On a recent cruise with Holland America, our ship MS Ryndam, had been scheduled to visit La Goulette, Tunisia. However, due to political unrest, and a threat to the safety of the ship and it’s passengers and crew, our captain took the decision to visit the Italian island of Sardinia instead.
We docked in the port town of Cagliari, and knew little about the sights and attractions of the island due to the fact we hadn’t been supposed to even be there.
So we set foot onto the island, pretty much unaware of what we would find, and it’s safe to say we were pleasantly surprised by our day there. Sardinia is a fairly small island, of which Cagliari is one of the main towns. The front street of Cagliari is a wide, spacious avenue, with some gorgeous architecture, including that of the town hall. An imposing building with a pristine white façade.
If You Love Shopping….
If shopping is your passion, then Cagliari is a place you’ll love. The main streets of the city are lined with boutique shops selling everything you could possibly with for. There are also a handful of designer stores for the high end fashion lovers. It’s definitely a great destination to browse for gifts for loved ones, or even just treat yourself.
As we wanted to see as much of the island as possible in the short time we had there, we decided to take one of the open top sightseeing bus tours which leave from the top of the main street in the city. Highlights of the bus tour were spotting some pink flamingos grazing in the natural surroundings of the island. I’d never seen flamingos before, so I was delighted to see these elegant birds in their natural state.
Devil’s Saddle
Another great part of the bus tour was the stunning views of the city we were treated to as the bus ascended to the top of the hills that surround it. Another interest point was seeing the natural rock formation that is fondly referred to as the devil’s saddle, because of the curious shape of it.
The most bizarre part of our bus journey was that it was not a hop on-hop off experience where you could disembark the bus at certain stops to further explore points of interest. You were not allowed to get off the bus, and it didn’t make any stops around the island. This was a little disappointing to say the least. It was a quick and easy way to get an overview of what the island has to offer though.
Thanks Emma