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Sardinia is steeped in history and
culture and is only a short flight from the East Midlands. Helen Werin
also found this beautiful island had a few other surprises …
My daughter had told her little school
friends that I was going to Siberia. I might as well have been for all
that I knew of Sardinia.
It's the greatest thing to travel with few
preconceptions or expectations, so I had deliberately not done any
research on my destination beforehand. I wanted to be surprised,
delighted, excited - all those things. What I hadn't expected was to be
so amazed that I was totally lost for words, for once.
 We'd walked down 654 stone steps chiselled
into the side of an 180metre limestone cliff at Capo Caccia, a
promontory with magnificent views just 15 minutes' drive from our base
at Alghero. One of our party had had vertiginous heebie-jeebies seconds
into our descent above the pounding seas. But the steps were not
difficult, going down at least, though with a somewhat sporadic handrail
bordered by a chest-high wall.
As if this wasn't enough of an experience,
let me tell you that what happened when we got to sea-level and ducked
inside the opening of Neptune's Grotto instantly took away the breath
that I had been saving for the ascent.
If I took all the superlatives of every
language in the world I would still not feel that I had done justice to
this spectacle.
Imagine three beautiful cathedral-like
chambers, with calcitic columns nine metres high, spectacular
concretions like organ pipes and Christmas trees, unusual horizontal
formations in what is aptly called the 'lace' hall and every shape and
size of 'tites' and 'mites'. Now multiply your vision a thousand-fold,
add no less than seven lagoons as still as mirrors and the feel,
perhaps, of an Indiana Jones film set. That's the nearest one can get
within the confines of literary description.
What is worth saying here is that all this
is less than three hours away. One of the recently-launched Ryanair
flights can whisk you from East Midlands Airport to Alghero, on
Sardinia's north west coast and a hired car, or even the Blue Line bus,
can take you the 24 kilometre distance to Capo Caccia. It's that easy.
Of course, what wasn't easy - for me, anyway
- was the ascent. It felt a bit like a vertical Great Wall of China
going back up and only the thought that I had absolutely no choice but
to plod on kept me going. I asked our guide later what would have
happened if I had collapsed. "Oh, the people who work in the caves will
just have to carry you," she said - and she was not joking.
We may have done it the 'hard' way - when
the sea is calmer you can take a boat from Alghero's harbour right up to
the cave entrance instead. This same boat will also transport you
through Pierced Island close by, another delight, I'm told, but one we
missed out on because of choppy seas. But what a sense of achievement -
and what a sense of having seen what was undoubtedly one of the finest
sights I have ever laid eyes on.
I was half expecting everything else on our
whistle-stop weekend to be overshadowed by the grotto experience, but
not so, particularly if you are fascinated by history or archaeology.
Sardinia, all 270km or so in length of it, is covered with no less than
7,000 of the mysterious Nuraghi - Neolithic fortress-like settlements
unique to the island and dating back to around 1500BC. As we strolled
around the remains of one such Nuraghic village among the olive trees at
Palmavera, off the road connecting Alghero to the stunning Porto Conte
bay, I could not help but wonder at the design genius of these early
Sardinians. The central tower, around which there would have been 50
huts, is a curious cone shape, its’ walls simply layers of sandstone
without any mortar to hold them together. Some of these buildings would
have had several floors and even balconies. The mind boggles as to how
the tower has managed to stay up, let alone be so well preserved.
A short drive in another direction took us
to one of the most important historical sites in Sardinia, the
necropolis of Anghelu Ruju, on the road to Porto Torres, which dates
from 3000BC. Even those in our party who claimed to be 'bored' by
Sardinia’s colourful past were among the first to scramble inside these
underground burial chambers, the domus de janas, bull-horn-shaped
‘houses of the dead’. These were also sacred places where the living met
to pray and leave offerings in memory of their dead. There are no less
than 2000 of these collective tombs all over Sardinia and artefacts
discovered in them can be viewed in museums in nearby Sassari or the
capital, Cagliari.
