Day Trip to Teulado

In addition to the fabulous beaches, which we enjoy every day with a long swim in the Mediterranean, we decide to drive up the coast and into the mountains to find the small town of Teulado.  Teulado has incredibly varied geography, stretching from splendid beaches up into wild and unspoiled mountains, and the city is an artist's town with narrow climbing streets in the historic center.  And, the drive there is spectacular!

 First, a spectacular drive west along the coast from Chia

After we turn inland, it's a short drive into the mountains to Teulado's city center.  We understand that the town has a large artist community and want to see what they are making, so we drive past the town square, park, and wander back.  It seems very quiet and we spot a tourist office just off the square where the woman in the office tells us that most of the artist studios are closed to the public, but that a few may be open in the next square and that we are free to walk around all we want.

Sign outside tourist office:  Teulado from coast into mountains

Artistic pathways through town

However, we are not very welcome here!  We had heard the mountain towns are not friendly and as we wander over to the next square, we find a few small shops and attract a lot of stares as we are clearly the only tourists in town and everyone seems to wonder why we're here.  While we don't find the shops and galleries that we expect, the drive along the coast and the outdoor sculptures that we do find scattered around town are worth every minute of this adventure.

On our way out, the local policeman stares at us also, then follows us out of town (I think he was going somewhere else, but he did follow us first).  Clearly not tourist territory.  And, as we drive out of town, we experience a classic Sardinian driving experience:  as I'm driving down the street near the city center (with the policeman behind me), a truck turns onto our street and starts accelerating toward us on our side of the street.  Laura is vehemently insisting that I must be going the wrong way on a one-way street, but I figure that the policeman behind me would have said something if that was the case.  The truck driver spots us, swerves over to his side of the road, and we make it out with nary a dent in our rental vehicle.

But, before we leave, we take a few pictures of the incredible statues on display all through Teulado, making for interesting discoveries around every corner.

 Statues scattered around town near the main square

The road out of Teulado, on the other side of town, winds through the mountains back to Chia and we appreciate the inland views, very different from the expansive seascape views on the way in.

 Mountain views on the way back

 Our car, on a switchback, still undamaged

Once we get back, it's time for a swim in the sea, un aperitivo, and to start thinking about dinner.