Sardinia, Italy, September 23-29, 2013

Two non-simultaneous house exchanges with Italians in the last two years inspired us to visit Italy this fall.  We flew overnight from Philadelphia to Rome, and then caught a flight to Sardinia, the second largest island in the Mediterranean-only Sicily is larger.  Sardinia's terrain ranges from plains to mountainous with beautiful rocky coasts and many nice beaches which provide a major pastime for the natives and visitors.  Of course the water is that famous Mediterranean blue.  The population density is light, only about 1.6 million people, a third of whom live in the capital, Cagliari  (pron: KAHL ya ree), located on the southern coast, a port that boasts a rich and long history, going back to the somewhat mysterious Nuragic civilization (ca 1500 BCE).

Welcome to Sardinia!

We were met at the Cagliari airport by the friendly face of our friend, Rosa Maggio,  who stayed with us in Philadelphia two years ago on a non-simultaneous Intervac exchange.  After settling into our room in her apartment, and a fun lunch where we were introduced to carta di musica, a very very thin flatbread, Rosa proudly showed us around her home town. The old town is on a steep hill, so our days here were full of ups and downs.  Rosa, with the help of a public elevator, got us up the high point, and then we explored by walking downhill, a good thing because we were sleep-deprived! A perfect cure for jet-lag--keep moving! 

Pope Francis had recently visited Cagliari, so the churches and streets were full of his images. We missed the crowds but enjoyed the show.
Walking around the streets, especially with Rosa’s neighborhood knowledge, with slopes providing perspective, was great.  

One of the highlights of our tour was what we now call a “Rosa moment.”  Rosa would take us off the beaten path, through an unassuming door et voila, there, perhaps unbeknownst to many others, was something amazing.  The most memorable was when she took us up some very plain stairs and into an office.  Others were being turned away, but Rosa chatted up the gentleman and he took us into this big, formal room (very different from the entrance) which was loaded with ancient books.  We were in the Sala Settecentesca, the 18th Century Hall of the Bibliotheque Universitaire de Cagliari, dating from 1764, which holds 550,000 works, including 5,718 from the 16^th century.

On our walking tour with Rosa we also just happened to wander into the Royal Apartments of the Castello
and later to  a very interesting “outdoor theater,”  Teatro Civico del Castello, which was built into a courtyard of the surrounding buildings, where we enjoyed an exhibit of Piranesi drawings.

Who would have known?  So that is what we now refer to as a “Rosa moment,” a little hidden surprise.

The most important thing we learned on our trip to Italy was the art and significance of the Aperol Spritz. Our first classroom was the Antico Caffe, in the shadow of the Bastione di Sant Remy  Aperol, dating from 1919, is an Italian aperitif which includes bitter orange, rhubarb and other herbs.  It is milder, sweeter and has about half the alcohol of Campari.  One way to make the spritz is to pour half Aperol and half Prosecco over ice, then garnish with a big slice of orange and perhaps a green olive on a skewer.  Another option is to use a white wine and sparkling water instead of Prosecco.  It is a fine late-day pick-me-up for jet-lagged tourists and a good antidote for hills.

Rosa, who made many fine meals for us while staying with us in Philadelphia, also treated us to several delicious meals in Sardinia.  Our first night she made a traditional Sardinian pasta, maccaruin di Carlofortea  (St. Peters Isle)] with pesto and pecorino, Sardinian tuna in oil, and roast potatoes – with a little wine to help it down.  Delicious!

Having had a great orientation from Rosa, the next morning we set off for our own walking tour of Cagliari, building upon the orientation that Rosa gave us. The historic part of Cagliari is the walled area around the castle at the top of the hill, which makes for some very nice views and photographs.  Off to the west side of the castle are the areas of the Ghetto and Stampace, the medieval district of Cagliari, with a grid of narrow streets and ancient buildings.

