Ciao, HIVE friends!
First of all, I want to wish you all the best for this new year: may it be filled with joy and rewards, with constructive lessons and moments of personal growth, and why not, also with travels and new adventures to share.
As for me, I took advantage of the holidays to spend time with family and recharge my batteries, but also to go through the photography collection I’ve built over the years. Some of the images I came across inspired today’s post, which takes us back to a summer afternoon from a few years ago. That day, with my usual companion Nhov, I ventured into the desert.
It’s truly a vast, sandy desert, one of the largest in Europe, with towering dunes that reach up to a hundred meters. This place, known as the Dunes of Piscinas, is part of the expansive Costa Verde area, often referred to as the little Sahara of Italy.
It’s a stunning spot where the desert meets the Mediterranean Sea, surrounded by wild nature rich in both flora and fauna. Along with falcons, eagles and deer, this area is home to countless sea turtles, which nest here every year and can sometimes be seen swimming in the crystal-clear waters.
Being located on the West coast of Sardinia, Piscinas is exposed to the strong Mistral wind - which shapes and moves the dunes - and to breathtaking sunsets all year round.
Let's take a step back...
It was an August afternoon, in the summer of 2018. I had just returned from a trip to Sicily, had broken up with my girlfriend at the time, and was spending my days reading books or painting. I wasn’t in the mood for much else.
That day, I received a call from Nhov: «How about a random drive?». «Deal».
It was nearly four in the afternoon, and I certainly didn’t expect we’d go far. To complicate matters, within minutes, a heavy summer storm broke out.
We decided to drive until the rain stopped... and ended up driving for an hour. We found ourselves in Arbus, a village at the heart of a vast mining area that stretches from the mountains to the sea. The Costa Verde, in fact.
Houses of Arbus.
Where Goats Dare.
A mining village, now almost completely abandoned.
At this point, we decided to head towards the sea. The rain had stopped and didn’t seem like it was coming back; the sky was beginning to change, taking on a beautiful orange hue.
However, just as we were almost reaching Piscinas, we ran into an unexpected problem: the heavy rain had caused the rio Naracauli, the stream that crosses the road, to overflow. In short, we were at risk of not being able to pass.
Stubbornness can sometimes be a problem, but other times it is part of the solution. In this case, it helped us get past that small flood and finally reach the dunes.
For a while, we wandered through the desert, then we reached the top of the highest dune. And what does an adult, serious and composed person do once they reach the top of such a tall dune? Exactly.
At that point, obviously, I had sand in every part of my body and was incredibly thirsty, so we headed back to the car.
Before heading home, though, we went to watch the sunset at another spot, the beach of Funtanazza.
This place is famous for the remains of an old seaside colony where, a few decades ago, the wives and children of the mine workers used to spend their holidays. With the decline of the mining area, this colony has also been left abandoned.
This sunset and the wild dive from the highest dune are two of the most beautiful moments I experienced that summer. I can’t forget that it had rained heavily that day, and my mood was very low: if I had listened to my spirit or to the skepticism of my parents, I probably wouldn’t have even left the house, and I would have missed these moments entirely.
Maybe it’s something we should remind ourselves more often, especially in difficult times. Stepping out of the house even when it rains, facing the storm and embracing the unexpected, to capture even just a few minutes of Beauty.
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In which place in the world have you seen your favorite sunset? Feel free to share your experience, or any similar one, or an emotion that my article has stirred in your heart.
For now, as always, thank you for your time, your attention and your support!
See you soon on the road,
Alessandro