Logbook Entry
Dates: 09/27/08 – 10/1/08
Distance: 16 nm
Sailed from: Pula
Lat: 39°12’N
Long: 09°07’E
A big city and busy port with everything a cruising sailor needs, that is if you like big cities and busy ports. Cagliari is also very old and historic with lots of charm, and although we found the marina facilities adequate, they certainly lacked the polished appearance of some of the fancier places we had been in Portugal and Spain. Everyone was helpful and friendly, and we managed to stretch our legs quite a bit on the long walks into the city center.
We rented a car for two days to visit some of the museums and archeological sites we bypassed by boat — the archeological museum in Cagliari, the archeological site at Nora and the archeological museum at Sant’ Antioco are not to be missed. Our car was a pinkish color which did not give us much credibility with the rather aggressive Sardinian drivers, especially while negotiating the windy roads on the southwest coast. It turns out that faded pink was somewhat of a color theme during our driving tour of Sardinia. We saw migrating pink flamingoes, looking more gray than pink without their special winter diet of shrimp, and at one of the museums, we saw a pinkish color swatch, a variation of the purple die from the murex (rock whelk) which was so heavily sought after by the Romans. Both matched the color of our Sardinian rental car.
We met-up with friends Stephen and Anne on s/v Wandering Dragon who are wintering-over in Cagliari. They introduced us to a great bulk wine store and pizzeria near the marinas.
Even our rental car was a pinkish color that day! Credit: Lisa Borre. 
A quick (and crooked) snapshot of pink flamingos in the distance near the Phoenician-age causeway between Sardinia and what used to be the island of Sant Antioco. Credit: Lisa Borre. 
Color swatches of the dye produced by the Murex (rock whelk). The one on the lower left was part of a pink theme during our driving tour. Credit: Lisa Borre.
The symbol of the God Tanit depicted on an iron gate at the archeological museum in Sant Antioco. Credit: Lisa Borre. 
Terracotta funeral urns at the Phoenician necropolis at Sant Antioco. Credit: Lisa Borre. 
Lion statue, part a pair, which stood at the city gates in Sant Antioco in the 6th Century BC. Credit: Lisa Borre. 
The ruins of a temple to the God Tanit at Nora. Credit: Lisa Borre. 
View from the necropolis of the archeology museum in Sant Antioco looking toward Sardinia. Credit: Lisa Borre.
