Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy - October 27, 2012

Cagliari is the capital of Sardinia - for those that missed yesterday’s update we are not in Livorno (Florence) as planned, a severe weather system rerouted us here, no problem for us but upsetting to many. The people in our neighbouring cabin were supposed to fly back home out of Florence tomorrow - now they flying to Rome and then home, yikes !!!. Back to Cagliari, this is a city which has inspired poets and writers. It displays a rare, unusual beauty set on the splendid Angel bay with impressive stone forts that are reflected in the crystal waters. These forts are immediately and unexpectedly visible to those arriving by sea. Seventy years ago, D.H. Lawrence felt that the city rose in an unexpected way, like a golden mountain. He compared it to Jerusalem. claiming that there is nothing Italian about it. The city rises behind Via (street) Roma, culminating in the ancient majesty of the Castello quarter. Via Roma is the keeper of many of the city’s memories, a silent spectator of all the coming and going of the local bourgeoisie who have chosen her as the ideal place to take an afternoon stroll. We made the best of our time here roaming along the medieval streets and alleyways many within the walled part of the city. A few light showers today but mostly overcast with the sun peeking out every once in a while. A nice day and a nice surprise place for us to have visited. A few sights from our day.... Tonight we had dinner at the optional italian themed Canaletto dinner, excellent. This was followed by the HAL Entertainers in probably one of the best productions we have seen to date on the high seas. The production was called Garage Band and maybe it was because this is a newer ship with all the new stage technology but they had just about everything going tonight, from using the big screen to the multi level stage going in all directions with incredible props just excellent. Tonight Europe moves into standard time so we fall back the hour to get that bit of extra sleep we need. A day at sea, ahhh.