Wednesday 9 June 2010

Scabby Donkeys

It's been a while since my last post; one of the reasons being a holiday to Sardinia.

I'm not sure that Sardinia knows how to position itself as a holiday destination. Yes, it has some great scenery, fine beaches and unique Bronze age buildings, but although tourism is now a major source of income, it has a relatively short "season" (we went just before the high season begins) and a distinct lack of tourist-friendly accommodation or restaurants. We traipsed around the centre of the second city, Sassari, one evening for over an hour looking for somewhere to eat, other than the ubiquitous bars and pizza takeaways.

One of our problems was that, as tourists, we didn't fit into the standard Sardinian schedule of a light, early breakfast followed by a large, midday meal and siesta, all rounded off by an informal snack (typically pizza) of an evening. Like many Mediterranean places, siesta is a standard part of life, but in Sardinia it seems to be fastidiously adhered to. Nothing stirs whatsoever between 2pm and 4pm, at least. Including some family-run restaurants.

The cuisine is Italian with a few local specialities. Two being horse and donkey. Janette has a saying when hungry (a not infrequent occurrence): "I could eat a scabby donkey!" which seems highly unlikely for a vegetarian. So I felt obliged to try the delicacy for lunch one day. And before you ask; it tastes like zebra.

No comments:

Post a Comment