Italian Sideways 2006 – Day 13
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We head off to the long strip of white sand beach called La Cinta (The Belt), but find it too windy and cool. In fact, it is filled with onlookers in wind breakers and people in wet suites, windsurfing in the cold water, or preparing their gear to join the frenzy.
We leave La Cinta and drive a few miles north to Lu Impostu beach, another white strip of sand extending around a calm bay which offers protected, sandy shelters by majestic rocks near the shore. After sunbathing and reading for a while, gusts of wind start to blow our beach towels every-so-often, so we dress up and enjoyed part of our picnic sitting on the stone barrier overlooking the bay.
Next we head to Berchidda, to visit the Museo de su Ino (Wine Museum in Sardinian dialect). Since we arrive an hour early for the Saturday afternoon opening time (4 to 8 PM), we finish our picnic sitting on a small wall overlooking the valley, then go on to visit a couple of nuraghi, the truncated conic towers left by a mysterious civilization all over the island. Similar examples of buildings have been found rarely in Scotland and in the Mmiddle East. Ongoing research is exploring the possibility that Sardinia is what remains of mythical Atlantis.
The first nuraghe that we visit is called Birghedu. It rises on a hill in the middle of a daisy-filled field used as feeding ground by cows and sheep, and appears to be inhabited by a storm of crows. Though there is no evident signals, we see a group of people walking toward the truncated cone across the pasture field, thus we park our small Toyota Yarus behind the similarly small Fiat Punto, obviously belonging to the group ahead of us and head toward the massive primitive tower.
The second nuraghe is located in the village of San Lorenzo, in the backyard of an apartment building complex reminiscent of American project-style housing. The difference is that here, as is typical of Italy, the buildings openg onto a square where people sit, meet and chat their free time away.
The Wine Museum, when we finally get there, consists of three sections and proves to be worthwhile.
- The Museum, where tools of the trade from pre-Roman times to a more recent past are exhibited, along with a multimedia presentation of the history of wine on the island, panels describing the island wine history from the Phoenicians on, and photographs depicting moments of Sardinian peasant life.
- The Enoteca Regionale (Regional Wine Bar), where wines from all over the island are offered for tasting, included in the €3 per head ticket, and where it is possible to buy wines by the bottle, as well as olive oil and Mirto, the typical local liqueur made from blueberry.
- Conference and Exhibition Halls, where wine events, art exhibition and conferences are held throughout the year.
We taste white Vermentino wine from producers unknown to us and Carignano del Sulcis, an antique vine which was brought over by the Spaniards when they ruled the island centuries ago and that is now cultivated mostly in the south, in the Sulcis area.
We purchase a Carignano bottled by the Sardus Pater (Sardinian Father in Latin) winery for the Azienda Agricola 'Il Vigneto' (Commercial Farm 'The Vineyard'), from Sant'Antioco. The wine is called Sulky from the name of the most ancient Sardinian town (as stated on the back label), founded by the Phoenicians around 3,000 years ago. The front label features the name in golden Phoenician hieroglyphs on a black background.
We close the day with a delicious seafood meal at the Ristorante Il Pescatore (The Fisherman Restaurant) on the small square of Porto Ottiolu, which faces the small tourist and fisherman port from which the town takes its name.
We wash down the complimentary bruschetta (fresh tomato chunks seasoned with celery, olive oil and salt on a toasted slice of homemade bread) with a complimentary glass of Prosecco. For the deliciously fresh mixed green salad, lobster tagliatelle, and oven baked in white wine sauce San Pietro (St. Peter) fish we choose a Lughente from the Cantina di Giogantinu. The dessert is seadas, a fried pastry dough filled with cheese and honey, which we wash down with the complimentary glass of red Mirto.
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