In September the colors are warmer. The light is softer and contours of things are more defined. Although the days begin to shorten, I live more intensely the little moments that I can steal to go to the sea.
-M. Cariello
SA MANDRA IN ALGHERO
Sa Mandra is quite an “institution” in the island. This restaurant is a must to try the Sardinian cuisine with all its flavor and variety (evenings only) in a closed menu that enables us to test the main dishes of the cuisine. The place is a family holiday farm, also has azienda accommodation, close to the airport of Alghero. The place is made up of several areas and among them can visit a small museum dedicated to the Sardinian traditions. The place is very nice and charming and dinner is done on a charming terrace (even it is ideal for a romantic dinner wrapped in an authentic rural environment). Of course we recommend booking in advance. Comment of the tourist: The menu price is 35 euros per person and is really good considering the large number of dishes and the generosity of their rations. Therefore, the same day eat something light…
PIZZERIA IL BUONGUSTAIO IN CABRAS
At Pizzeria Il Buongustaio in Cabras you will find one of the best pizzas to take away. But we do not have photos in conditions. They are so good that we eat them before we realize we have not taken pictures. This is how it always happens. And we have gone times … Only the last time we got a photo with the phone of the last sad piece that was … (the fabulous pizza with bottarga). From the best of the world. Need I say more? You are late to go. Tourist comment: The place has some tables, but in summer, with the heat it is, eating inside, a suicide mission. Better to take the pizza to any place, like to the hotel or sit in any square or bench in the street .. They sell cold drinks to take away too, above all the obligatory Ichnusa beer in…
THE RITE OF HOLY WEEK IN SARDINIA
The author of these beautiful photos is a good friend of mine, his name is Roberto Murgia, named Bob. The photos show some moments of the rite of Holy Week in Cagliari. Sa Chida Santa, which is its name in Sardinian language, takes place through the streets of the historic center: Villanova, Stampace, Castello and the Marina district, reliving il pasquale Triduum, ie, the event Passion Christ, his death and resurrection. All this happens in an evocative atmosphere of the ancient mystical-religious customs of Spanish origin. The rites of Holy Week involve all of Sardinia and the celebrations start on Friday before Palm Sunday with the procession of the Mysteries (Is Misters). In the emotional ritual procession are described the Deposition of the Cross, which in Sardinia is called “En Scravamentu” and the meeting between the statue of Jesus and the Virgin Mary: “S’Incontru” . Local fraternities are the undisputed protagonists…
IS FOGHIDONIS 2018, SADALI
SALINE CONTI VECCHI: THE STORY OF THE SALT MOUNTAINS OF CAGLIARI
It’s true, we’re at the right time, but the cover photo, is not a mountain of ice, but rather of salt. In December I visited the Saline Conti Vecchi. I took this photo from the tourist train while it took us around the large plant that is located a few kilometers from Cagliari. The Saline Conti Vecchi, are an example of how Sardinia, in the past, has experienced periods of great social emancipation and an economic and industrial development. Even today, they are in operation and keep intact the charm of a past that has much to tell. Entire families lived in the so-called “salt village“. This project was from the engineer Luigi Conti Vecchi. Luigi Conti Vecchi was originally from Tuscany; in 1919, after fighting during the First World War, was involved on an ambitious pond reclamation work to eradicate malaria. Malaria, especially in Sardinia, has been for a…
CHIARA VIGO, THE MASTER OF THE SEA THREAD – SANT’ANTIOCO
“I experienced a spell tonight.” This is the thought that I wrote and left in the guestbook in Chiara Vigo’s room. Chiara Vigo is the master of the sea thread, the bisso. The bisso or fabric of the sea is obtained from the precious Pinna Nobilis, a giant mollusk that can reach a meter and a half. This mollusk is a cross between a mussel and an oyster, and inside it has a cetacean gland that produces a kind of keratin collagen: a slime of keratin that spit molluscs due to the contraction and movement of the two valves. In contact with the water, this slime solidifies and produces a brown coating, similar to a shaved beard in the middle of small incrustations of shells, algae and coral: the material is worked and reddened, and only then becomes the bisso. I have witnessed the transformation of the bisso into sea-thread; I…
NOVEMBER
One more year. The sower is throwing
seed furrows in the ground.
Two slow oxen plow,
while passing the ashen clouds
overshadowing the field,
sowings brown,
gray olive groves.
-Antonio Machado
AUTUMN EQUINOX AT THE SANCTUARY OF SANTA CRISTINA: THE EFFECT OF THE OVERTURNED SHADOW
Last September 22nd, during the days of the Autumn Equinox, I was at the well of Santa Cristina. . I arrived in the afternoon and, unfortunetely, I didn’nt see my shadow overturned. The day was right, but the sun, at that hour, was not aligned with the hole above the well roof. It is the sun, in fact, which filters the light into the well and, due to the refraction, the shadow reflects on the water, projecting its image with its head facing down. The Sanctuary of Santa Cristina is always a magical place. Every time I was there, I experienced a special familiarity. It dates back to the XI – IX century A.C. It was built in local basalt and consists of a trapezoidal trunk sectional staircase, a hypogeic cell turned to the ogiva. The cell was made with concentric rings superimposed with the typical isodomic technique (very used…
THE SEA IN SEPTEMBER
The sea in September is like this. Generous before anything else. It gives the best of himself, and it seems that is the complicity of the sun and the nature of your environment. I do not know if you’ve ever noticed its colors. In September they are warmer. The light is softer and contours of things are more defined. The air is cool, you are not distracted by the scorching heat that disrupts emotions. Even though the days begin to shorten, the little moments that I can steal to go to sea, I live it more intensely. September accompanies me on the way to the fall. And it makes the tough transition from hot to cold less difficult. September is a very special month. And as I write this post, I think it’s Saturday and there was beautiful sunshine. It’s okay. At this point, I have no more excuses ..
TESTA DI POLPO, AGA KHAN’S REFUGE
Giardinelli Island is not a real island. It is a peninsula united to La Maddalena by a small isthmus. Giardinelli is a wild paradise where it is still possible to find quiet spaces within the tourist archipelago of the Maddalena. It was our refuge during our vacation. On the eastern side of the island Giardinelli is a dirt track leading up to its famous spiaggia Testa di Polpo (Beach Head of the Octopus), which in Sardinian language is called “Capocchia du Purpu” and which owes its name to the form of A rock that is in the same beach (very recognizable by its considerable size as can be seen in the first photo). This beach has very fine white sand and the sea is clean and crystalline like a natural pool. It is located at the end of everything we can drive by car, there is no loss! Just in…
AUGUST
It is the month in which the Ferragosto is celebrated in Italy (on 15th), is the month of shooting stars, a phenomenon that occurs mainly in the night of San Lorenzo, where everyone with the nose upwards to the hope to see a star in order to fulfill a wish, a dream that lights up as long as you make sure to turn it into reality.