As we left Capo St. Vito on Sicily we couldn’t help but go AHHHHH at the gorgeous view the cape leaves behind. It looks like the Pitons of St. Lucia with a gorgeous emerald beach and the lighthouse just rounds off the picture.
Anyway, off we headed for another overnight run of about 170 miles. The wind and waves were in our favor so out came “THE BEAST”. It has been a long time since we released the beast but today it was very happy. It gave us a 10 hour run…must be a record here…it was for us!
The next morning we rounded Capo Carbonara with its lighthouse standing tall and proud.
We had arrived early in the morning but by noon there were boats EVERYWHERE. Another “let’s anchor as close together as possible” scenario which was making us a bit nervous but we held out and glad we did. That night we were center stage to three different fireworks shows lasting over an hour. The next day we found out all the hoopla was because of two holidays rolled into one. The first being Assumption Day (August 15th) celebrated by the Roman Catholics. The second being Ferragosto which is a summer holiday originally declared because all the harvesting was done and now it was time to enjoy the summer…now everyone joins that band wagon, not just the farmers.
Moving on, we headed to Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia and its largest city. We found a lot of empty berths at the marina St. Elmo…everyone is on Holiday. As the marina is pretty far from the center of town where all the action is, we quickly figured out the bus routes and hopped on. We noticed people doing Segway tours and once we saw that the castle, the bastion, and the views were way uphill, we signed up. What a blast it was. The castle is from the 13th century and still has two white limestone towers standing. One is called the Elephant Tower. Under its archway were some draw bridges with big spikes to keep out the intruders. our guide told us many hangings were done at this site and the heads would be left out as trophies. We also saw the St. Remy Bastion, now a gathering place for the young. We passed the grand avenue Via Roma with all the designer shops and Café’s. Also near there are the Grand old home fronts that reeked of stories to be told from the past. We wound our way through the narrow alleys and around the sea front. A great time for sure…highly recommended!
On our ride we got to tour the Cathedral of Cagliari where they have one of the Sacred thorns from Jesus’ crown. There used to be five but they were stolen. The thief ran into a storm at sea where he promised to return the relics in exchange for his safety. He returned safely and gave them to a convent who gave them to the Pope. The Pope authenticated them and gave one to the Cathedral on the condition they show it to the “faithful” every year on Assumption Day. Yep, we missed seeing it by two days. A truly enjoyable city.
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