Trip to Sardinia

Tunes: Iron & Wine

First things first. I perfected my crepe recipe. A combination of not enough butter and the stupid addition of sugar/cinnamon to the batter caused my last batch to turn into a sort of thin American pancake. Not so good. But today’s are perfect, don’t worry. Only thing is, I believe I enjoy making them much more than eating them. After one of my ‘reeces’ crepes (peanut butter & nutella), I’m all full.

Oh yeah, I got back from Italy yesterday morning. Here’s a brief summary of my travels:
-Saturday: Arrive, tour all of Cagliari, wander, wander, great ravioli.
-Sunday: Easter mass at one of the churches by my hotel, reading in the train terminal while waiting for my train to Sassari. Late train, cancelled last leg, late bus, long bus ride, arrive in Sassari, missed connecting train to Alghero, wandered Sassari for hours looking for a cheap hotel, 0 luck, slept/froze in a stairwell of an apartment complex
-Monday: Early early up, coffee and quiet time/warm up time at a small bar, train to Alghero, wander around, make it to Sassari to check into hostel, wander on the amazing beach/rocks, exploring, made a Spanish friend, drinks and conversation and wandering around with him, pasta cooked on my dad’s stove.
Tuesday: Bus to Sassari, got lost in a stunning cemetery, train back to Cagliari, check into hostel, hang out with another new Spanish friend, met some German Christians, wandering the city/shops, awesome encounter with some locals, hanging at the hostel, bed.
Wednesday: Bus to Mare Pintau (the painted sea), enjoyed great weather, picked and ate prickly pear from the cliff-side cactus plants, waded in the sea, got blown away at the beauty.
Thursday: Since my plane was leaving at 6:30AM this morning, and there were no busses running that early, I slept in the airport.

So I feel a bit bad about giving such a summary, but the trip was really non-stop. You’ll have to ask me in person for a better description. However, there are some things that I really want to dive into.

One of the coolest things I found on the island was the graffiti. It was everywhere, and I really enjoyed finding the same artist’s work in multiple places. In Sassari, I found some of the pieces miles apart, by the same artist. In Cagliari, there were a bunch of these whale-like pieces (I didn’t have my camera out when I saw most of them). The entire city was covered with them. They are a bit awkward, and fun to stare at. Very enjoyable surprise—nothing in any of the websites I visited told me about this aspect of the culture. Kinda makes me want to make my own travel guides.

This trip was my first trial run of my dad’s alcohol stove. I had no problems with it in my carry-on luggage through the airport, and alcohol was easily obtained while on the island. Success. Light weight, quick setup, but I did have a few problems. Now, Dad, I noticed that on the bottom your stove, it said it boiled water with 2 ounces of alcohol in 23 minutes. Problem is, you did that test in your garage. 1) Doesn’t work so well in windy weather. 2) The fire goes out if the pot fully covers the stove (I recommend larger side-holes). 3) It took about 3 refills to boil water, but that’s mostly my fault. I didn’t have a lid for my cheap metal cup I cooked in. Besides that, it was great! You got many compliments from the other lightweight travelers I ran into at the hostels. It cooked ravioli, a sort of quiche dish, and pasta. Nom nom.

When I was waiting for my train from Sassari to Cagliari, I found my way over to the cemetery a few blocks away. I was stunned. It was a beautiful, solemn experience. Each grave reminded me more of life than death. Despite the tears of the people who came to pay their respects, a subtle smile was the overall feel of the cemetery. It was as if every grave had a person waiting to burst forth and join their Creator. I’ve been to cemeteries before, but never seen something as captivating as this one.

The Mare Pintau (the painted sea) is so named due to the seven colors that you can see in the water. It was quite a spectacle. I wasn’t in the main cove where the sea really came to life, but I drove past it and got a good look from the cliffs above. I was at the beach where the sea turtles lay their eggs. Unfortunately, they don’t start coming ashore until about June. One day. I was one of about five people on the entire beach, and it wasn’t small. I wandered around, let my feet sink in the sand, stared at the clear water, climbed all over the rocks, drew in the sand, and listened to a few of my favorite songs—some from my ipod, some from the waves and birds.

That’s about it for now. I have some reading and time with the Big man I’d like to do. My mom tells me that she’s been giving my blog out to many of her friends. If any of you would like to hear more about particular things, feel free to email me. jtwilliams@mail.utexas.edu