Thursday, September 16, 2010

COSTA SMERALDA - I

SARDINIA - SEPTEMBER 2009

The development of the Emerald Coast - 55 km long with lovely beaches and villages built according to an extremely detailed urban plan, started in 1961, when the Prince Karim Aga Khan created a consortium of companies to introduce luxury in the area. The result is an amazing collection of luxury resorts and fabulous villas around the main towns and villages of Arzachena, Porto Cervo, Liscia di Vacca, Olbia and Romazzino. The «Arcipelago di La Maddalena National Park», a geo-marine national park, is also in the area.


"YACHT BY THE BEACH - Fabulous yachts, secluded beaches and a fantastic turquoise sea may be found around Costa Smeralda"


"HOTEL ROMAZZINO and neighbourhood"


"BAJA SARDINIA - Famous tourist village located west of Porto Cervo, Baja has a large bay perfect for swimming"


"GULF OF ARZACHENA - With 88km of coast, it includes the true heart of the Costa Smeralda and the Capo d'Orso..."


"PALAU - Not the Republic in the Pacific Ocean, just the village in Sardinia..."


"CABRERA & ST. STEFANO ISLANDS - Two of the largest islands of the Maddalena Archipelago National Park"


"CROSSING - From Palau to La Maddalena, the main town of the Archipelago, in the island with the same name; the largest one also..."


"LA MADDALENA - Marina"


"LA MADDALENA -Strolling around..."


"OLD BUILDINGS WITH BALCONIES"


"RESTAURANT WITH A VIEW"


"MOONLIGHT"

51 comments:

Trotter said...

Hi Everybody!! It seems that the Cala di Volpe didn’t raise too much interest, probably due to this period of crisis... However, it’s a true masterpiece and I think that most of their clients are only barely affected by any kind of crisis... ;))
Anyhow, the Costa Smeralda is far more than the four Starwood’s Luxury Collection hotels there and this post shows a bit of it... So, enjoy, leave your comments and have a great weekend!

Rakesh Vanamali said...

Wow! Aptly named the Emerald Coast! I'm sure visiting these places must be so much of bliss, to be away from the monotonous humdrum of life and to embrace newness with every passing moment! I believe, the most blessed person is indeed a traveller!

Thanks so much for these marvels and do have a wonderful weekend! Regards to Mrs. Blogtrotter!

BLOGitse said...

Thanks for this tour!
Do you remember all the names of the places you've visited or do you have a notebook with you?

hpy said...

C'est très beau, mais je dois être un peu spéciale, car pour moi il n'y a pas plus grand luxe que l'espace, à savoir un endroit où il y a moins de monde!

diane b said...

Sure is a beautiful coast. What was the Aga Khan doing in Sardinia.....my history of this area is very poor.

Moving Companies said...

Very nice blog..

My Unfinished Life said...

lovely lovely blue sea!!
liking the beach front too, but its bit too crowded !!

joo said...

Beautiful place and the name is lovely:)
happy weekend to you!

A Lady's Life said...

Old homes on a sloping hill with a marina
It all adds to the charm of a small town.
Some place I'd really like to spend time in.

Sylvia K said...

What a fantastic place! And superb captures as always! Love that blue water! Thanks for the tour! Enjoy the remainder of your weekend! Thanks as always for your visit/comment, always appreciated!

Sylvia

magiceye said...

thank you for the lovely virtual tour!

P.N. Subramanian said...

Costa Smeralda is really a lovely shore. The beaches though beautiful, seems to be overcrowded. May be because of a weekend.

Arti said...

Looks truly stunning...
A great place to visit. The moon looks amazingly cool!! Have a great day:)

yyam said...

Whoa! Looks like a marvelous place to have a vacation...if only I owned one of those lovely yachts! Thanks for sharing such wonderful pictures! Have a fabulous weekend! :)

eye in the sky said...

So there's another Palau - in the form of a Sardinian village. Interesting.

Unknown said...

Hello Gil, I have missed all your fab photos! Its been so hot and humid here that I wish I was there...diving straight into the water. Happy weekend...

Jo's-D-Eyes said...

hmmm in that restaurant with view I would love to eat, great showing of marina's (harbors) some buildings looks like venice, abit Italian style, don't you think so too? good sunny weekend wishes from JoAnn/Holland

april said...

Wonderful beaches. Thanks for visiting me. And have a nice Sunday,
Ingrid

Ron said...

Very nice post, I'm loving that blue water. What I wouldn't do to have a meal overlooking that wonderful sea.

Pietro Brosio said...

Hi Gil! Thanks for this very nice tour of the Costa Smeralda! All fantastic landscapes, beautiful the collages!
Happy new week!

