The island within an island, not a tongue twister
Visiting the Island of Asinara in Sardinia. How to get there, what to see. Travel notes of a millennial.
Welcome back or welcome?
Welcome back on another adventure together! I beg your pardon? We've never met? Never mind!
I have a lot to tell, this is my 'living room' of discoveries and everyone is welcome.
Get comfortable and travel with me! Today I want to take you to a wonderful place at northern SardiniaThe island of Asinara.
Yes, an island that belongs to another island! The funny name may make you smile, but this is an adventure... unique!
Let's go!
OMG! Unloaded Smartphone
In order to get to Asinara, I first drove to the north west of Sardinia to a small town called Porto Torres.
I had a clear idea: take a boat trip to Asinara.
So, as soon as I passed the Porto Torres sign I pulled my mobile phone out of my pocket to book online and realised it was completely empty.
Because I am a millennial... I felt completely lost.
No photo.
No selfie.
No check-in.
No stories.
I couldn't even update the stories on Whatsapp.
Just kidding, I don't know anyone who does that.
Sir, excuse me, a piece of information...
So we decided to go to the harbour and then we would ask someone - as in the 1980s, it seems, I was not there.
I meet on the promenade a couple with milky skin and very blond hair. I suspect they were not local and do not stop them.
I then spot an elderly couple sitting on a bench, despite the July heat they were as cool as roses, while my forehead looked like a waterfall in flood.
Sir, excuse me, one information: how can I book the boat for the Asinara?
He looks at me a little astonished and for a moment I feared the old man was scolding me:
why, don't you have a mobile phone?
...
Instead, after an initial moment of suspicion, a big smile and generous heart typical of Sardinians opened up.
1. Buy your ferry tickets here.
2. Rent an electric bike here.
In two simple moves, clear, concise and with no room for interpretation, he had already made me forget the anguish of being without a mobile phone.
So, after buying the tickets, how better to cheat the wait for the Asinara boat than by going to a pastry shop full of typical Sardinian products?
I have eaten everything but those braid-shaped sweets covered in honey called Acciuleddi.... 
Better than a dream
Once I reached the island I thought I would replicate the grandfather style by dictating on the map the route to the main attractions:" OK, we go to here, here and here'.
We then sat on our electric bikes in the direction: "Tumbarino, Cala Reale, Trabuccato and Cala d'Oliva, all clear?"
Game, fight or love?
Continuing my cycling and my solo mental concert with AC/DC, I suddenly had to stop because I couldn't believe my eyes: a cute little donkey family!!!!
I approached them cautiously for fear of frightening them, but they are by no means shy!
They looked like soft toys because of the softness of their coats, I adopted them immediately.
From a distance of course.
Shortly afterwards we met, unbelievably... more donkeys! O so much incredibly maybe not, since we are on the Island of Asinara.
They were a very nice couple and we still have different ideas about what they were doing. For me they were playing, for others they were courtship moves.
For you?
Historical thrills
Another point of interest on the island is the former Asinara PrisonLooking at the white, peeling walls, a shiver ran down my spine - I am rather fearful I must admit. Part of the prison buildings today have been converted into a hostel.
Did you know that Asinara was for some time the 'obligatory' home of Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino? A story described in a film shot on the island: Summer Era.
The mafia is by no means invincible
is a human fact, and like all facts
humans have a beginning and will also have an end
He who is afraid dies every day
He who is not afraid dies only once
I really left my heart in this place and will definitely return. After all, I have to check that the donkeys are OK 
TIP
A piece of advice as a modern-day explorer? Don't queue in the sun like me who managed to get on board by a stroke of luck. Buy your ticket online for your boat trip at Asinara.
No tail, no sweat.
The best tours Island Asinara
