24 hours in Sardinia

5 euro airplane tickets to anywhere are hard to pass up!

So when we stumbled on the cheap flight to Italy's island of Sardinia right before Christmas we couldn't say no.

Sardinia had been on my travel wish list. Not because I knew much about the place, but because it seemed like an exotic destination to see and check out. The only fact I had about Sardinia before going is that it is one of five identified "Blue Zones" in the world. A blue zone is a place where residents commonly live active lives past their 100th birthday. A 'longevity hot spot' of sorts!

Here are maps of our destination for reference...

Our Ryan Air flights had us landing in the southern tip of Sardinia on Saturday afternoon and then leaving from the northern end on Sunday evening. It was a 24 hour road trip to see all we could. Yes, we know we have the travel crazies! These are the internet images I had in mind of Sardinia...

I realized it was December so we didn't even pack our bathing suits, but I still had high hopes for those gorgeous beaches. Unfortunately for our 24 hours it rained and was cloudy. Bummer. Sardinia was still an intriguing place. I would recommend it in the summer months. It was pretty much a ghost town during this time of year! Guess that is why everything was so cheap.

Our first stop was at Su Nuraxi, a prehistoric defensive structure from the 2nd millennium B.C.

It is hard for me to really fathom how old this place is. OLD!

Connor had fun running around and looking cute at Su Nuraxi!

We spent our single night in the port city of Cagliari. We hiked to the "upper" town for dinner. Everyone was out and about shopping on the streets.

The next morning we were out before dawn. Lots of ground to cover in a very short time!

We traversed the island south to north to the Emerald Coast, "Costa Smeralda"

We were a bit disappointed. There was not a single solitary soul there. Definitely beautiful and I could tell how enchanting the beaches were during the season. But not so much in December. Oh well.

We headed for Alghero, our final port city. I was shocked at how much parts of Sardinia look like Ireland - very green, lush and covered with sheep!

The Romanesque church of Saccargia (finished in 1116) made a fantastic pit stop as the rain stopped and the clouds parted. This gem was right on the side of the highway.

Connor thought the cows on the facade were especially fabulous!

Something at this church made Connor laugh until she cried!

Who knows what, but it made us laugh too!

Even in the clouds Sardinia was gorgeous.

The Sardinian cities were another world.

Dorothy, we aren't in Kansas anymore!

I wanted to stop and see if these two walking in the middle of the street were the "Blue Zone 100+ Year Olds"....

We found one of the elusive white sand beaches near Alghero. Connor ran all over and insisted on touching the ocean.

We spied Capo Caccia. Stunning!

Best of all we had fun. Just the three of us. While Sardinia may have been a bit too cold and deserted, our little family trio loved the exercise of traveling together. I think we could enjoy just about anywhere laughing, joking and exploring with each other.