With holiday planning for this year underway I’ve been thinking about previous trips we’ve been on together and Sardinia was one I haven’t thought about for a while. It was a trip with a bit of difference as it wasn’t so much booked as won in a competition but it’s definitely somewhere I’d return to.

A Facebook competition, surely not?

In-it to Win-it

A few years ago Felix found a competition on the Facebook page of Air Berlin (given that this airline no longer exists you have to wonder if this was such a good idea on their part). He had to answer 3 questions about celebrities and given that we googled the answers I wrote the whole thing off before he’d even finished it. A few weeks later we got an email – he had won.

I grew up in a culture of no-one-wins-things-like-this, although Nanna did once win an all expenses paid shopping trip to London, where she to bought a dishwasher, so I’m not sure why. Felix on the other hand grew up with a “you’ve got to be in it to win” it sort of attitude, and on this occasion it paid off.

Flights to Sardinia, 3 nights at Hotel Airone on the north east of the island and a cycling tour. For the girl who had just been coerced into buying a mountain bike, this was going to be interesting, but SARDINIA, woo!

F Ready for a day of beach hopping along the Costa Smeralda

Road Tripping

Tip: If traveling to Sardinia – hire a car

We were advised to hire a car, getting a good deal with AutoEurope, and after driving to a beach on the first day we were already happy we did.

Perhaps it was because it was low season, maybe in other parts of the island it is different, but I don’t think we saw public transport the entire time we were there. There were plenty of restaurants for indulging in ice cream and tiramisu, but it was clear we were there in low season and lots of places had already closed for the winter. All the more space on the beach for us.

On the second day we drove around the coast and visited some of the beaches on the Costa Smeralda, which is covered in the rocky landscape that Sardinia is famous for.

Sardinia Cycling

Included in the trip was a cycling tour and whilst I’m fairly comfortable on a bike these days, back then it was a different story. The furthest I had been on a bike was about half an hour up the isar, which for those that don’t know, requires minimal effort. When cycling in Sardinia, there are a few more gear changes, and there’s a lot more uphill.

Sardinia Cycling was the name of the company the tour was booked with and I can thoroughly recommend them. Our guide was Nicola, who was great at finding a challenging tour that was enough for Felix, and manageable for me, though he did help matters by saying:

There are 2 ways here, one is a little harder – (looking at Felix) you will be fine, (looking at me) I’m not so sure.

This of course settled which route we would be taking, and I was absolutely fine…just. The views from the top were stunning and it made the pain that would gradually take over my body for the next few days completely worth it…again, just.

So it turns out you really do have to be in-it to win-it, or at least have a boyfriend who is.

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