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Costa Smeralda has such nice beaches. I liked the moonlight on the water photo veru much!

PS: California wines are excellent! Many have won international awards. We tasted some on our trip that were beyond compare.

Anonymous said...

Sigh...... :)

rochambeau said...

Yes Trotter,
Costa Smeralda is a master piece. Thank you for sharing!!

Just so you know, some of the photos (around 7) did not load up.

Hi to Mrs Trotter~
xox
Constance

Joseph Pulikotil said...

Hello:)

Wonderful collection of gorgeous photos of an enchanting place.They are so beautiful and attractive.It is indeed a great place for a vacation.Sun,sea and sand,people relaxing,enjoying themselves in this colorful place is a treat to watch.It is indeed a heaven and earth.

Best wishes:)
Joseph

Cloudia said...

Life has been so busy!

I missed your fab photos, Trotter :)



Warm Aloha from Honolulu

Comfort Spiral

alicesg said...

Very beautiful scenery. Love the background of the houses. Sorry for the late visit. Am using son's laptop...lol. Something wrong with the wireless signal of my computer, sending it to the shop for repair.

Indrani said...

The collages you create gives a very good pic of the place. Nice shots, a virtual treat.

Urmi said...

Looks amazing. Very beautiful and gorgeous pictures. Hope to visit this place sometimes. I liked the picture of the moon and its reflection in water, absolutely brilliant shot.
You are welcome in my new post -
http://urmi-z-unique.blogspot.com/
http://amazing-shot.blogspot.com/

Chuckeroon said...

Now, Trotter! What's going on! I scanned hard for Mrs T. and not a single fleeting blurred hint. I'm deeply disappointed. I spotted you in your usual pose, but that's not the point!

Emm said...

Lovely post, as always! I especially love that last photo of the moonlight on the black sea.

juka14 said...

Great looking Marina, you captured the moon very nice also.

MedaM said...

Thanks for this wonderful tour I completely enjoyed. Your photos are really beautiful that I have such a feeling I were there.

Rajesh said...

Beautiful place. Very scenic. It has got fabulous beaches for people to relax.

Cergie said...

Hi Trotter !
J'apprécie particulièrement ces immeubles anciens avec balcons qui sont fait pour voir et aussi être vus. Et la vue depuis le restaurant sur ces même immeubles dans le soir est de toute beauté.
Tu ne montres pas ta chambre, j'imagine que tu avais une cabine dans un de ces somptueux yachts ?

Cergie said...

(Méfie toi de Mr S alias C, il a des vues trop précises sur Mrs T)

Cergie said...

Du moins trop imprécises, voulais je dire...

Regina said...

Truly fantastic!
Thanks again for sharing.

Joy said...

That is a lot of yachts! My favourite photo though is the one with the moon. Lovely.

Have a great weekend!

Many thanks for visiting Norwich Daily Photo and leaving your comment. Come visit again tomorrow!

[G@ttoGiallo] said...

50 ans de 'Costa Smeralda, bientôt et je vois qu'elle se porte bien.

Unknown said...

Wonderful sights! Thanks for the lovely pics.

Anonymous said...

Some really nice pictures!!! how come you moved away from blogtrotta 1.0?

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Daniel Chérouvrier said...

Encore un magnifique reportage !
Le reflet de la lune est fabuleux et source d'associations multiples.

Emery Roth said...

Just beautiful! so what did they do here before the tourists came? Has tourism taken over everything? I need a yacht. Thanks for the tour.

Marja said...

Love the coastline picture but the moonlight reflecting in the sea is amazing

Trotter said...

Hi Folks,
From the Cala di Volpe Hotel we managed to see some of the most beautiful parts of the coast in Sardinia: the Costa Smeralda!! I see that you liked this first post on the Costa, so I made a second one on the same subject before showing you the last post on Sardinia 2009!
Thanks for keeping this blog alive with your comments!!

Rakesh,
«Bliss, to be away from the monotonous humdrum of life»! That’s the perfect way to describe life in Costa Smeralda, in particular in Porto Cervo, where Blogtrotter Two is now landed… ;))

Blogitse,
I usually remember the names! It’s not that difficult, because I use to spend some time naming each and every one of the hundreds of pictures I take on each trip, immediately as I return home… ;))

Hélène,
L’ambition de l’espace presque vide, juste pour nous-mêmes, semble hanter presque tout le monde; mais vraiment, à la fin, quoi bon d’être seul dans le monde? ;))

Diane,
The Aga Khan was tired of the Côte d’Azur and had tons and tons of money to invest; so he decided to buy a large part of the coast to create some of the most secluded resorts in the world for their obscenely wealthy friends… ;))

Moving,
Spam! What for?

