Back to reality: Olbia. A charming mishmash of a city
40° 55′ 21.7992” N 9° 30′ 28.188” E
July 5 to July 9th
After five hours of sailing, we set foot in Circolo Nautic Olbia, a small harbour in the center of Olbia. After 24 hours in the paradise of the super rich, Porto Cervo, we are again 100 percent back in reality. In Olbia we find life and energy, noise and quarrels, ugly houses and beautiful houses. Palms and port industry. A mishmash of a city. Wonderful.
Most guidebooks do not have anything nice to say about Olbia. It has nothing to offer, they claim. We liked the city. It has an active environment around the small city ports, it has a good supermarket, several ship chandlers and an excellent archaeological museum right next to our harbour. A young archeologist guides us into the Nuraghi civilization which laid the foundation for Sardinia from 2000 BC. To 700 BC, when it gradually became absorbed in the culture of the Roman Empire. Simply interesting.
What is this? A kindergarten for buoys growing bigger? An unorthodox signal saying, that here you will find many rocks under sea-level? Buoys by the thousands are marking the route to Olbia.
However, the very best about Olbia is, that the city has an airport. Our son, Lasse, and five years old granddaughter, Nellie, have just announced that their scheduled trip to Geneva has been canceled, and we are eagerly pointing out, that we have an alternative suggestion, while we right now are moored close to an airport with direct exit to five days of unbeatable cruising on board Ronja in the wonderful eastcoast of Sardinia.
Bonusinfo: Try the restaurant Officina de Gusto in Olbia. We found it good value for money. The archaeological museum costs eight euros per person, and for that price you have your very own English speaking guide for an hour. Try it. Some of the small ports of Olbia are private and usually not open to guests. We arrived during the siesta, and when the port people came back to work, they let us stay. You can also lie along the old commercial dock. Maybe it’s free. There is neither electricity nor water.