the middle of the canyon floor and eat are our lunch. No one else. Silence. Dwarfed by the magnificent cliffs. A special memory for sure.

Anyway enough for now. Some photos.