We couldn't see Cagliari at first, because of the massive Virgin ship alongside us. Ugly grey, and looking more like the proverbial block of flats than ever, it dominated our view as we woke. I should have taken a picture, but never mind. We noticed all the cabins had hammocks though. Nice.
We weren't in a rush, Peter said he had a vague memory that he liked Cagliari, so we were expecting good things, but once it again, it was hot, and gonna get hotter. We were also feeling a bit lazy after our walk yesterday, so we took it easy, caught the shuttle bus that would take us across the port around 10.
Immediately across the road from the bus, we found what looked like some grand government building, which happened to include the tourist information office. Hoping to get an idea of good places to visit, Peter was given a map, but not a lot of information. So we set off walking.
Maybe it was the heat, maybe it was yesterday's walk, but it didn't take long for me to start feeling worn out. After resting on a bench in Piazza Constituzione for a bit, we made our way on towards the old town. I think, if I'd been able to see the city and not the Virgin monster, I would have seen that the city is built on a hill. As it was, I found out by having to walk up it.
Well, not all walking. There are a couple of lifts that can help. The first was marked on our map, near the Elephant Tower, and takes you up the equivalent of a couple of stories high. We took advantage of it, and found the Elephant tower, which, unsurprisingly, has an elephant on it.
If you go through the gate and look back though, you'll see that the elephant tower doesn't have a back. A bit like an open dolls house, you can see all it's innards, which are mostly stairs. For a small fee, you can take a tour up the stairs, but these are at set times, it finding the guy with the tickets is difficult apparently.
Once up there, we quite liked wandering the streets of the old town,
which continues to climb up hill. The were narrow and high, the
buildings full of character and interest. We found a church, an art
centre, and eventually, the cathedral.
We also found a cliff drop behind the cathedral. A nearby terrace allows you to see from the top across the city as it extends outwards, and a lift will take you the fast way down if you want to the to the sports pitches below.
After the cathedral, we thought we'd try to ge to the archeological site and ampitheatre we could see on the map. We sort of got lost trying to find our way, partly because we were trying to save ourselves walking up and down hill. Eventually tho', we managed to work our way to the corner of Via Fra Nicola da Gesturi and Via Anfiteatro, just above the roman archeological site. That's when we decided a well earned break was due, and found Luchia's. A small cafe catering for the locals. Beer for Peter, lemonade for me. Sitting in the shade. All was good.
Then it was off to the ampitheatre. It looked so promising from above, but as we followed the road around and down, it became obvious that it was closed. So diappointing, cos it looked brilliant.
After that, it was back to the ship to cool down and eat choc chip cookies in the Living Room downstairs.
And finally, just to finish the day, a lovely sunset
before watching Albert the Magician battle with microphone glitches and a drunk "assistant" but still manage to pull off a really good show. I've got bored with magicians after seeing loads of them on Britain's Got Talent, and I was pleasantly surprised with Albert's performance. I had never seen his tricks before. Bravo!Back to work tomorrow. It's a sea day and Peter will be running his classes.
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