Voyaging Berts: Charismatic Cagliari

From the moment I started researching Cagliari, I was intrigued - everything I read made it sound so picturesque and full of culture. It seemed like a quaint town, one where people work hard and are proud to hail from the island of Sardinia. As we pulled into the port, it was easy to see how different this stop would be from the last. What I wasn't prepared for, was how much I've come to treasure this specific day as I think back on our trip. This one stands out from the rest, I can't even put my finger on why but Hubs and I both are hoping our travels take us back to Sardinia one day to explore more.

Leaving Palermo

Perfect day for a boat ride...

On our way to the port in Cagliari

Monumeni Aperti just off the port

City square

Torre dell'Elfante

As we disembarked the ship we made our way towards the city center, again without a real plan. Since it was Easter week, a good number of attractions were closed (bummer) but we made the best of it. Originally, we'd hoped to see the Torre dell'Elefante but it was one of the aforementioned sites that wasn't open. We kept on until the first stop - Bastione di Saint Remy - one of Cagliari's most important monuments but also, one of the best panoramic views of the city.

From there we walked towards the Cattedrale di Santa Maria which sits next to the old Town Hall. The cathedral's original structure was built in 1254 and has survived many restorations/renovations, the most recent being 2007. Inside, you'll find there's a shrine (Shrine of the Martyrs) underneath the presbytery and the choir. If you've read other posts on this trip, you may be thinking - how many churches are they going to see? And yes, I did see a lot on this trip but no matter how many we saw, I continued to be in awe of each one's unique characteristics and beauty.

I loved this door!

The entrance to the Cattedrale

Such intricate ceilings

Beautiful details

I am really bummed about the lighting, but still a beautiful sculpture

Inside the crypt

Sarcophagus inside the crypt

Since we had very limited time to explore each port city, I tried to stay away from most of the museums but the Museo Archeological Nazionale was one I couldn't say no to. There a four exhibitions in this museum, each grouped by floor. Starting from the ground floor, it takes you through the history of Sardinia beginning with the Early Neolithic era all the way through the Middle Ages. Throughout the entire museum, you'll see tons of artifacts (most in excellent condition, might I add) and it really begins to put all those history lessons into perspective. Suddenly, I began to feel so small compared to all this island has survived. It was truly mind blowing. Even if you're only in Cagliari for a day, I would definitely recommend this museum.

Tower coming up to the museo

Replication for how the artifacts were found

I thought these figurines were cool, plus in such great shape

It astounds me that these are still in tact

Here's one from the Roman era

I love the mosaics

I thought this was just beautiful

Ruins outside the museum

We had all agreed to eat lunch on the ship that day, so we started to make our way back to the port. Of course, as we started to pass a few beautiful churches, I got distracted and stopped us for a bit. The Chiesa di San Michele was definitely worth the delay. On the inside, it's different than your typical church - there's four chapels, each incredibly stunning. I was greeted by a gentleman who spoke no English, but allowed me to select from his stack of papers an English version of the guided tour which detailed the history of the church. After a brief visit, I said "grazie" and was about to leave when the gentleman urged me to follow him. I did so even though I was a bit hesitant because I knew everyone was waiting on me. He led me to the sacristy behind the altar, it was one of the most beautiful rooms I've ever seen. I do realize how ridiculous that sentence sounds but it's true. I again thanked him and with that, we went on back to the ship for a quick lunch and to rest our feet before heading back out to see more of Cagliari.

Beginning our walk back to the ship

Altar at San Michele

One of the chapels in San Michele

Ceiling in the sacristy

Another beautiful church

A bit quieter on the inside than the last one

Angel watching over us

First stop after lunch was the Botanical Garden - another amazing site. Inside you'll see over 2000 species of plants, ranging from succulents to tropical to Mediterranean. There's also a great deal of history too, multiple tanks and wells date back to the Roman era. We really enjoyed it plus it was only 4 euro/person... super cheap!

Loved the bright colors

Orange is one of my favorite colors

Another beautiful flower

For reference hubs is 5'11" and those cacti were way taller than him!

One of the Roman cisterns

Maybe my new favorite flower

Digging this fountain

Bonus, Koi pond!

For those who don't know, Cagliari is situated on a steep hill. By this point, we had already walked over eight extremely hilly miles and our legs were started to ache. And even though we could have turned back, we pushed on heading north of the gardens because not too much farther there was a Roman Amphitheater. The ruins date back to the 2nd century and had a capacity of 10,000 people! We decided not to buy tickets since we'd already done two exhibits that day, but if you're interested they are only 3 euro/person.

I was so impressed!

A close up

Beautiful church across the street

Different view

Side view as we were leaving

As we began meandering back towards the ship, we realized we weren't ready to leave Cagliari quite yet. So as per usual, we found a cute cafe and ordered two glasses of red wine with a pastry on the side. We haven't met too many red wines we don't like, so we asked the bartender to pick one for us. He chose a Sardinian wine that was impeccable. By now, it was mid afternoon on a Tuesday and there weren't a ton of people in the cafe. One thing led to another and somehow we found ourselves in conversation with the bartender. He was originally from Germany but now calls himself a native Sardinian because he has lived there over 20 years. Despite the fact that we can't speak Italian and he could only speak broken English, we were able to have a decent conversation (smart phones and Google Translate did help). He mentioned Kentucky (my birth state) of all places (due to his love of bourbon) which started a whole conversation about good and bad bourbons and the varieties he should look out for. Before we left, he let us try Grappa - a grape liquor native to Italy. Not really my thing, but hey... when in Cagliari!