Star,
It seems however that crowded as it is, it isn’t as crowded as some beaches in Japan!! ;))

Joo,
Haven’t thought on the beauty of the name to match the beauty of the site, but you are truly right…

Lady,
Either Palau or La Maddalena are perfect to spend some time on holiday; but I feel it would be a bit boring, to say the least, to live there permanently… In fact, in winter most of everything just gets closed… ;))

Sylvia,
My pleasure to visit and comment on your blog!! And thanks for keeping this blog alive with your comments!!

Magic,
My pleasure!!

P.N.Subramanian,
The beaches are crowded because everybody goes to the beach nowadays… Actually the pictures weren’t taken on a weekend, but during the first week of September in 2009…

Trotter said...

Part Two:

Arti,
Thanks for your visit and first time comment at Blogtrotter Two!!
That moon came out quite nicely that night… ;)

Yvonne,
After the post on Porto Cervo, you have a great choice on yachts. So, which one do you prefer, the Dilbar? ;))

Eye,
True! Who could imagine that Palau is much more than an island country in the Pacific Ocean? ;))

M.Kate,
We are starting autumn here and today, after some wonderful sunny but not too hot days, we have wind, rain and a bit cooler weather… That’s life… ;)

JoAnn,
You are right! Sardinia being Italian, its buildings usually have an Italian flavour… ;))
Rain and wind arrived!! And the U2 also... ;))

Ingrid,
It’s my great pleasure to visit your blog and exercise my «fast alles vergessen» German... ;)

Ron,
I tell you what you have to do to have a wonderful meal over there: pack, fly, sail and enjoy... ;))

Pietro,
My pleasure! Some parts of Sardinia seem to be at least as beautiful as some parts of the Piedmont, I assume... ;)

Pat,
That full moon came out quite nicely that night... ;)
I know that the Californian wines made out with the French and Italian wine grapes are quite good... That’s not the point: they would be probably even better with some Portuguese wine grapes... ;))

Lynn,
Sadness or relief? ;))

Constance,
I had no trouble loading the pictures; maybe they will load next time you make a visit to Blogtrotter Two... ;)
Have a great Sunday, without the wind and the rain we have here... ;))
xoxo

Trotter said...

Part Three:

Joseph,
I wish I had time to repeat pampering more often rather than having just one week off every year... ;))

Cloudia,
Great to have you here, as always!! Missing the Aloha greeting; haven’t heard it since 1998... ;))

Alice,
Computers = troubles... ;)). Now it’s my wireless printer that is always offline and the HP help doesn’t help... ;))

Indrani,
I’m happy you like those collages because it takes a bit of time to arrange them... probably due to some lack of expertise of the author... ;))

Babli,
That moon was kind enough to come out in the perfect place with the perfect timing... ;)
Have been there: great posts!!

Stuart,
It’s life pal... ;)

Emm,
It seems that the moonlight pictures made the success on this post... I was lucky to be on the perfect table at the restaurant when it showed...

Juka,
That’s exactly what I was telling Emm...

Medam,
Great to have you here enjoying the post! Like being there is the best compliment this post could aim to...

Rajesh,
Everything fabulous provided that your budget matches the costs... There is no Arthur Frommer’s «Costa Smeralda on 50 Dollars a Day»... ;)). My first Frommer’s was «Europe on 5 Dollars a Day»... ;)

Lucie,
Non en fait je ne suis pas resté à La Maddalena pour la nuit... J’ai pris le ferry de retour à Palau et la bagnole pour le Cala di Volpe… ;))
M. S alias C cherche, cherche et ne trouve pas… Dommage… ;)

Trotter said...

Part Four, and final for the time being:

Regina,
My treat!!

Joy,
You may see many other yachts in the Porto Cervo post... That’s quite impressive!!

G@tto,
Vraiment bien, même si les prix sont un peu obscènes… ;))

Keats,
You’re welcome! Always…

Albert,
Lack of space... ;)

Anonymous,
Spam is a calamity; but anonymous spam is absolutely brainless... ;))

Daniel,
C’est vrai que la lune c’est bien rangée pour se mettre dans les photos comme il fallait… ;) Histoire de Simone, ça me rappelle… ;)

Ted,
I haven’t the faintest idea… But nowadays, it’s basically tourism! And it closes in winter… ;))
There will be lots of yachts in Porto Cervo; and what yachts you may see there…

Marja,
That moon was quite kind… ;))

A Lady's Life said...

Wonderful pictures. I am sold for sure.:)

Trotter said...

Lady,
Thanks for coming back!!