The nice thing about a cruise is that you go to bed in one place and wake up in another so there is never any chance to get bored as I certainly would otherwise. Today we woke up in Cagliari in Sardinia an island we’d never visited before. The weather through the window didn’t look too promising but once we got out it was hot enough in the late 20’s.
There aren’t many places where there is a dedicated cruise ship port and so you end up in amongst all the containers, lorries and other freight stuff. This is a shame as the view from our balcony is never terribly interesting when we are in port (unless you like cranes). Today was the same and unusually we weren’t even allowed to walk out of the port and had to be bussed the short distance to the exit. Once there though we could make our way into town.
Cagliari is pretty small and walkable so Helen had plotted a route that would take us to the main sights. These included the Bastione di San Remy, which is a 19th century gateway, this looked fantastic (see above) made of marble but would have been awful as a defensive structure! Next up were the botanic gardens which were pleasant enough but just green, there wasn’t any colour in there at all (other than green), it was certainly no Wisley!
Next was the Roman amphitheater. This was in a poor state of repair since it had been used as a quarry for stone until the late 1880s. That said it was interesting to see and to think about when it would have been packed with 10,000 local residents baying for the death of some poor animal or Christian.
Many of the buildings in Cagliari are pretty uninspiring but it was Once a walled city and many of the city gates still remain. On one there is a beautifully carved baby elephant. I have no idea what is its significance and none of the other gates have carvings but it does attract the tourists.
Continuing the animal theme the local wildlife here have taken a liking to me and despite using suntan cream that allegedly includes insect repellent I have been bitten to shreds. An early stop tomorrow will have to be the pharmacy!
Next up Propriano in Corsica.