Wednesday April 29

Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Today's port was Cagliari, Sardinia, an Italian island. Our ship wasn't scheduled to get into port until 11 am, so we had plenty of time to sleep late FINALLY, and then have a nice breakfast in the dining room versus the Garden Café where you have people scrambling all over and then spend too much time trying to find a seat while your food gets cold. Also, I can order tomato juice in the dining room and that's not available at the café. We sat at a table at the very back of the dining room by the windows where I could look down and see all the churning of the ocean as the ship was speeding ahead towards the island. The ship had been doing quite a bit of rocking as we got further into the Mediterranean last night and this morning. A number of people were feeling ill. It just helped rock me to sleep. I think it's a pretty cool feeling.
After breakfast we looked up Cagliari on the laptop to figure out what all there is to see on the island. Since many adventures would require an expensive taxi or taking a ship excursion, we decided to just hike around the city on our own. It was a beautiful sunny & warm (70 degrees) day. We all put on shorts and had to take a shuttle from the pier to the city. The main street near the pier was Via Roma which had expensive boutiques; however, by US standards, the prices were reasonable for the items being offered. Designer shoes, handbags, men's suits, jewelry and there's a very popular store here in all these cities we have visited called Mango. It reminds me of a Banana Republic only better. One of the popular jewelry items we saw was silver filigree. I boht a pendant that is a filigree flower and Denise got a bracelet. The store owner created the pieces himself and sells each piece by weight. My piece only cost 10 Euros.
In Cagliari, the city is on a hill and much of it is surrounded by the old fortress walls. We had to walk up streets that went straight uphill and would curve around. Following the maps we were given and trying to find the names of the streets was an interesting task. We really didn't fear getting lost because as you went up into the city you could always look back towards the ocean and see the port with a beautiful view of the ship and realize that all you had to do was go back down steps or roads and eventually get there. Throughout the city are these towers they call Elefont towers or Elephant Towers. We paid 4 Euros each to climb the stairs of these towers which then put you five stories above where you are in that part of the city and the views are incredible. I had to suck up my fear of heights as these wooden steps were quite steep and short. I had to turn my foot sideways to avoid hitting my shins as we climbed. Once at the top we took pictures and within a few minutes the town clocks struck Noon and all the church bells began chiming throughout the city. From the top of this tower we could hear each church bell and from which direction it was coming. That was a great and unexpected bonus that made the trek worthwhile.
From the tower we headed across town down the roads and quaint alleys with their ancient cobblestone pavement. Sometimes it was a bit hard to walk on; I can't imagine trying to ride a bike or wear high heels on these streets. Each time a car came through you had to duck between cars or get close to the buildings. Speed limits don't really exist although most people in cars are cautious of pedestrians, but not the Vespa and motorcycle drivers. Crossing roads has been a fun challenge for most of this cruise. Mind you, I'm not complaining, I love the old world charm of the streets of Europe.
We headed for the Roman Theatre, but there was not much left of it and they had actually constructed bleachers on top of most of it in order to hold current day concerts. We headed back down the hills of the city towards the shopping district and stopped to have some sweets from the Pastry shops. We tried an orange peel and almond candy that we were told is served at special occasions like weddings. I also an another cannolli as I don't know when I'll have one that tastes quite like the ones here. Everyone else got a gelato. We walked along the coast for quite a bit trying to get past the port area so we could visit one of the nearby beaches. Unfortunately, we would have had to walk at least another mile to get past the port and we only had 1 ½ hours so we turned around and went back to the ship.
We got back early enough to put on our suits and sit by the pool. My nose got a little too red but at least there was some sun. The entertainment show was at 7:30 p.m. and it was the Flamenco Dancers from Barcelona. That was probably the best entertainment other than the comedian on the ship so far.