Wed Nov 20, 2024
Hi All! We are docked in the town of Cagliari, the capital of the Italian island of Sardinia which is located in the beautiful Bay of Angels. Like Rome it was built on Seven Hills which identify the historic neighborhoods of the city. We had a late tour today so we slept in. This non-stop travel is tiring! Lol. We really have had 10 straight days of touring and exploring but we love every minute of it!
In the morning we attended the Speaker series entitled “8 Days at Yalta”. In Feb 1945, FDR, Stalin and Churchill met in Malta, where we were a few days ago, then later at the Crimea Conference in Yalta to agree on how Europe will be divided up after World War II, especially regarding Poland and Germany. But Stalin will quickly violate the Yalta agreements within weeks. On April 12, 1945, FDR passes away and Harry Truman becomes President. A month later, Churchill writes Truman to describe what he calls an “iron curtain” coming down in Europe.
In July 1945, Truman, Churchill and Stalin meet in Potsdam outside Berlin to try to get Stalin to honor the Yalta agreements but fail. It is here where Truman tells Stalin of the Atom bomb. Historians feel that if FDR had more confidence that the atom bomb would be ready, he may not have asked Stalin to enter the Pacific front in Japan. That’s what caused the Russians to move troops down into Korea which eventually caused North Korea to side with Russia. The speaker noted the similarities between containing the Soviet Union back then and what’s going on in today’s Ukraine. Interesting history!
We then had lunch and set off on our excursion in the mid afternoon. Our tour started with a panoramic bus tour of the city. We passed by the historical Bonaria Basilica. Legend has it that a Spanish ship hit a major storm in the bay and to survive they threw everything off the ship including a locked chest of unknown contents. As soon as it hit the water the storm calmed down. When they opened it, inside was a statue of the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus as seen next to the church. Thus this church became the patron church of sailors. Bonaria (which means good air) is a sister city to Buenos Aires which also means good air!
We then drove along Poetto Beach en route to Monte Urpinu for a photo stop over the city of Cagliari. They call Poetto Beach the beach of 100,000 since it can hold over 100,000 people given that is over 6 miles long. We also saw the old salt flats area where they used to gather salt but they don’t anymore. Now there’s just lots of flamingos there!
We reached the top of Monte Urpino, called that due to all the pine trees. From there we could see over to another hilltop called Devil’s Saddle. Legend says the Archangel Michael battled the Devil Lucifer on that hilltop and during the fight, Lucifer lost his saddle from his horse so they call it Devil’s Saddle since it’s shaped like a saddle.
We then drove to Old Town and walked passed the ramparts and the San Pancrazio Tower. We then walked by the early 14th-century Saint Mary and Saint Cecilia Cathedral as well as its bell tower. We walked thru the oldest quarter of the city called Castello. We then had free time to shop a little. We didn’t get back to the ship until about 6:30 PM. I’ll send another update later after dinner. Happy Hump Day to all!
The Wandering Italian 