We had our first  solo “Rosa moment” looking at the Church of St Efisio in Stampace, when we came across a very unassuming open doorway and stairs going WAY down. We ventured down and discovered ourselves in a crypt below the church.  It is said that Saint Efisio was imprisoned here before his martyrdom.  It was calm, cool, restful and eerie.  This and another crypt nearby (S.t Restituita) were used as air raid shelters during WWII, and ever since, the doors have always remained open.  We also visited the Orto Botanico, or botanic garden, which was pleasant, but we think the guidebooks got a little carried away with their praise.  

Piazza Yanni is a popular gathering spot with a lot of restaurants on the way to the Marina District, with many nice restaurants and shops. We had our late lunch there at a place recommended in the guidebooks, Manamana. We both tried the local wine and beer, and will leave it to you to guess who had which.  The smoked fish antipasto and the risotto with peas and tuna were excellent.

In the Marina District we stopped at one shop we read about called Durke which goes back at least three generations and crafts special sweets that are popular.

We purchased a box to take home for dessert with Rosa that evening. 

The Countryside of Sardinia

One of the special bonuses of our stay with Rosa, besides her charming cat, was her taking us on visits to the countryside.  On our first excursion we drove east of Cagliari to Poetto beach.  The Sardinians are justly proud of their beaches and the deep blue Mediterranean water beckons.  We succumbed, walked along the beach for an hour enjoying the warm inviting water and beautiful scenery.

Sella del Diavolo, or Devil's Saddle, viewed from Poetto Beach.  

Rosa then drove us further east to Mari Pitau beach, which was more remote.

There we settled in a bit more, had some sandwiches and took a serious dip and some sun.  Our last stop was to Rosa’s lovely country house  fairly high up in the hills, with great views or the Sardinian mountains.

We had a nice lunch on the terrace, learning about and tasting another Sardinian specialty, botarga, dried fish eggs, which we sprinkled on Rosa's tomato sauced pasta.  We puttered around in her garden, then headed back to civilization.

That evening back in Cagliari, we walked up yet another hill, looking for a pizzeria we had read about, Il Fantasma Pizza, on Via San Domenico 94.  After a bit of poking we found it – it had almost no signage, and the street numbers aren’t systematic.  It was in a very pleasant residential neighborhood, right off Piazza San Domenico, and had interesting décor 

The pizza was of the thin crust variety and quite tasty.  The guide books say it is bustling, but it was quiet when we were there, early by Italian standards. The real find, however was a gelatoria, Bobocono, on our return walk.  This was our first gelato in Italy this trip, and it was delicious! One of the things we learned is to look for is the kitchen in the back; at Bobocono the gelato was all made on site. 

Cocoa and Limone and Ciocco-Crancioi & fico (fig) conos di gelato at BoboCono

                                                     Sant’Antioco

Rosa was born and raised on the small island of Sant’Antioco, about one hour west of Cagliari.  One day she had to visit her aging mother, so we went along for the ride and to explore this island and town.  Sant’Antioco is connected to Sardinia by a bridge--in earlier times by a Roman bridge, portions of which one can still see.  The whole area is quite walkable, and we did.  The main street in town has several blocks enshrouded by huge old ficus trees, making a cool, dark allee, and the nice shops along the way made it inviting. 

We started our tour on what may have been the highest point on the island, a special funerary hill, where is ancient cultures buried their children and even fetuses is special pots in niches in the rocky hillside.

Down the hill, the excellent Archeological Museum told us about the people of the Nuragic age.

 The Nuragic civilization of Sardinia lastied from the Bronze Age 18C BCE to 2C century AD. The name derives from its most characteristic monuments, the nuraghe, which consist of tower-fortresses. Today some 7,000 nuraghe dot the Sardinian landscape.  High up on the hill in Sant'Antioco we found a charming church on Piazza Parrocchia, the Basilica of Sant’Antioco Martire.  The name of the island derives from St. Antiochus, who was martyred in 125 AD.  The Basilica was built in his honor, and restored in 1089 – 1102.

