The thing about rainbows is that they come with rain, lots of rain.

We have been in Marina di Olbia for over a week now and the weather has been, well, rather British.   We have had 5 days of chilly (Valeria’s description), generally strong, westerly winds which have brought sun, clouds, rain and rainbows, generally all at once.    This means that we have not been too inclined to venture further than the shopping centre about a 10 minute walk from here and even then have managed to get caught in a rain shower.

We did, however, catch a break in the weather on Saturday, the 12th.   Sunshine, little wind, some light fluffy clouds and no rain-bows, so we  went into Olbia for the afternoon.

Sardinia  itself has been inhabited since the Bronze Age, although little remains of the ‘Nuraghic’ peoples.   Olbia is situated at the head of a long, sheltered and well protected inlet and the town has a long history.  It has been occupied by virtually all the Mediterranean cultures since the Phoenicians and has been known by as many names.

The major attractions are the two churches, San Paolo and San Simplico.   Both are fairly simple buildings;  San Simplico was built in the 11th century and I think San Paolo dates from the 17th, although they look very similar in style and construction.  San Simplico lives up to its name but San Paolo has the most colourful, technicolour tiled dome!

The cab rides in and out of town were very expensive and we won’t be repeating the trip, having said that, the old town of Olbia was worth visiting.   It is quite a  picturesque town, with narrow cobbled streets and plain, but  colourful, houses.   It was very quiet but this is the off season and I would hazard a guess that, from the sheer number of restaurants, cafes and ice cream parlours (no, no Hagen Daz mercifully), it might be rather busier in the summer.

For the remainder of our stay we’ll remain ‘at home’ sorting the boat out to be left, packing our bags and planning how to get from Olbia to Alghero Airport.