Sardinia is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you are going to get

Four times today Sardinia surprised me. The first was on my visit to Orgosolo about 13k south of Nuoro. Orgosolo was the mother of the Sardinian banditry. Old stories tell that the town was founded by shepherds who were hiding in the mountains. Hiding because they were too poor to have their own cattle, so they stole animals from wealthy farmers. These Robin Hood-like crimes soon evolved into hostages and murders. But today the town is famous for its murals. On arrival they looked pretty ordinary and I thought it was time to move on, however I kept walking and the more I walked the more the little village transformed into a most fantastic mural gallery. The mostly political painting can be found on nearly every wall. There are over 150 of them. Whilst there I saw a van selling local cheese. The vendor offered me a sample and cracked open a wheel of pecorino sardo. It was delicious. He then produced a giant flagon of red wine so I tried that as well. It was a shame it was only 9.30am!

My second surprise of the day was my visit to Mt Ortobene. Again on arrival it looked pretty ordinary, however after a short walk through the oak trees I came across this lookout with the most spectacular views to the ocean and a huge bronze "Statue of Christ the Redeemer". The statue was nearly 7m tall. I left there for the drive to "Complesso Nuragico di Noddule" another ancient site located in a cork forest. The office was unattended so I wandered off and surprisingly found a three story nuragic tower surrounded by more circular dwellings and supposedly a 3,000 year old working well.

My final surprise for today was on the way back to Nuoro I saw a small sign for a tiny village called Lullove, which as it turns out is the last remaining medieval village on the island. This almost abandoned wreck of a town has a unique history in that the nuns who inhabited the convent next to the parish church had affairs with the local shepherds and were run out of town and as a result as they left they put a curse on the village. The village also has a award winning agriturismo restaurant where you can try local cheeses, meats and the traditional Paneddas bread.