Our last stop on our two-week long adventure was Cagliari, Italy. Honestly, out of all the cities we ported at; Cagliari was the least planned for and likely the least thought about. But now, after being back in Barcelona and reminiscing on the memories; some of the fondest came from Cagliari and the sweet people we met there, good food we ate, and best gelato we would taste for awhile… at least from Italy.

Fernweh and I started off wandering our way through the streets and admiring all the different color buildings. The one thing I had planned one hour before getting off the boat was a place to eat. I was craving pizza and so was Fernweh so it was a win-win! Before going into the pizzeria, we stopped by this cute, little antique shop and took a look around. The owner of the store was the kindest older woman. It seems as though she spoke every other language besides English, but we managed in broken Span-Ital-Frenglish. By the time we left the store Fernweh and I had both fallen in love with her patience, a few antique tea sets, and a few old maps. We’re also sure we heard at least 6 different languages come out of her mouth. French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, English, and possibly Czech? Russian? We’re not sure, but it wasn’t American!

Finally, it was time to eat and we made our way to a place I found on TripAdvisor (my one true love) called Pizzeria Federico Nansen. We decided to get a couple of slices of each the pepperoni, onion and gorgonzola, & mushroom and mozzarella. Oh and two “typical Sardinian” beers. Fernweh decided to get a Texan-sized one (Ichnusa) while I opted to not be a drunk at 2 in the afternoon with a Grazia D.

The pizza was wonderful and there was a mutual agreement that the onion and gorgonzola was the best. We stayed in this pizzeria for quite some time just talking, laughing, and people watching but mostly laughing.

After, we headed to the Torre dell’Elefante; which is a Medieval tower built in the twelfth century to protect the city from Moorish attacks, and was later converted to a jail. While in years past severed heads hung from the walls, now it just has little tiny elephants sticking off the side. The view was beautiful from the top overlooking all of Cagliari and giving a magnificent view of the mountains that you couldn’t see from the streets.

Fun fact: the Torre dell’Elefante has very steep steps that you take to the top – not handicap, or fear-of-heights, friendly – and there are at least 150 from top to ground level. Fernweh and I counted to distract us from the fact that the steps were basically an 180° vertical line going down, but we may have lost track a few times.

By this point, we decided to make our way back to the ship, but stopped inside a shop that caught our eye. Here they had plenty of local food such as su pane carasau; which is a thin, crisp bread made with flour and semolina. They also had different types of cheeses and crackers; as well as sweets – cookies, chocolates, and these gooey, delicious nougats. They were so good that I finished all my portion of the packet in 2 days. No shame.

Overall, Cagliari was one of my favorite places we visited and I hope to make my way back in order to learn about the city a bit more. Of course, Fernweh would have to come with me!

Xx Food 

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If you like bumbling through European cities check out our adventures in Sitges, Spain or Paris, France. Learn about us in our grand “Hello!” and come back for more soon about Roma, Turkey, and Athens! XoXx Fernewh & Food