Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy

Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy -- February 21, 2015

Cagliari is a new port for all of us. We have never been to the island of Sardinia and we did not have much information about this town. The guidebook that I have did not have a single entry on Cagliari so we did not know what to expect.

After our breakfast at Cagney's we left the ship and took the complimentary shuttle to the port gate which was a 5-minute ride on a local bus. The stop was actually just across the street on Via Roma. It was also another rainy day. BTW, one of the reasons that I took pictures of the Freestyle Daily is that on the front page it listed the port agent in each port. That is important information to have in case we run into problems while in port.

ET decided not to join us this morning, so DC and MC came instead.

A ferry next to our ship.

A view of the old town in Cagliari from our balcony.

A shot of the pier.

Old town behind those walls.

The free shuttle stop was somewhere behind the buses in this picture. Once we got off the bus, we crossed the street, turned at the corner of the department store (Rinascente) and hiked up on that main street (Largo Carlo Felice). We ran into Dave and Mary Ann who were with a group of people on a walking tour as we walked towards Piazza Yenne. At the top of Piazza Yenne we found the elevator that goes up to Via Cammino Nuovo. A gentleman from Holland, who was staying there for a week, showed us the way to get to Elephant Gate.

Via Santa Croce

Elephant Tower

Looking down at the Jade from Via Santa Croce

It was nice and quiet on this rainy morning.

Basilica of Santa Croce, but it was closed.

Right outside the street of the Basilica with Elephant Tower in the background.

Some homes in the Ghetto area.

We spent quite a long time inside the Ghetto museum which has free Wifi. It was a good place to rest, going on line, and browse. They also have restrooms there which was quite convenient. There were not a lot of visitors, we saw maybe 10 people the whole time we were there. For some reason, this museum was not on the map.

Cat in the rain.

We continued our walk up to Via Fiume.

Cristina Gate

Inside Cristina Gate is Piazza Arsenale. There are two museums on the left of this picture but they were closed on that day. On the right of this picture would be the gate to Piazza Indipendenza.

Piazza Indipendenza and the Tower of San Pancrazio.

We followed Via Martini to Piazza Palazzo where there's a lookout with excellent view of the city.

The city on the opposite side of the hill.

Most streets are small and narrow.

The Palaces...

and the Cathedral at Piazza Carlo Alberto.

This was yet another beautiful Cathedral that we visited on this trip.

Just loved looking at the ceilings.

The underground chamber of the Cathedral where the kings and queens were buried.

There was one room on each side of the hall which I didn't get pictures of.

Elaborately decorated.

A good place to rest and admire the beautiful walls and ceilings.

Entrance to the chamber from the church level.

Most Cathedrals are dark and dreary, but this one was exceptionally bright.

Piazza Carlo Alberto, most people we saw on that day.

The streets were so narrow that we had to make ways for the cars to go by.

Yes, the cars do speed by these narrow streets.

We finally reached Bastione Saint Remy.

On top of the city wall.

Back to the side where we could see the Jade.

Looking down through the main entrance of Rampart of St. Remy.

Piazza Costituzione

The Main Gate of the Old City.

There is also an elevator on this side of the wall.

The spacious rooftop terrace of Bastione di San Remy.

Walking down through the main gate.

Then we just leisurely walked through some old neighborhood with tiny streets and alleys.

We were actually looking for some pastries shops so we could try out local treats.

Came upon another church, Church of Saint Eualila.

Found a bakery on Via Baylle.

We bought a couple of baked goods to try. Didn't know what they were but they were all very good! Seemed like many locals bought their bread there so it must be the right place. 

Got some donuts type of thing here at this store also and they were delicious. Some of us needed to use the restroom badly, so we visited the department store (Le Rinascente) which provided a nice facility on the 6th floor near the food court. The Asian restaurant (Bamboo) were passing out tiny dishes of fried rice for people to taste and they were very tasty. Then we walked across the street and took the same shuttle back to the ship.

After checking out the food at the buffet we decided since it was still open, we should go to Cagney's for lunch. I mistakenly ordered the French dip which was not very good. Should have stick with the steak. Service was wonderful though because it was very quiet with most people still in port. DD was at lunch with us today.

Yummy mango and berries for dessert.

We spent the afternoon resting in our cabin.

Watching the sail away from this interesting port.

La Rinascente, the beautiful department store.

Looking at the Old City, it kind of reminded me of Malta.

The ferry just left before us.

Dinner was at 7:30 this evening. We had the first waiter on this trip who was neither helpful nor friendly. Looked like he didn't want to be there. Oh well...

Food was still good though,

especially the ice cream!

After dinner we went to the show featuring the Polish acrobat. It was excellent! ChC had a headache so he skipped the show. We were told that we will probably hit some 7-foot waves tonight! Eeek!