Saturday, June 20, next stop, Cagliari. I can't believe we've passed the halfway point in our cruise. The mistral made the day particularly pleasant. The mistral is a strong cool wind blowing from the northwest from France onto the Mediterranean Sea.
From where our ship was docked we could see this interesting ship. It looks like a dry bulk freighter and it appears that the deck folds up out of the way (the green things) so that cargo can easily be loaded and unloaded by crane. We set off for a one hour bus ride along the coast toward what was originally the Phoenician seaport of Nora.
A few years ago some pink flamingos were blown off course in a storm. They ended up in the area. They are thriving. We passed several coves filled with pink flamingos. They've become a tourist attraction.
You may recall that the African tectonic plate is moving toward and under the Eurasia plate. This collision and upward thrust has produced the Alps. The region is geologically active with earthquakes and volcanoes. The southern part of Sardinia is sinking into the Mediterranean Sea and so some of the original Nora is now under water.
Nora was two harbors, separated by a peninsula. One harbor or the other was preferred based on the direction of the wind. Nora is the site of ruins of a Roman amphitheater, Roman baths, and other Roman structures. The stone posts in the front of this amphitheater originally supported a wood platform. For many events the main action took place on the platform. There could be a chorus in the semi-circular area.
A nearby area contained ruins of other structures. Here is a section of road made of pieces of lava. (Sid Horenstein asked "Do you know what the volcano said to the lava?"
Answer: Lava come back to me.) There is a sewer underneath the center of the road. You can see the rectangular covers over openings to the sewer. The rectangular covers don't look original. It is my guess that in Roman times there were some kind of wood covers.
Lunch was local cuisine at a restaurant and vineyard, La Laconda di Bacalamanza. The grape vines were covered with a white plastic material 'so that the grapes would ripen faster'. Here's a tour manager's picture of that.
There were two choices for the afternoon activities. One was to visit an archeological site including a tower built out of large stones by Nuraghi people during the Bronze Age.
My choice was to return to Cagliari for a walking tour of the city. We visited the Castello (a medieval fortified area), the Cagliari Archaeological Museum (interesting because the island has a Nuraghic, Carthaginian, Roman, Byzantine, Pisan, and Spanish history), and a Cathedral. Inside the Cathedral was an elaborate pulpit designed by the same architect who designed the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Interestingly, the pulpit was out toward the middle of the pews. Before electronic amplification, this was necessary so that the entire congregation could hear. Also, inside the Cathedral the guide pointed out a reused block, a large stone that had been part of a sarcophagus and was now used as a lintel. Back on the bus, we passed the Palazzo Boyl, used as an opera house, that had three different size cannon balls embedded in an outside wall from three different assaults on the city.
The evening's lecture was Roman Architecture by Cecil Wooten.
Among the passengers there were seventeen people of three generations of one family. This evening they put on laurel wreaths and made togas out of their bedsheets and arrived for dinner in costume. They got a nice round of applause. Here is a tour manager's photo.
Speaking of dinner. Dinner was always spectacular. First, there were two or three choices each for salad, soup, and appetizer. There was always a choice between bottled clear water or sparkling water. There was always a white wine and a red wine to choose from. For the main course there was always a choice of a meat, a fish, or a vegetarian dish. Plus, there were about five standard main course dishes that were always available. And of course there were several desserts to choose from. We all ate very well on this cruise. I worked at eating a fairly healthy diet, typically choosing the fish main course and limiting my total consumption. The maître d' made it a point to seat you with different people each evening.
Next stop, Tunis.
