Day 12, Bono to Ozieri

Another perfect morning for riding. It was straight into the climb which would dominate the first third of the ride. We climbed up until we were significantly higher than the Burgos castle, but that was about it for climbing for the day, with a series of lovely descents to follow. 

Garmin data

We stopped briefly at the old forestry headquarters of the Forest of Burgos, said to be one of the oldest forests in Sardegna and still a location of interest to botanists and other life sciences. The route took us through grazing country, with cattle and sheep and stone fences. At one spot a mob of sheep were out on the road and the handful of guard dogs were keen to get them back inside the fence line before we went past.

Had coffee at Ittireddu, a village where the locals at the bar did not appear to be accustomed to visiting cyclists :-) The was a large quarry there for what I would call scoria, dark red volcanic pumice. 

Ozieri is a lovely town of about 10,000 perched on steep hillsides like so many of the towns. The site has been inhabited since the neolithic with a local cave system the basis for shelter.

Being on a hillside, you end up using steep roads and stairs to get most places. Our hostess, Josephina was VERY, VERY keen to make sure that everything was to our liking, all in very rapid Italian which I struggled with, but we got there.

I visited one of the local sights, a quite attractive fountain.

Dinner was good, at the highly rated Ristorante La Torre where I had arrancini made with squid ink and tuna wrapped in thinly sliced zucchini and then grilled, washed down with an excellent local wine which appears to be a blend of Cannonau (Garnacha) and maybe Cabernet.