Cagliari, Sardinia. Italy. March 8, 2022

Another chilly morning ( 50 degrees) as we arrive at Cagliari, however the sun is brightly shining and we look forward to another adventurous day.  The city, well what can I say another city, clean, full of narrow streets and old city walls, just a few remarkable buildings.  I think Sardinia’s charm lies inland.  20% of the island is used for agriculture growing such things as tomatoes, artichokes, citrus fruits, olives and so on. Their hillsides are blanketed with vineyards.  Cork oak trees are also prevalent, useful for corking all the wine they produce.
  Being at the crossroads of the Mediterranean many civilizations have made their mark.  It is a large Italian island of about 24,000 square kilometers, with about 1.7 million inhabitants.  It’s prized for its sandy beaches, mountainous interior crossed with many hiking trails.  The rugged coastline is dotted with many Bronze Age ruins.  One of which, though we did not ago there, is  Su Nuraxi in Barumini dating to 1500 B.C.

We had a very informative guide, one that spoke the best English so far.  Unfortunately we were not permitted independent exploration but we did manage to sneak into  a store  adjoining the authorized  store and managed to get Margit a pair of shoe laces and me a pair of warmer slacks.  We were not the only ones that strayed a bit as their selected store, while full of Sardinian specialties, had nothing we wanted or needed.  We did get a slight disapproving look from our guide but I think she was sympathetic to our situation.  The people we encountered there were very friendly and accommodating.   Italian is their official language, though in Sardinia they also speak Sardinian also called Sard, unique to the island.  
We had another interesting and enjoyable day.  Our stay there was very brief, but a destination that warrants a future visit.  Though unlike travel from Mallorca to mainland Spain, air travel is expensive and the ferry takes 12 hours to the mainland of Italy.                 


What was most noticeable is that the majority of cars on the road were very small.   

Also the public transportation buses are electric, if you look at the top portion of the pictures you see the electric cables that power the buses.

Wonderful view of the city from one of their hilltop lookout points

Salt is produced here and these are salt ponds


An upscale residential neighborhood facing the waterfront.

One of the remaining watchtowers, part of the old city walls.  If you look closely, their is a huge gate and a drop door that was used to keep the enemy out.  quite impressive.

Another view of the ancient city walls. 


And because of the salt ponds many migrating flamingos have made this area their permanent home.  They have about 20K that reside here.  Unfortunately we could not get very close to them.  


Another viewpoint of the city.


And yet another view point of the city.  The building unlike the others is a church and locals call it the Octopus 

 

The little square where we stopped at a little cafe for the use of WC and had a wonderful capuchino.
Every city has a cathedral and so did this city,  unfortunately we were not allowed in.  


The harbor, view from our stateroom as we begin to sail away.  


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