Anita and I arrived in Cagliari the evening of September 5. Although we sat down for dinner at a great location, which usually portends a bad meal, our food was wonderful and we tried our first pane carasau, which is a twice baked Sardinian unleavened bread traditionally eaten by shepherds when they are out tending their flocks. It is so common, I've only been at to one restaurant on Sardinia that doesn't serve it.
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| Pane carasau on the right |
Our meal also included some delicious fritto misto featuring very fresh seafood, which I've been discovering seems to be universally fresh wherever you go on the Island.
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| Frito misto with linguine con vongole in the background |
As we found out the next morning during our tour of Cagliari, we were very lucky to have picked an AirBNB in the Villanova neighborhood, which has been completely rehabilitated in the last few years. All the tables and chairs shown in the photo below - which was taken from our AirBNB's balcony - are put in place out to start the evening and taken away in the wee hours of the night. Every night!
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| The local nightlife at Villanova in Cagliari |
We began the next morning with a food and city tour by our guide Emmanuel, who is a native Sardinian, who after giving us the lay of the land of ancient Cagliari and how it relates to the current day city (many walls have come down, but many of the old streets and the layout of the core of the city remain), promptly walked us into an amazing cheese and salumi shop. I learned pecorino is a blanket term for cheese made from sheep's milk, but since there are about 4 million sheep on Sardinia compared to 1.5 million people, the local pecorino is a big deal. Some of the recipes have been used since the Bronze Age. There are caves with cool temperatures year round, which is how it was made back in the millennia before refrigeration. The cheese and the meats were great, and I have developed a newfound appreciation for pecorino over the last few weeks.  |
| Two different types of pecornio, some cured meat and of course pane carasau |
Although Sardinia's flag is highlighted by the four Moors, Emmanuel told us that uproarious protests would result if the city's Muslims actually built a mosque. He did take us down the street where they have a building that has been repurposed as a mosque, and many beautiful carpets were laid out on the street.  |
| Prayer rugs on the sidewalk |
We walked through all the quarters of the original city of Cagliari, and Emmanuel told us about the multi-layered history of the city. Some of it you still view today, such as this repurposed Roman stone.
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| A Roman stone turned sideways to act as a brick in a much newer structure |
But of course we could not finish up without trying some more food, specifically different types of cured meat from cow, pork and sheep and the obligatory pecorino plus some cow's milk cheese. We also got to see, but not taste, some beautiful locally foraged porcini mushrooms. American grocery stores need to start carrying these!
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| A variety of meats and honey to go with the cheese |
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| Fresh porcini mushrooms |
Every time I visit Italy, I am perplexed by the economics of gelato. How can there be so many gelato shops in every last town or neighborhood. I really shouldn't have concerned myself with this perpetual question, because the really hard question was deciding which of the amazing gelatos below we should sample. The one that stood out for me included local figs and honey.
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| Too many good gelatos to choose from! |
After our food and city tour, I got my first taste of riding in Sardinia. Pretty much every ride including the first one has involved some off-road "gravel" sections as they are popularly called now. While the cycling industry has fully embraced gravel bikes over the last few years, I am riding a 27 year old Seven Cycles Axiom Ti, which was built decades before "gravel bikes" and disc brakes for road bikes existed. Inside the top tube bag sits my Fuji X-E3 APS-C camera, which I've been using to take photos while out riding.
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| My 27 year old bike and its new top tube bag for carrying my camera |
On my first ride, I was chased by a couple of dogs that reacted to my passing about 5 seconds after I passed in each direction, so even the dogs here are pretty relaxed. But it sure is amazing how quickly you can get into the countryside even from the largest city in Sardinia.
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| The countryside outside of Cagliari |
To finish up our first full day in Cagliari, Anita found an amazing gourmet restaurant for us to experience.
After dinner, we walked past the large marble arch that is a big feature of the center of Cagliari and saw some folks taking dance lessons underneath it. It was a great way to end our first full day in the city.
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