Destination Unknown!

These 4 Girls...

...Decided to take me...
...to Baunei! A small town at elev. 1,500 ft

Time has literally stopped here,

people dress and still do things "the old way"

The terrace that overlooks the valley at 1.500ft

But it gets even better!

The whole time they wouldn't tell me EXACTLY where we were going...

... so we would stop and be silly on the the way, to where though???

I would make them pose ...

... and I tried out new functions on my camera...

...but still, where were we off to???

Mrs. Donkey, could you tell me where these CRAAAZY girls are taking me???

But wait! Could it be we're already here???
Hurrrrayyy! Yes! We're HERE!
I was laughing soo hard because I went to jump on the bed, but didn't notice that this one in the middle wasn't a bed with springs!!! So I jumped and it went CRACK!!!!

My crazy friends organized a camping and hiking trip for me, but the special thing was that we slept and ate in a "Pinnetta" which is a typical Shepheard's hut/house in this area of Sardinia called Ogliastra (Ollie-astra). The first night we stayed in a Pinnetta that was a little more organized than the original ones, since it is now a renound Restaurant too.

The outside of our Hut
The sunset on our way down to the restaurant

Restaurant lights in the distance

At the Restaurant

Us from left to right:
Valentina, Dani, Me, Paola and Caterina

The appetizers! Wild boar sausage, cured ham and cured bacon.Our yummy food! Dumplings filled with mashed potatoes and cheese!

The next day we woke up to a beautiful day and they organazied an off-road and hiking trip to an original shepheards house

Our hut the next morning

Hiking at 1.400ft

Spectacular! But it gets better, I swear!

We met more friends on the way to the next hut

Salvatore's Hut. He's a 5th generation shepheard,
and he and his family knows this area like the back of their hands.

Salvatore from the back and Paolo

The Hut
A pig around his hut just doing his thing....
A bench he created out of juniper

Inside his hut - The living/dining area where ate lunch
(I forgot to take pictures of lunch, but it was pretty
much the same as dinner but was much more tasty)

The Kitchen

Old Hunting pictures with his Father, grandfather and great-grandfather
hearding goats at the age of 9

His very rare dogs

The Pastore Fonnese is a rare Sardinian breed, believed to be descended from ancient war mastiffs of Roman consul Mark Pomponio Matone which were reportedly crossed with local bearded sheepdogs and hounds. Traditionally employed as livestock guardians and herders, the Fonnese Mastiffs were also used in war campaigns in Africa and for personal protection duties.

This breed has remained virtually unchanged for almost 2000 years, thanks to the relative isolation of its home region and the unwillingness of its breeders to sell their puppies to outsiders
The Pastore Fonnese is a rugged and powerful working dog, looking like a smaller South-Russian Ovcharka or a larger Bearded Collie, valued for its resilience and serious personality. This is an intelligent and intuitive dog, completely devoted to its owner, but very suspicious of strangers and aggressive towards other dogs. Because of its independent nature and overly protective attitude, the Fonnese Sheepdog is rarely seen in urban environments.

So you can see how special it was to actually see and touch these dogs as well.

A Pastore Fonnese Puppy

And now for the grand finally......

...we walked and climbed...

...and waited for the mist to go away...

... to overlook this magnificent peak at 1.500 ft

down on to the most turquoise sea I have ever seen!

(click on the pictures to enlarge, they are much more beautiful at full size)

Thanks Girls! I'll never forget this weekend!