Already 30o when we set off at 9 to our walking tour meeting point. Lots of activity as cafes were setting up for morning customers.
Our tour this morning..
We met at the gates of the Instituto Salesciano Don Bosco school. From 1909 there had been a cold storage cave under the school. During WW2 as the city was continually bombed by English, American and Russian forces, the storage cave was extended to a 160m to be used as a bomb shelter. Families would use the shelter at night and try and rebuild their houses and businesses during the day. It was used well after the war as it took many years for families to re-establish their lives.
Then a short walk past Chiesa di San Michele and Chiesa Collegiata di Sant’Anna.
Our next underground experience was the Cripta di Santa Restituta. She was a 4th century martyr born in Tunisia. She was persecuted under Diocletian (a pattern here), set alight but was miraculously unharmed so she set sail in a boat which landed in Ischia where she eventually died.
This crypt has a history dating back to the 4th century B.C. with remnants of early frescoes but in more recent times it was used as a bomb shelter around WW2 and there are messages on the walls to inform families about personal survival after bombings and a plaque from the Fascist Italian army denouncing the enemy armies bombing Cagliari.
A walk across town to our next site. More information about the dressed statue of Carlos Felice. For the last game of the season the Cagliari team employed a famous retired coach, Claudio Felice, to get the team unto the A league. He fulfilled his promise so now they have renamed the statue, Claudio Felice instead of Carlos Felice.
Next stop the church of Santa Eulalia - a Roman Christian girl also martyred under Diocletian in 303AD in Barcelona.
In 1990 the parish priest of St Eulalia’s complained of excess mold in the church. Nothing was done so he chipped away at the walls and quickly discovered an ancient Roman well, still functioning , in the foundations. He contacted the archeology experts at the University of Cagliari and they discovered an extensive site and have been able to reconstruct port district life from Roman times and there is also evidence dating back to Phoenician times in 4th century B.C. There are 7 metres below this section still to be excavated.
A simple lunch nearby in a quirky traditional cafe with an eccentric waitress.
A simple lunch nearby in a quirky traditional cafe with an eccentric waitress.
This afternoon we went to the outskirts of the city for a pre-booked food and wine experience.
A chic little deli in a local shopping centre.
Breads with a variety of toppings (artichokes, mullet roe, soft cheeses). Then, cheeses and meats teamed with wines - white, red and a local berry liqueur called Mirto.
Francesca prepared the dishes while Cedrica explained each plate and wine adding details of interesting places, customs and festivals.
Throughout our session customers brought in their 3 litre plastic wine containers to be filled - like lining up at a gas station.
Cedrica had been on an AFS exchange year to Argentina in 2012 so we were able to share experiences, albeit 40 years apart.
No need for dinner tonight.
M&M
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