Around Alghero, Vacation Mode at Mugoni Beach, Saffron Ravioli, and Mirto

Fattoria La Traccia, Sardegna

As I returned to Fattoria La Traccia from Tiziana and Lamberto’s place, another volunteer joined the team, a lovely lady from the Netherlands. Actually, I got two new roommates, as she’s traveling with her dog. It’s been really nice getting to know her, I even know of another farm she stayed at in Italy. Soon after she arrived, two other volunteers returned to La Traccia, one of them for the third time already. Due tosi dal Veneto, simpaticissimi.

Morning view.

We added a small greenhouse close to the garden and I spent a day planting what felt like a million seeds. We placed straw bales in the greenhouse, covered them with wool from Antonio’s sheep, and placed the pots with seeds on top. Talk about a good place for seeds to germinate. Being consistent with watering is crucial at this point, and it’s so gratifying to see some green already popping through the soil.

The seeds, happily germinating in the greenhouse, are off to a great start.

I like hanging out with my new roommate. On a sunny day, we went for a short bike trip to the Mugoni beach, which turned out to be one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen. For hours we were there alone, enjoying the breeze, the sound of the waves, and the great view of Capo Caccia. Those couple of hours felt like a few days’ vacation.

I went to Alghero a couple of times already, trying to see another part of it every time. The coastline leading to the center is gorgeous and the Maria Pia beach did not disappoint. I spent a couple of late afternoons there. The streets in centro storico of Alghero have much character, and there is this great coffee place where the sun hit just right when my roommate and I were getting coffees and chatting away happily.

Around Alghero.

Back at La Traccia, the whole team of volunteers spent an evening making ravioli with ricotta and saffron filling. Most importantly, the saffron was produced by Antonio. Served with chopped cherry tomatoes, the ravioli were particularly good. We continued working in the garden, adding to it three more raised beds which proved to be quite a task, yet very satisfying when done.

Ravioli team, and adding more space to the garden.

I spent a day with a friend of the La Traccia family, someone I found very easy to connect with. We went on a hike to S’Istrampu de su Segnore waterfall, located in the forests surrounding the street leading to Bosa. The views of the coast were amazing and the conversations were pleasant. To make it even more fun, a dog came along whose favorite activity in the world is fishing for big rocks from under the waterfall, hiding them carefully, saving them for later.

Hike to S’Istrampu de su Segnore waterfall.

We spent a couple of days making Mirto, a traditional Sardinian liqueur made from myrtle berries (Myrtus communis), which grow abundantly in Sardegna. Red mirto is the more common type, although there are also white mirto berries. The liqueur is made by macerating ripe myrtle berries (picked in autumn) in alcohol for a couple of months, then pressing the berries to get as much liquid and aroma out as possible, and lastly diluting the alcohol with sugar and water. It has a sweet and tannic taste, and after trying it a couple of times to figure out the best alcohol to water to sugar ratio, it really grows on you.

Making mirto liqueur—if it doesn’t stain everything, it’s not the real deal.