Alghero - founded in 1120 - has an
intriguing past, with the remnants of its 400 year rule under the
Catalans very evident today. Half of the city's population speaks
Catalan; indeed, people from Barcelona flock here during the summer. As
it seems that everyone from miles around does on a Sunday afternoon for
the passagieri. Generations of families promenade up and down the
seafront and crowds pack the narrow cobbled streets of the small, old
town. Many shops sell coral jewellery as Alghero is, after all, on the
Coral Coast. Coral is one of the staple industries of the island, along
with its other major export, delicious pecorino cheese from sheep.
On weekday afternoons the locals observe
their siesta with a fervent reverence and the quaint streets are
deserted and the shops closed save for a couple of cafes and tempting
gelato parlours.
Alghero is very ‘big’ on religious festivals
and here, in the old town, there are also some historic churches to
visit and museums dedicated to different processions, sacred art and
liturgical treasures. The cathedral itself is something of an
architectural mixture, with a rather out of place 19th
century mock Neo-classical façade, but inside is the most magnificent
18th century Baroque-style altar of Italian marble.
 In July and August, at the church of St
Francis, you can soak up the atmosphere at classical music concerts. You
can also stay in the cloisters here - if you’re not noisy, that is. In
fact, some of our fellow Ryanair passengers did, and proclaimed it a
“wonderful experience”.
Alghero’s ‘symbol’ is its bell tower.
Indeed, the rooftop spectacle of Alghero to the turquoise sea beyond is
as picturesque as any in the Mediterranean, especially with the
multi-coloured ceramic dome of San Michele in view. What this vista also
highlights is just how unspoilt the coastal landscape is, thanks to a
ban on development beyond Alghero's tourist quarter.
However, I can well imagine how busy the
five kilometre stretch of Alghero beach and the two lovely beaches of La
Bombarde eight kilometres away become at the height of the summer season
as the population almost trebles. In early spring, however, the beach
was deserted, if covered with the seaweed – algae – from which the town
is believed to get its name, but which is cleaned up in time for the sun
seekers.
Alghero’s wide promenade winds its way up to
the harbour with its countless yachts and around the walls of the old
town, past enticing restaurants and pavement cafes.
Here you can find menus to suit every
budget, from the expected pastas and pizzas to the most magnificent
platters of fish and seafood imaginable. We had several memorable feasts
at which we indulged in seafood risotto with clams and mussels, fried
calamari, octopus, crab, sea bream, swordfish and monk fish so
delicately cooked they melted in your mouth and unbelievably delicious
prawns, all washed down with the delectable local red Cannonau. The meal
I most remember, though, is a massive gut-busting 19 course extravaganza
at the Azienda Agrituristica Sa Mandra, an agricultural cooperative near
the airport, where everything – from the wild boar and spit-roasted
suckling pig, to the most succulent tomatoes and oranges I have ever
tasted - were all raised or grown on the surrounding land.
Most of the people on our flight from EMA
had come for a long weekend just to relax, soak up the sun - 22c at the
beginning of March - try the wonderful food and dip their toes into the
Med. Talking to some of them on the way home, like me they had been
amazed that they could pack all that, plus culture, history and one of
the most wondrous sights that they are ever likely to see into such a
short space of time without feeling hurried.
What delighted them even more was that they
could do it all so easily and so cheaply.
As I arrived back in drizzly Britain, with a
harsh wind whistling around my ears, you can understand how cold and
grey it must have felt. I missed the vibrance, the colour, the passion
for life, the warmth of the Sardinian spirit. Everything felt flat and
listless after my Alghero experience. In fact, it felt a bit like I was
coming to Siberia.
FACT FILE
Helen Werin visited Alghero courtesy of
Ryanair. For Ryanair flight information and prices go to
www.ryanair.com
For tourist information on Alghero go to
www.comune.alghero.ss.it and click on Vacations to Alghero.
© Helen Werin |
