Cagliari

Cagliari
Arrived at the #628 bus terminal next to the hostel in Baia del Corallo while the driver was taking a short break before his 08:50 scheduled departure. Thus had a few minutes to take some pics of the rugged landscape overlooking the bay. After checking our bags into the left luggage at the port, we had several hours prior to boarding the ferry to wander around the city above the port area. Even at 09:30, the air temperature was very close to 30 degrees. Our ferry was the Toscana owned and operated by Tirrennia. The ferry's departure from Palermo was delayed by 1h-15m because the loading of the roll-on/roll-off trailers took longer than expected...possibly because they loaded them all in reverse (ie backing them on board). There was still some spare capacity for trailers on deck, but passenger capacity was probably close to the limit. Because the passage to Cagliari takes 14h-30m, we booked a berth which provided an excellent night's sleep. That morning, while wandering around town, I noticed the headline story in one of the dozens of newspapers available in Palermo of a Tirrennia ferry which had caught fire 25 km off Palermo and was serious enough that all passengers had to be evacuated. Coincidentally, on the way out of the port, we noticed quite a few life rafts tied up against one of the piers and a ferry listed significantly to port with a couple of tugs holding her tight alongside. The ferry was bellowing smoke out of the car deck. Thus, even after a full day's effort to supress the fire, it was still very much alive. Later reports indicated that the source was the electrical system of a refrigerated trailer. According to the reports, there were no fatalities, but several passengers were in hospital recovering from smoke inhalation. Last count indicated that about 240 cars were destroyed in the fire. We arrived in Cagliari at 08:45, exactly 1h-15m later than scheduled which means they probably didn't bother expending the additional fuel to make up for the late departure. Disembarkation would surely prove to be a slow affair for the cars and trailers because as we stepped off the ramp with the first wave of pedestrians, the front rows of cars were still not occupied by their drivers who were probably stuck in the heavy pedestrian traffic in the stairways which was moving extremely slowly with all their heavy luggage. For a culture so dependent on maritime affairs, it is somewhat surprising that the Sicilians and Sardinians have not yet perfected the art of embarkation and disembarkation. Nevertheless, all the passengers seemed to be quite accustomed to these delays and were not dispalying any signs of anxiety or frustration, so we waited just as patiently. Once ashore, We walked an easy 200m up the hill from the dockside to the Hostel Marina. This is a brand new hostel since April this year which had its origins as a 17th century monastery. In its time since then it has also served as a hospital and more recently as a school. Quite a beautiful building with high arching passageways and ceilings. In all my years of hostelling, this is definitely the nicest one I have ever seen. Cagliari's history goes back to about 450000 years when there was a land bridge with the mainland. Over the millenia, many cultures occupied the land flourishing in the bronze age about 1500 B.C. with the Nuarghic peoples who left about 7000 nuarghi (circular homes usually surrounded by fortified walls). More recently, the predominant architecture visible today starts at the 13th century and culminates in the 17th century. Cagliari is a small town which lends itself well to easy wandering through narrow winding roads over the hillside overlooking the port. Unfortunately, most of the museums of Cagliari are closed on Monday's (ie tomorrow), so we'll burn up time with more meandering and purchasing some forward bookings of our train to Lanusei on June 3rd and our ferry from Porto Torres to Ajaccio on June 11th.

Palermo

One thing to know about Sicily is that they have established an excellent bus system. Whether it be inter-city travel or intra-city, the service is highly reliable, inexpensive, and, as a result, it is a very popular choice of transportation for Sicilians. As an example, a bus ticket from Baia del Corallo into Palermo costs 1 euro and is good for 90 minutes after stamping it upon entry in the bus and it is good for the entire transit system which means you can transfer onto connecting buses with the same ticket provided you do so within 90 minutes. This morning, I overheard one old woman remarking with a happy grin that the odour of the hot morning air in the bus reminded her of ripe fromaggio. Palermo is a very large metropolis and there is no way to see half of all the interesting attractions in a few days, so we did what always seems most appropriate under the circumstances in any large city and that is to visit the museum of archaeology. So, after locating the ticket office of Tirrenia at the port and procuring our boarding ticket for the ferry tomorrow, we did that, and what a treasure trove of antiquity! We alo visited the Teatro Massimo, but unfortunately, no shows were scheduled until June (Cosi fan Tutti...would have been nice but we were a couple of weeks too early), and then afterwards a most remarkable fountain at one of the nearby piazzas. The city is punctuated with so many statues and piazzas that it is easy to become insensitive to their presence and beauty. Saw a man on a motorbike with a passenger weaving in and out of pedestrians while talking on his cell phone...whatàs remarkable about this is that he was driving on a pedestrian walkway and no one seemed to give him any notice. One more day to stroll about in town as the ferry departs Palermo at 17:00.

Baia del Corallo

Baia del Corallo

The train departed Giardini station 15 minutes "retardo". Our connection in Messina was also delayed, officially, by 30 minutes, but in actuality it was more like 50 minutes. Such a long delay gave the train station officials in Messina the opportunity to change their mind 3 times on which track to board the train to Palermo. So, all the passengers awaiting the Palermo train got their exercise lugging their baggage back and forth between platforms. Organized confusion. Enroute to Palermo at about the half-way point, the train lost its electrical connection and no one knew how long it would take to repair. We finally pulled into Palermo 3h-45m "retardo". To reach the Baia del Corallo hostel by bus, one must find a ticket vendor, purchase a ticket to Punta Maltese, disembark at Alcide de Gasperi "Square" (actually an enormous round-a-bout) and switch to the #628. After a few minutes of wandering around, in the area, we found the hostel at 19:50, precisely 10 minutes prior to dinner which was included in the 29 euro fee for the private room. So, once again, we find ourselves to be the fortunate recipients of providence. Our room overlooks the bay, and because we arrived in the evening, the light of the setting sun on the rock face on the opposite side of the bay was lit up with breathtaking beauty. Tomorrow, we must head into town to procure a ticket for the ferry from Palermo to Cagliari. I booked it on line, but only have a reference number (no e-ticket). So, we need to get hard copies of the ticket and, also, we'll need to scout around the port side as well to determine where the ferry dock is located so that we know where to go on Saturday evening. Palermo is a bustling city of approximately 1 million people all of whom drive cars with scrathes and dents or motor bikes who probably made a lot of those scratches on the cars considering the maniacal way they swerve fearlessly between moving vehicles (both the young and the old). But the motorbikes clearly have the advantage in heavy traffic which often crawls to a halt while everyone beeps their horns thinking this will somehow speed things up. In these traffic conditions, the motorbikes weave in and out of the stagnant streams of cars and thus maintain a certain momentum of hectic progress.