Sardinia again and again, Budoni again and again

When I bought a house in Budoni in 1974, my friends couldn't understand why. Costa Smeralda and Porto Cervo, yes, that was understandable. But a ‘backwater’ like Budoni???

In fact, Budoni did not fare particularly well in some travel guides at the time, and so it was obvious to tease me about residing in a ‘dreary street village’ (quote from a 1980 travel guide) instead of the elegant Porto Cervo.  That was true, but a lot of it is simply a question of style and... finances. If I had looked for the shepherd's house in need of renovation that I bought in Budoni at the time in Porto Cervo instead, it would have far exceeded my means. What's more, every pizza would have cost me a multiple of what it did, and in shops and restaurants I would have been addressed in English. That would have been a relief, but it wouldn't have been ‘my Sardinia’!

I had to be cost-conscious, so it suited me well to cultivate a penchant for the original and unadulterated. I explained this to my friends and they agreed, because they all seemed to have wallets as empty as mine. At least, that's how they appeared.

To avoid all the cost traps, I had ignored the tourist hotspots in the north when I first set foot in Olbia in 1971. Instead, I had turned my attention southwards to the east coast. At the time, I was a real water baby and wanted nothing more than to snorkel, dive and swim. Of course, the only suitable accommodation was a house right on the beach. So I chugged from place to place in my '57 Beetle, looking for a cheap place to stay. That's how I ended up in Budoni, because that's where I finally found something suitable, and here I rented a place from Salvatore less than 50 metres from the sea. He had converted a former police station into apartments that offered the bare minimum and then some, but were located right on ‘Sardinia's most beautiful beach’. So I spent my first holiday home vacation here surrounded by Sardinian neighbours, enjoying chatting with them, dining and drinking the odd glass of wine too many.

I spent the remaining time above and below water. As a German, I was a real exotic creature to the Sardinians. But they appreciated that I had chosen Budoni, and so I was showered with all kinds of things, especially hospitality. I had never experienced anything like it before. Neither in Yugoslavia, nor in Spain, nor anywhere else had I ever been welcomed so warmly and hospitably. I felt right at home and was glad to have foregone the amenities of a well-run resort like Porto Cervo or San Teodoro in favour of Budoni. Of course, I had to promise Salvatore's holiday guests that I would come back the following year, and I did, because I had caught the Budoni bug. The sea, the beach, my host and his guests: I had grown so fond of all of this that I gave up my habit of wanting to go somewhere different every year. Not only that, I wanted to have a permanent home in Budoni, so I came up with the idea of buying a shepherd's house here.

I have never regretted it for a second, even though ‘my’ backward Budoni has now become a cute seaside resort. Budoni has really stepped on the gas in recent years and caught up with its neighbouring towns San Teodoro and Posada. According to my friends, it has changed for the better. That's true, but the reasons are simple: Budoni has remained true to itself, has not surrendered to tourism and has not committed the typical architectural sins associated with tourist development that are familiar from elsewhere: there are no multi-storey hotel complexes, no concrete jungles and no beaches covered in concrete! Behind the beach, you won't find souvenir shops, bars and boutiques, but flamingos peacefully fishing in the brackish water.

Budoni gently caters to tourists in harmony with nature, but also ensures that its holiday guests find every form of entertainment and relaxation. But I have not lost my friends from yesterday.

And that's why I would make the same decision today as I did back then: Budoni forever!

With a Sardinian ‘Adiosu’, I bid you farewell for today.

Joachim Waßmann