The waterfront of Sant'Antioco was very colorful.  Somehow a gelato sounded about right, and we found one shop that offered a promising “whiskey cream” flavor– well, it was cold and it was wet, but not the best gelato, industrial, not artisinal.  We stopped at Piazza Italia and watched the local children play around an ancient Roman water fountain while sipping on our Spritz Aperols (it was about that time).  Before our rendezvous with Rosa we walked back up the shaded Corso Vittorio Emanuele to the Piazza Umberto, found a table in the piazza serviced by a bar and ordered another Spritz Aperol, this time accompanied by a very nice little appetizer tray.

We rejoined Rosa after she fulfilled her family obligations and piled into her car to a very special restaurant in the middle of nowhere, La Laguna a Tavola.  There is no way we would have ever found it on our own.  Rosa explained to us that this restaurant was a cooperative run by the fishermen.  The menu was multi-course, based on what was caught that day.
We had  five antipasti including zucchini with tuna, tuna salad, calamari and fresh oysters.   The primi inccluded mussels and clams with garlic and parsley in oil and the secondi was fregola pasta with mussels, langostina, clams and calamari in tomato sauce.  The final course was sole, bass and calimari!  With wine, for 69 Euros for three people!  We staggered out.  

After this great dinner, we drove many miles south to a house owned by Rosa’s family where we spent the night.  









We, of course, arrived in the dark, so we had no idea where we were.  To our delight, the next morning dawned bright and sunny and we could see a great black sand beach just down the road.  Rosa and Joan sunbathed and enjoyed the clear, warm water (we could see the little fish swimming around our feet when we were in waist-deep water, it was so clear!)  while Dane wandered about taking pictures.

On the drive back to Cagliari, Rosa took us to Nora, near Pula on the southern coast, now a partially excavated open air museum, but believed to be the first town in Sardinia, settled by the Nuraghic people and later by the Romans.  

Artifacts suggest that it was well established in the 9^th – 8^th C. BCE.  From a distance Nora can be spotted by a Nuragic monument on a mound out in the sea.  The town has been sinking into the Mediterranean, much of it is now submerged, but some of it is partially excavated.  

Along the way we saw other Nuragic monuments.  
 There are around 7000 of these structures all around Sardinia, and not just in coastal areas.  It is unclear what their function was.  Sometimes they are by themselves, sometimes surrounded by a town or community.  They might have been dwellings, perhaps defensive, but they also served ceremonial, religious purposes.

                                    Our Last Day Exploring Cagliari

Loving food and local markets, we couldn’t resist the Mercado Civico di San Benedetto.  Like many of the markets we saw, the merchants take great pride in artistic displays.  It is a food photographer’s dream.

 In the park in front of the Galleria Comunale d’Arte, there was craft show of pottery.

 There were some fun things at the show, and the Galleria had a small but nice art collection of Sardinian artists.

For a late lunch, so we wandered down past Piazza Yenne, to L’Osteria Capoccetti  on Via Domenico Azuni.  

Dane had pasta with pork sauce and then a tuna steak with parsley and garlic, and Joan has culugiones, traditional Sardinian stuffed dough pockets.  The name means "little bundles."  With butter and sage, they were delicious!  

After lunch, we visited the Archeological Museum and Art Museum.  That was more musuems than Dane usually tolerates, so Joan treated him to another Spritz Aperol at the Antico Café, with some antipasti as a special treat.

 That evening, we took Rosa to a restaurant she enjoys in the Marina District, walking distance from her house, called Trattoria da Serafino, Via Lepanto 6.  We had culurigones again, but this time with mint and cheese, and another pasta with pomodoro sauce, fritti misti, swordfish, and for dessert sebadas, pasta filled with fresh pecorino cheese, fried then covered with honey, oh my.  It was a fitting feast to honor our fine hostess on our last night.