Sardinia

We had been in the Med over 3 months without a drop of rain, nary a cloud in the sky. As we approached Sardinia in the darkness we encountered our first taste of nastiness, Med-style. We were greeted by a vicious squall accompanied by lightning clear across the sky and biblical-grade rain. Lightning is greatly feared by yachties as one strike can wipe out all your electrical wiring & gear, even stuff that's not connected. It is not uncommon and has happened to many of our friends. We put a handheld GPS and VHF radio in the oven and prayed. The oven acts as an insulated 'safe house' for our navigational equipment.

This may not look like much, but it was a welcome sight, the SE coast of Sardinia. We dropped anchor, exhausted but relieved, and hit the sack. Almost looks like parts of Texas.

This is our first view of Cagliari, former capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia and all-around ancient city. It had a safe, if filthy harbor, but was infested with cruise ships and freighters, which meant there was no place to anchor (the catamaran on the right is a cheapskate Euroyacht outside the breakwater). We wanted to check the place out so we went into the Marina Del Sol, which put the ram in ramshackle. We wish we had some pictures of this seedy marina, with extension cords and rotten wood everywhere, but we just plain forgot. Still, it was only 50 euros ($70) per night, which for Italy was cheap. You can actually stay much cheaper in pensions and the more downscale hotels. With the decreasing Euro it would be a great time to take advantage of what Italy has to offer. But since we were doing the sailing game marinas were the "Hotel". This marina also boasted a jovial manager who resembled an Italian Santa Claus. We were a bit spooked at tying up here, as Sardinia is world-famous for its large, aggressive rat population, which think nothing of swimming out and climbing aboard. However, he assured us that his collection of mangy mutts kept the rats off the docks.

At first we thought the whole town was sleazy, but we just lucked out and berthed in a sleazy 'hood. This is an example of the waterfront property in what is called the "Marina District", which boasts nice marinas with gigantic mega-yachts. Socialist Europe may be teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, but a lot of Euros are quite wealthy and have some of the nicest, biggest yachts we've seen anywhere. In other words, they cost millions and just the yearly maintenance can run a mil.

The streets up the hill from the waterfront are classical Italian. Its not hard to obtain residency in Italy, just takes some time. Wishing we had taken that avenue to enjoy the many old cities of the mainland and islands.

If there's one thing we have learned from our travels, it's never eat in a Mexican restaurant outside of Texas. Or Mexico. We tried it in Paris and gave it a five thumbs down. We skipped this one as well. We did have dinner out, but it was less Sardinian than Chef Boyardee. However, we did find that the local grocery store had outstanding fresh pasta, which made up for it. At a dollar a lb our fridge was bursting with tortellini.

On the hill overlooking town is the Castello (Castle), a stronghold similar to a Venetian castro. As you can see, it's been defaced by graffiti like much of Europe. We're sure St Peter's would be covered with spray paint if the Swiss Guard wasn't around.

The Elephant Tower, built by Pisans in the early 14th Century as a gate into the Castello.

Going for Baroque: this magnificent altar, originally intended for a church in Pisa, was imported here by the Pisans to adorn Cagliari.

As usual, Capt Hub can't get enough of local 3-wheel vehicles, in this case a truck.

Such vehicles can be quite handy when the streets are so narrow that you have to scrunch in the doorway when a normal compact car goes by. Note that the storm sewer runs down the center of the street, Roman-style. The green cross depicts a pharmacy. And, by the by, everything shuts down for the afternoon and opens again at fiveish and stays open till midnight. We find the Sardinians and Sicilians exceedingly friendly though very little English is spoken.

It's not uncommon to see the laundry suspended across the street. In this case they added a basket for sharing stuff with the neighbors. Italy is a lovely place; too bad we can't afford it, but it seems neither can they. If the Euros sinks any lower we can afford a trip in style and stay for a few months.

A beautiful old church, built over an older Byzantine version. As usual, nothing's sacred to modern-day Vandals.

We departed Cagliari for the ancient town of Nora. It was established about 700BC by the Phoenicians and later occupied by Romans and Byzantines. It was finally abandoned in about the 8thC AD because Muslim slave raids made the coastal areas too risky to live in. The watchtower above is a common sight in southern Sardinia and used to warn of approaching "Saracen" pirates.

A view to the north; the boat is on the right. Nora was blessed with 2 bays that provided good shelter depending on the winds. Due to distance and angle, Amante resembles a tender to the other yacht. Believe it or not, our home with sails is actually considered a rather large boat by European standards. That is, the common man's sail boat.

Much of what is left of Nora is residential, mostly Roman/Byzantine. Note the exquisite mosaic floor. luckily it didn't end up in Richard Branson's digs or some other fat cat's villa. It would be fun to duplicate this on a floor of your own., We hope to.

We could show you much more of Nora but sometimes ruins just look like piles of rubble and Nora is a case in point. So, we'll continue our passage along the south coast of Sardinia...

Yet another of the many watchtowers along the coast still looking out for pirate slavers. As many as 2 million Europeans, men, women and children, were hauled off the the slave markets of North Africa. Read White Gold by Giles Milton. We had to buy it second hand from Amazon. Much recommended.

Our last Italian sunset, sigh. For the time being! This is from Isola San Pietro, so called because St Peter is said to have landed here and taught the locals how to catch fish.

Well folks, that's all we could see of Italy. Our biggest problem was the 90-day limitation in the Schengen Zone and the need to get across the Med before October, when it becomes a very nasty place for boats. Please join us as we rush across Spain!

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