Eight moments from a summer day at our house above Pula, from the sun coming up out of the sea to the last glass on the roof.
People ask what there is to do at Il Polpo Nero. The honest answer is less than you think, and more than you will manage. A day here has a shape, and the sun sets it. What follows is a day in August, hour by hour, the way it tends to go when nobody is in charge.
06:30 · First light
The house faces east, across the Gulf of Cagliari, so the day starts with the sun coming up out of the sea. In August that happens between twenty past six and a quarter to seven. The early risers get it to themselves: a cup of coffee on the rooftop, the pines turning pink, the first boats drawing lines on the water. The light reaches the bedrooms soon after, which is either a reason to get up or a reason to have closed the shutters. We leave that to you.
A note for photographers. If you see an orange sky over the sea at Il Polpo Nero, it is the morning. We have no sunsets here. We have sunrises, and we are told they are better, by the people who were up for them.
09:00 · Breakfast under the pergola
Breakfast is a long affair, and it happens outside, under the pergola and its wicker lamps. Sardinia does a very good breakfast if you shop for it the day before. Pane carasau, the thin, crisp sheets of bread that keep for weeks and shatter everywhere. Fresh ricotta. Miele di corbezzolo, the honey of the strawberry tree, which is dark, bitter and not for everyone. (We think it is the best thing on the table. We have been outvoted.) Add fruit and a moka pot, and the kind of conversation that starts with "what shall we do today" and ends, an hour later, with nobody having moved.
11:00 · Pool hours
By eleven the sun is properly up and the pool takes over. This is the hour of the book you brought and have not opened, of light moving on the bottom of the water, of the first spritz being suggested and politely refused until at least midday.
13:00 · Lunch on the roof
Lunch goes up to the rooftop on trays. Tomatoes that taste of something, basil from the pot, mozzarella or a wedge of pecorino, bread, and a cold bottle of Vermentino di Sardegna. The sea is behind you the whole time, which makes any lunch look better than it is.
If you would rather eat Sardinian than simply Italian, the island's pasta is worth learning. Fregola: little beads of semolina, rubbed by hand and toasted. Malloreddus: small ridged gnocchetti, which alla campidanese come with sausage, tomato, saffron and pecorino. Culurgiones: parcels of potato and cheese, closed with a pleat that looks like an ear of wheat. And bottarga, the salted, dried roe of grey mullet, grated over more or less anything. Buy it from someone who can tell you where the mullet came from; a good deal of what is sold on the island was not caught here.
15:30 · Siesta
Then the heat wins. In the early afternoon the island slows right down, many of the smaller shops in town close for a few hours, and the sensible thing is to do the same. Find a corner of shade (there is a red lounge chair under the reed canopy that has never been short of applicants) and choose between a sketchbook and a nap. Nobody here will judge you for either.
This is also the hour when the macchia smells strongest. The scrub that covers these hills is made of lentisk, myrtle, cistus, rosemary and wild olive. In the heat, lentisk gives off a smell of resin, and a crushed myrtle leaf smells faintly of orange blossom. You will notice it on the way to the car, and again, months later, when you open your suitcase.
17:30 · Down to the sea
When the light starts to soften, it is time for the sea. On the way down, past the palms and the bougainvillea, the bay opens up above the pines. In August the water is around 25°C, warm enough to stay in until someone calls you for the third time.
The sandy beaches people cross Europe for are a short drive south, past Pula: Nora and its Roman ruins first, then the long coast towards Chia. We keep a list of our favourites, with a note on which ones to choose when the wind is up.
20:30 · Aperitivo
Back on the roof for the blue hour, when the lights come on along the coast and the sea goes from blue to a darker blue. Vermentino again, or a glass of Cannonau if you want something with more of an opinion. (Cannonau is the Sardinian name for Grenache, and the island takes it very seriously.)
Pizza on the roof is a perfectly respectable dinner. So is a table in Pula, ten minutes away, where on summer evenings the bars and restaurants around Piazza del Popolo fill up late and stay full. In July, the archaeological park at Nora hosts La Notte dei Poeti, a festival of theatre and music held among the ruins. The programme changes every year, so check it before you plan around it.
23:00 · After dark
The house changes at night. The pool lights up blue, the black octopus on the living-room wall looks larger than it did at lunch, and somebody always finds the piano.
In August, take a cushion up to the roof and wait for shooting stars. The Perseids peak in the night of 12 to 13 August, and in 2027 the best hours come late, after the moon has set. Then a last glass of mirto, the myrtle liqueur Sardinians drink after dinner, and bed, with the shutters open or closed depending on how you feel about the sunrise.
Good to know
- Sunrise in August: about 06:20 at the start of the month, about 06:50 at the end.
- Sea temperature: around 21 to 22°C in June, 25°C in August, 23 to 24°C in September. The rest of the year is in our month-by-month guide.
- Afternoons: many smaller shops close for a few hours after lunch; the larger supermarkets tend to stay open.
- Shooting stars: the Perseids are active from mid-July to late August. The peak night in 2027 is 12 to 13 August.
- Getting around: you will want a car. Pula is about ten minutes away, Nora a little further.
This day is also a series on our Instagram, Una giornata, one moment per episode.
Lola
The house
Il Polpo Nero, Perd'e Sali, near Pula, South Sardinia. Ten guests, a pool and a rooftop facing the sunrise.
