Sea Cloud entered the peaceful, scenic harbor of Ithaka, Greece this morning at sunrise. The steep mountains surrounding the small, serene port were clothed in green hues of pine, olive, and cypress. The waters were still and mirror-like, reflecting the modest collection of whitewashed buildings collected along the waterfront. After breakfast, we used the Zodiacs for the first time as tenders for the short ride to shore. We boarded coaches for the half-hour trip up the mountain to a Greek Orthodox monastery, where we enjoyed a tour of the church with its collection of icons and frescoes. Our guides, Eleni and Smaro, gave us wonderful explanations and told us the history of the island, famous for being the home of Odysseus, the mythical hero of Homer’s Odyssey. After some free time in Ithaka town, we returned to the ship for lunch on the Lido Deck. Later, we had the opportunity to go in Zodiacs to see Sea Cloud under full sail. Before dinner, Allan gave a lecture on Olympia, tomorrow’s destination, as we continued our journey.
Allan Langdale is an art and architectural historian, documentary filmmaker, photographer, and travel writer who received his Ph.D. in art history from University of California Santa Barbara.
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The sea was gentle this morning as we boarded our tender to motor into the lovely, protected harbor of Alghero. The first thing one spies from the sea is the Castello and its massive protective walls. Many of the Sardinian towns on the coast suffered from depredations from the Barbary pirates (from North Africa) and hence the construction of large, fortified walls facing the sea. Once on shore we boarded our transport ship “Neptunos” to Neptune’s Grotto four kilometers across the bay. The ride across the bay was lovely with a fresh breeze and we were making 21 knots. The grotto was deep and stunning. As we went deeper into the interior, the views became ever more beautiful – large caverns of crystalline stalagmites and stalactites formed delicate columns 100’ tall, and beneath them were limpid pools of transparent sea water. It was truly a natural cathedral and surely took millions of years for the drops of limestone to form such fantastic shapes. We then returned to Alghero and broke into two groups. We visited a stunningly beautiful house of Franciscan Friars. The cloister was particularly beautiful and the carvings on the capitals were fine. After lunch we returned to Alghero and rode through a protected ecological zone to visit the small boutique wine estate of “L’d’Ittiri Wines.” There, we sampled three very good wines, a rosé, a white, and a richly complex and strong red with an astonishing – and I should say – stupefying 15.9% alcohol! The wines were accompanied by local olives, cheeses, and bread dipped in olive oil made on the estate. I think virtually everyone purchased the wines and the olive oil, which were very reasonably priced given that they were artisanal products, made entirely by hand. We then boarded our coaches for a return to Alghero for a short walking tour of the old city. I was struck by the frequency of the street names that were in Catalan, the national language of Catalonia and Barcelona. In fact, the people of Alghero speak a dialect of Italian that is heavily influenced by Catalan. The Spanish colonized this area for some centuries, so this makes sense. Alghero is clearly a city of some wealth as we passed all the world-famous shops such as Gucci, and dozens of shops selling fine jewelry and local products. The shops that sold jewelry seemed to specialize in red Mediterranean coral. The coral market is strictly regulated, and there is a limit on how much can be taken. We returned to Sea Cloud and settled in for our conversation, cocktails and one of the inimitable dinners we have become so fond.
The beautiful Sea Cloud displays her sails in the morning as we move along the western coast of Sardinia to our new destination, Oristano. While I enjoy the views, I cannot believe that I am finally visiting an island that has been in my imagination for two decades. Not only because this is a melting pot for several civilizations, but because it is a place where women have played an important role in its history. For example, the first Italian to receive a Nobel Prize for Literature (1926) was Grazia Deledda, a native of Sardinia. Eleanora of Arborea enacted a code of law in effect on the island from 1395 until 1827. Which, among many modernizing norms, gave daughters and sons the same inheritance rights. And it seems that even from the times of the enigmatic Nuragic civilization, there was a deep respect for femininity, in the cult of the mother-goddess, a symbol of fertility. We can confirm it in the afternoon when we visit the well of Santa Cristina. The whole complex, when looked up from the air, seems to have been built in the shape of a womb. In this sacred place, the Nuragic people probably came for purification rites during religious ceremonies. Our superb guide, Paola, shows us the different constructions that probably hosted the pilgrims that came from far and wide with offerings, from animals to bronze statuettes. The festivals may have lasted days, but the most important thing was to descend the 25 steps into the well to touch the purifying water. Everything about this civilization is mysterious. Why are the rocks leading into the well so perfectly cut? Basalt in symmetric angles, precisely measured, for walls around and in other constructions are like towers – never as polished or as sharp. It is as if they belonged to two different civilizations. Much later, in the 11th century, the bigger boulders were used for the building of the church of Santa Cristina. However, the magnificence of the well, its perfection, still leads us into contact with an element that should still be treated as sacred, water. The next visit takes us to Nuraghe Losa, another impressive tower looking like a solid trapezoid, from the 11th century BC. Many questions come to mind about the enigmatic Nuragic people. Did other civilizations write about them? Why did they stop building the round towers by the end of 1000 BC? We can walk to the very top of this one and enjoy the view of the valley, the “Canpidano oristanese.” We distinguish a few cork oaks and learn that Sardinia is second after Portugal in the production of cork in the world. Dinner this time is at a local farm, “Agriturismo Archelao,” where we taste the delicious specialties from the island, like suckling pork, lamb, and pecorino cheese, with local wines and finishing with a magnificent aromatic liquor called “Mirto rosso,” produced by macerating the berries of myrtle (Myrtus communis). We also enjoy folk music, and even join in the dancing. We head back to the ship passing again by the Lagoon of Santa Giusta and its little church built on the reclaimed land of the marshes. The sweet taste of myrtle is still on my lips, the music of “balu tundu,” the round dance, makes me smile. Sardinia is in my heart.
