A large amphora buried in the floor. The amphora was used to store wheat or other grains.

A mosaic floor in what was probably the entry hall of a patrician house

April 30 – Cagliari, Sardinia and the ruins of the Roman city of Nora

Today we arrived at Cagliari, the capital of the island of Sardinia. The city is quite large with a population of 450,000 approximately. We boarded a bus and drove briefly through the city on our way out to the countryside and the ruins of the Roman city of Nora. Cagliari is busily preparing for tomorrow May 1^st when the festival of their patron saint, San Esefio, begins. From what we saw of the city it looked fairly unremarkable.

We traveled out to the southwest corner of the island to Nora which was the site of the first Roman settlement in Sardinia. The city was built on a peninsula and has suffered from the ravages of the sea and wind and is totally in ruins. Many of the stones and bricks were stolen over the centuries and only recently did excavation and restoration begin. Our guide pointed out the areas which were the homes of patricians. These were identified by the elaborate mosaic floors of the structures, since only wealthy families could afford such decoration. One area of the site was a marketplace, while others were thermal baths and even a small amphitheater. In one of the patrician homes it was interesting to see a large amphora, used for storing grain, buried to its mouth in the middle of the house.

Our bus ride took us through farmland where we saw a lot of sheep grazing. Sardinia is famous for its pecorino cheese made from sheep’s milk. We also passed through a lot of olive groves. From the hill overlooking the city we were able to see one of the things that made Sardinia important in ancient times, the salt flats. Salt was mined there for shipment to the rest of the Roman Empire for food preservation.

It’s an interesting place and a relatively short touring day. That’s good because tomorrow we begin a series of long days as we visit Rome, Florence & Pisa, and Cinque Terre.

Katie with her new-found friend!

The Highest Point on the Rock of Gibraltar

April 28 – The Day the Lights Went out in Gibraltar

A pair of Barbary Apes at the top of the Rock

We docked early this morning in Gibraltar on the European side of the Straits of Gibraltar. In ancient times this was known as the Pillars of Hercules. We had booked a tour which would take us via cable car to the “Top of the Rock.” A minibus took us to the cable car station where we joined a very long line to board. As we waited the cable car stopped and sirens could be heard in the streets. The power went out, as it turned out, everywhere in Gibraltar. We waited nearly half an hour in the line hoping the power would come back on. When it didn’t, we went out on the street and with several other people hired a van and driver to take us on a tour.

( In retrospect we were truly lucky that we weren’t either stuck in a cable car halfway up or stuck on the top with no way to get down except by walking a very steep road which made many switchbacks.)

Anyway, the driver drove us up to the summit with a few stops along the way. The famous caves and tunnels of Gibraltar were closed due to the power failure so we missed them. At the peak we encountered the monkeys, Barbary apes, for which the place is known. We had been told that we needed to be wary of them because they would try to steal cameras, purses and sundry other things. We found them to be very placid creatures that just wanted to sit on the roofs of the cars or on the railings and trees along the road munching on fruits and vegetables. Some looked like babies and one of those sat on Katie’s head after being coaxed there by a driver.

From the summit we could look westward to the Atlantic, north to Spain, east to the Mediterranean and south across the Strait to Africa and the Atlas Mountains. The view was breathtaking! We continued our drive down from the peak and along the way stopped for a view of the runway of the airport. The main road connecting Gibraltar and Spain crosses the runway so traffic has to stop whenever a plane takes off, not a convenient arrangement at all.

We stopped briefly in the main shopping area, but with no electricity, the shops were dark and restaurants were closed so we headed back to the ship.

Gibraltar has a population of 30,000 and has 22,000 registered vehicles. Much of the land has been reclaimed from the sea and dredging for more reclamation was visible everywhere. It is, of course, part of the British Empire (much to the chagrin of Spain) and the residents are British citizens. It’s a big banking center and the main industry is exportation. I asked our guide how that could be since they don’t produce anything in Gibraltar. He explained that their taxes are so low, that they are able to import all sorts of things and resell them making a profit! If the number of ships lying at anchor are an indicator, that must certainly be true.

Now we’re sailing in the Mediterranean with our last sea day coming up tomorrow. Our next port of call will be Cagliari, Sardinia on Friday.

Fishing Boats and Fish Drying in Camara de los Lobos