Wednesday October 16 was a mix of sun and cloud with a high of 27C. We had our breakfast on the deck and did most of our packing before heading out to explore Il Castello District.
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| First a stop to buy some Cagliari coffee and a coffee tin for Alonso |
We walked over to Piazza Costituzione and took the elevator up from the garden under the walls.
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| Looking up at Il Castello District near the elevator |
We took some pictures once we got to the District.
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| View one way |
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| View toward the water |
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| A narrow street in Il Castello |
We walked to the Piazza Palazzo that housed the former City Hall (Palazzo di Città) until 1906. It is now a gallery that had recently had a Robert Capa photography exhibit (it ended on October 6). The gallery was closed for installation of a new exhibit.
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| Palazzo di Città |
Across the Piazza Palazzo was the Cathedral of Santa Maria. The Cathedral was built in the 13th century in Pisan-Romanesque style and then renovated along Baroque lines. Except for the square-based bell tower, little remains of the original Gothic structure.
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| Outside of the Cathedral of Santa Maria |
Inside, the once-Gothic church has all but disappeared beneath the baroque decor, the result of a radical late-17th century makeover. Bright frescos adorn the ceilings and the side chapels have exuberant sculptural whirls.
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| Amazing ceilings |
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| Alter |
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| Going for Baroque |
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| The lions in front of the alter |
Beneath the altar is the Santurario del Martiri (Sanctuary of Martyrs), the only one of several underground rooms open to the public. Carved out of rock, the sanctuary, named after the 179 martyrs whose relics are kept here, has impressive sculptural decoration and intricate carvings.
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| The Sanctuary of Martyrs |
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| Chapel of the Black Madonna |
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| Chapel of St. Michael-- casting out demons. |
We sat outside for a bit and noticed this stairway to heaven.
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| Stairway to the stars |
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| Piazza Indipendenza |
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One of the Towers -- during the 14th century, the Pisan age, Castello was a fortified area
guarded by two towers. |
We then walked through the Piazza Arsenale to the Cittadella dei Musei, Cagliari's main museum complex. It occupies the site of the city's former arsenal at the northern end of Il Castello. It's home to several museums, including the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Pinacoteca Nazionale and the Siamese Art Museum as well as several university departments.
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| Entrance gate to the Museum complex |
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| Signage for the museums and university departments |
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| Chiesa di S. Croce--- near the old Jewish neighbourhood. |
We walked through what had been the old Jewish quarter of the Castello District. There was an interesting sign for the "Garden of the Righteous of Sardinia", but the plaque was on a closed chained door which one could not get into.
Then it was back to the Piazza Palazzo where we had seen a few restaurants in a square down some steps from the Cathedral.
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| View from the bottom of the stairs looking up at the Cathedral |
There were two restaurants on the square but one was just closing at 3:00 p.m. The other, Plazuela was still open.
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| Restaurant in the corner of the square |
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Very nice spot for a bite
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| We shared a feta salad with olives, tomatoes, carrots and lettuce. |
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| The inside of the restaurant had a floor one could see down to a wine cellar with a few tables. |
We headed back to the elevator which took us down to the garden near Piazza Costituzione.
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| One last look back at the Cathedral |
We wandered back to our apartment, stopping to sit in the sun and people watch. We had an aperitif on our deck and rested before dinner.
We headed out to dinner at about 8:15 p.m.
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| Full moon in Cagliari |
We decided to have dinner at Antica Cagliari, one of our host's recommendations and also a Lonely Planet recommendation. It was only a few minutes away from where we had dinner on Tuesday, in the Marina District.
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| We were in a room near the outside window. |
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| Alonso had a delicious dorade in a tomato sauce with other seafood (prawn, mussels, clams) |
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| I had spaghetti with clams and bottarga (Sardinian dry mullet roe) |
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| Our waiter was filleting a beautifully salted large fish for the table of men across from us. |
As we were paying out bill at the front of the restaurant, the manager asked where we were from and when we said Canada, he said he knew that Ottawa was the capital. He then asked if we wanted a limoncello liqueur before we left. How could we refuse!
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| Arrivederci Cagliari! |
We have had a wonderful trip. Paris was Paris, though it was cold and rainy. We loved the two major art exhibits we saw at the Musée d'Orsay and the Jacquemart-André Museum. Corsica is a beautiful island with a fascinating history; a lot of Napoleon and citadels (definitely a theme of the trip). We had good weather and enjoyed our Cap Corso Spritzes on the waterfronts.
Sardinia was a real highlight. Of course, it helped that we had amazing weather the entire seven days we were on the Island. Lots of fabulous regional foods, with very interesting and walkable Old Towns. While Sardinia is the Mediterranean's second largest island, it is still relatively compact- 300 km north-to-south and 125km east-to west. However, public transportation is very tricky and it takes longer to travel between towns than one first imagines. We only had one really stressful travel day (the Trenitalia train strike) but fortune smiled on us and we made it from Alghero to Cagliari in one piece. We had a nice mix of small towns and larger cities on our trip. We would recommend visiting both Corsica and Sardinia and have lots of tips to offer.
Due to Air France changing our flight route, we have to catch a very early flight on Thursday October 17. Our 7:20 a.m. departure takes us to Rome where we have a short layover and then fly to Paris. We leave Paris at 1:40 p.m. and are due in Toronto at 3:45 p.m. (fingers crossed). Thank you again for joining us on our "vertical" adventure! Hope to see many of you back in Toronto.
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