Carloforte, the island of the island of a peninsula

From the island of the island of a peninsula, says the title of an important festival that is held here at the end of August for twenty years. In fact, the small San Pietro Island, off the south west coast of Sardinia, and Carloforte, the only island town center, live fully in this state of double insularity. With all the difficulties but also with all the glamour that comes with it.

A community of just over six thousand inhabitants that bears a bit as a nuisance the summer crowds of the many vacationers who swarm among the carrugi (the alleyways), beaches and squares and pulling a sigh of relief when, from the first days of September, town regains silences that accompany the rest of the year. It also reclaims the distance from Cagliari that, viewed from here, seems far away. A distance that is shown immediately from the language you speak and which refers to the Ligurian dialect of Pegli and Tabarka, an island close to the coast of Tunisia, where at the half of '700 a small community of coral divers came to populate the island, courtesy of Carlo Emanuele III of Savoy, bringing with him, in addition to the language, courses such as cascà, couscous with vegetables that is one of the dishes that best characterize, along with the tuna, the local gastronomy.

To reach Carloforte you must embark on a journey through the Sulcis and its landscapes dotted by mine shafts that come from a recent past characterized the extraction of coal, but also by closed factories, that massacred stretches of coastline and hopes to work to many families . It should be up to one of the two ports, Calasetta or Portoscuso, from which to embark on vintage ferries Delcomar or Saremar, with which to cross the stretch of water that separates the two islands.

After just half an hour to dock is impressive: fishing boats, palm trees, beautiful buildings with Mediterranean colors and suddenly the sight of the village that looks like a maze of narrow and uphill streets where to find shelter from the summer sun but also, for the most lonely hearts, from the phone and from Internet connections.

So it is Carloforte during the summer, far from the clamor of that little boor "jet set" which is found in the most famous coastlines. Here the main activity is spending lazy mornings shuffling thongs between one of the many beautiful beaches and the walk in the square to drink coffee, a cocktail or enjoy a delicious zuppa inglese. Or the night with tables booked in the favorite restaurant that preserves, for generations, the secret recipe of the best in the world fish sauce. It lives thanks to the boat trips around the island or diving in depths dream. It lives thanks to the afternoons in the bedrooms where the half-closed shutters filter the light and silence.

For the accommodations in Carloforte there is a rich choice of hotels, from the historical ones downtown to those surrounded by the greenery behind the town, to the most elegant along the promenade. As well as the B & B that let go into more rhythms and scents of traditional homes, characterized by steep stairs access.

Few words of warning: the accommodations quality is good but you do not wait until May or you risk it is too late. And the island is beautiful to visit at least from April. Look for information on the internet is not easy: sites outdated, addresses that refer to empty pages, phone numbers of shipping companies to which no one answers, inability to book and purchase a ticket for the ferry, make sometimes daunting, if not impossible, to organize comfortably from home a trip to Carloforte. But perhaps the day when everything will work, this goal will not have the same charm. Maybe. So be patient, it's worth it!

For information try and insist with the Pro Loco of Carloforte: +39 0781 854 009.