It is a slightly compressed morning – not to mention day – for us as we dock at 8 and have a car reserved first thing at Hertz in the port.  We know we have to take a shuttle from the ship, so fast gym, fast breakfast, fast shower and we are out onto the first shuttle of the morning.  The No-Rental-Car-Reservation idiots are also on the shuttle, pushing their way out the door of the bus first.  Sigh. We just know where they are going. And, yes, they are heading straight to Hertz.  Jeez.  Well, we have all the time in the world so it isn’t an issue for us to just stand behind them while they dither about, asking about a car, not liking the price or the vehicle, and ending up going away to some other rental place.  Good riddance, those people, honestly!  Excitement for the day done, we get our car, which is a brand new with only 40km hybrid Panda (oh no! Not a new car!  We still have nightmares about – and are very superstitious because of – the Villefranche/St. Paul de Vence car incident all those years ago!), manage to figure out the weird operation of the gearshift and are heading out of Cagliari a little before 9am.  Not too shabby.

Originally, we had a whole day planned out visiting all the abandoned mines on the East side of the island.  Those plans got scuttled when we realized that the mines are not open to the public at this time – only sporadically and sometimes only for group tours.  It didn’t make sense to drive all that way to look at the properties through the fencing.  All the trail hiking out that way looked suspect as well, so at the last minute we found Dolianova – a small town “off the beaten path” that has a reputation for olive oil, cheese and wine.  We’re in.  Although billed as “historical,” the town actually was formed in 1905 when 2 villages merged.  There are old archeological findings near the town, nuraghe, which indicate human settlements from the prehistoric times, but we’re going to stay in the town today to explore.

A short 30 minute drive brings us to the ample parking lot just on the outskirts of town.  Even though we have to wait for the recycling truck to transfer its contents into another truck before we can access the parking spots, it is still easier to park here in the open lot than try to find parking on the little town streets. Walking into the center of town is an easy straight shot up the main road, passing by the Church of San Biagio, the former main church of Dolianova.  Badly damaged in the late 1500s, it was completely rebuilt in the 1600 and 1700s, the bell tower added in the mid-1800s.  Today it is just a stately looking piece of Gothic architecture at the beginning of the town, with an ancient rock carving on the corner of the church plaza and the statue of the Padre Pio – one the most revered saints of the 20^th Century known for his stigmata and gift for healing – directly behind it.

Continuing on through the town, we easily find our destination goal:  The Museo dell’olio Sa mola de su notariu – Olio del Tempio (The Olive Oil Museum and Notary Mill – Oil of the temple).  Inside a large courtyard are two buildings – one a museum, the other a working olive oil refining plant.  We’d read great things about the museum, the tour and the olive oil tasting.  We arrived a little before the 10am opening time, passing the time by taking pictures of the gorgeous flowering shrub and buildings surrounding the courtyard.  But sadly, the 10am hour comes and goes with no one about – the place remained locked up tight – even though everything we read said they were open daily.  There is at least a phone number we can call – so we WhatsApp’ed them to see if we could get a tour, hoping they would respond.

With nothing else really planned, we made our way into the heart of Dolianova to the main square where there were a few restaurants and cafes – and some seating out on the plaza.  Time for a cappuccino break while we hopefully wait for a response from the Olive Oil Museum.  Ordering our drinks, then repairing to the little plaza outside, we get stares from every single person there – and others just passing by. This place is definitely off the beaten path – as in nothing but locals! We were the only non-residents, non-Italians around.  Which is fine by us, we’re loving it, even if we are the center of their curious attentions!

No communication from the museum yet, so off we go to explore the Church of San Pantaleo, the main church in town.  As we are heading there, the Olive Oil museum replies. After some back and forth and negotiations, we end up not being able to take the tour due to timing, but they say we can come visit at 11am.  Ok – deal done!  We scurry over to the church – which is impressive to be sure.  Built in the 13^thC, it allegedly has a baptismal font from the 6thC inside. And while we’d love to go inside to see it – and the rest of the interior, we don’t have the time.  Olive oil awaits!

Arriving back at the museum, the factory door is open but when we peek in, it appears to be empty.  As we turned to leave, out of the office pops Francesco, the 4th generation owner who greets us and then shows us around.  He had opened specially for us!  How cool is that?  Francesco led us into the museum on the other side of the courtyard and gave us a full presentation on Olive Oil, including tastings of 4 different types – explaining each as we went along.  He explained all the processes of making the oil: olives are washed, crushed to create a paste, then crushed to break down the pulp cells to release the oil, then the water, pulp, olive skin and seeds are separated out, and the paste is finally put into a centrifuge to separate out the oil;  what to look for and how to do a tasting correctly: Fruity, bitter, peppery tastes; warm the olive oil tasting cup in your palms before trying it. Too fun!! Then he walked us through the museum which chronicles the history of his olive making family – complete with all the old machinery, tools and videos showing how the processing was done over the years. 

Of course we ended in the gift shop – where we actually bought 2 bottles of oil and a jar of some olive salt.  That’s how amazing the olive oil was. But our tour wasn’t finished yet – next we got to roam through the actual factory with all the machinery used to cultivate and process the olives into oil.  Really cool and fun – and such a wonderful personalized experience.  We were so happy and grateful to Francesco for opening up just for us.

By this time though, we’ve got to start thinking about getting back to Cagliari as we’ve got a short port call with all aboard at 3:30. Fortunately Dolianova is a sweet little town, and easy to navigate. As we were heading back to our car, we see the recycling truck again – we have now walked around town so much that we’ve seen the truck about 5 times – and they wave at us!  We’re officially locals!  

Figuring we’d head back to Cagliari to find lunch, as we arrive at the parking lot we find a food truck there. Serendipity. There was a little park across the street we saw as we walked into town and thought it would make a great place to picnic. At the time, though, we had no picnic food. Now we do!!  Fritto misto (mixed fried fish – yes that is a whole shrimp, and yes, we ate it whole, just like you see it) and nuggets a pollo. Perfect, inexpensive lunch. In a great setting. 

The quick trip back to Cagliari is just as scenic in the afternoon – with orchards and orchards of olive trees (of course) and fields stretching out toward the mountain range in the distance.  A perfect Sardinian landscape and day.

Once back into town, we deposit the car on the square in front of the train station, then wandered around a bit.  Just wasting time, enjoying the day, the architecture, the ruins of the Church of Saint Lucia.  We end up plopping down at a little café and bistro for a beer and wine – and complimentary snacks.  Perfect after lunch nibbles and beverages.

Continuing our explorations, we just wandered a bit more through the lower part of town – stopping briefly at the Piazza Sant’Eulalia, the old church that is now a museum.  We’ve not time to visit any place now – and we don’t want to continue walking up hill into the old town (been there, done that, no need for a repeat of that strenuous hike) – so we turn around and head back to the shuttle and back to the ship – snapping photos all along the way. 

Including one of the missing cat poster!  OMG – really?  Here too? Those scam posters drive us nuts at home – we’re thinking this one is the same, I mean honestly?  There are so many stray cats around all these towns, how would you ever find just one missing cat?  Pray tell.

Back aboard, we hang out on the balcony, enjoying the gorgeous sail away, out of Cagliari, then along the coast and off into the Med.

Later, we have dinner in Pinnacle – Morimoto again.  Excellent as always. Afterward, repairing to the balcony once more for evening drinks and a beautiful sunset.  It is too nice out there to bother going to the show – it is the illusionist – eh – the sunset is better IOHO.  Tomorrow Civitavecchia.