Wednesday 7 June: Piscinas to Portoscuso

The day starts better than anticipated. We had been nervous about the roads leading out of Piscinas, fearing 5 miles of bike pushing along dirt tracks. Although on our arrival the car park had been filled with a group of classic Ferraris so we hoped that if they could do it so could we. In fact the road was cyclable, a steady ascent passing old mineral mining works, now deserted with only the slag heaps remaining. Once on Tarmac again the gradient becomes steeper and the temperature rises. We are very hot when we reach the summit at nearly 500 metres. What goes up must go down of course and we have a magnificent descent back down to sea level marred only by Simon's uncertainty that it was the right road. We refuel with coke and coffee at Portixeddu beach and are tempted to tarry a while by the turquoise sea. We decide to press on however, hugging the coast: the Costa Verdi. Beautiful rugged coastline with steep cliffs and rocky outcrops and the occasional inaccessible cove. The road twists and turns steeply up and down and the going is tough against a very strong NW wind. After a particularly steep ascent we are amused to pass through a resort called Buggerru, aptly named. After 40 miles or so we are near our anticipated destination so decide to stop at the beach of Fontanamare, hoping for a cool drink. Everywhere seems closed and deserted and the wind must now have reached Force 6 and it is directly on shore. Kite Surfers are in their element and we admire their acrobatics whilst getting covered in fine grains of sand. Back on the road we head for Gonnesa where we have booked another Agriturismo. This town also seems deserted and we have to ask for directions. When we find the Agriturismo it looks grim with a plastic human figure at the door. We are strangely relieved to find it also closed and deserted. So we decide to press on, feeling very weary and I am definitely out of my comfort zone not knowing where I will sleep tonight. After a total of 50 miles we reach Portoscuso and the Rough Guide leads us to the Hotel Panorama. We get a nice room overlooking the marina and things are looking up again! We eat at L'Ancona restaurant as visited by Rick Stein in 2007 we gather. It is brightly lit but bustling with locals and feels very authentic. Our waitress serves with military efficiency and takes multi-tasking to a new level! We eat fresh ravioli, spaghetti vongole and grilled fish from massive serving dishes in the shape of mussel shells. The tables are adorned with fresh passion flowers and hydrangeas. We even manage pudding: panacotta and fried ravioli with honey, delicious!