This is the continuation of the article: "This Summer's travel to Italy, a lesson from Livorno, Leggi Livornine".

Yesterday, my family and I traveled to the Gulf of Orosei for an incredible boat tour that started at 9am from La Caletta and ended at 7pm after a visit to some incredible places like Cala Luna, Cala Goloritze' and Grotta del Bue Marino.

 

 

Here is our departure from La Caletta at 9am. It was quite hectic as our oldest son got sick at the end of the car ride and we made it to the boarding by 5 minutes. Luckily, the boat offered us a very smooth ride so we didn't have other problems later in the day:

 

After a short stop in Orisei to pick up more tourists, we visited the Grotta del Bue Marino around 11am and for an impressive and educational tour of the first 900 meters of the Grotta. The Cave/Grotta extends for 8 more kilometers! Here is the entrance of the Grotta del Bue Marino. I taped the voice of the guide for a podcast but I was not allowed to take pictures inside:

 

After a casual lunch on board, we arrived at Cala Della Luna, a breathtaking beach with caves, white sand and white pebbles. Here is a panoramic picture of the Cala della Luna taken at 1:10pm:

 

The last stop was the charming Cala di Goritze where we spent about two hours and had the time to dive under water with a snorkeling mask that carries a camera. We recorded videos and took pictures of fishes and sea life. I will publish the pictures once I get them on a computer:

At Cala Goritze, the sand is replaced with white pebbles. It's a great feeling and none of the sand disturbing factors are present. If you lie down on the beach. it is the equivalent of a hot stone massage:

 

Here below is a series of pictures of what we saw during our return to La Caletta before 7 pm. Keep in mind that this region has hundreds of caves and little gulfs (Cala in Italian):

 

 

 

 

My parents, Roberto and Giovanna, stayed at the hotel, where they met Pietro, a tennis coach from Olbia, who invited us to have dinner at the restaurant Da Tonino on the Island of Tavolara. Tonino Bertoleoni is the ruling King of the Kingdom of Tavolara. Reading about the Bertoleoni family history motivated me to write this article late at night! We got back to the Hotel in Costa Dorata at 11:45pm after a fantastic evening under the stars.

The Island of Tavolara reminds me of James Bond's villains base. This is how it looked this evening on our way there. Rumors say that the US Navy kept secret Submarines under the island for years. Now, it's a NATO base managed by the Italian Navy:

 

The restaurant Da Tonino is located at the port of Tavolara, under the mountain. Here is a picture of the restaurant owned by the ruling King of the Kingdom of Tavolara. I spoke to Princess Loredana who was preparing my bill. She gave me the email address of Prince Giuseppe who I might contact soon in reference to the Film Festival of Tavolara! This is an ironic and fascinating microcosm.

 

Here is the view of the Festival Di Tavolara set up under the mountain of Tavolara:

 

Please take a few minutes to look online or click on the links for Golfo di Orosei, Cala Luna, Cala Goloritze', Tavolara and Kingdom of Tavolara. You might not believe what you'll see and read!

 

Ciao,

Francesco