Monte Grappa

Monte Grappa served as an important Italian defense position during World War 1.

It has excellent overwatch over the surrounding area.

The Alpini now operate a memorial there.

Artillery craters and foxholes still dot the landscape.

Over 12,000 Austrian and Italian soldiers are buried at the memorial. 10,000 are unidentified to this day.

There is a Rifugio next to the memorial.

More artillery craters, supply lines, and foxholes.

There are 30 switchbacks on the drive from the towns below, with over 1500 meters of elevation gain.

Prosecco Country

Prosecco wine is grown between Conegliano and Valdobbiadene near Treviso, north of Venice, on the edge of the Dolomites.

Wine has been grown in this region since Roman times. The Venetians controlled the area for hundreds of years as well.

Unlike Champagne, secondary fermentation of Prosecco usually occurs in a separate vessel.

Gregoletto Winery, near Conegliano, is over 400 years old.

The best Prosecco is produced on small plots of land in the hills. This is the view from Ca' Salina, our favorite winery, near Valdobbiadene.

Nora

Nora was an important Phonecian, Carthaginian, and Roman port until the 7th century AD.

Pula, the modern town Nora is next to, is a hour long bus ride from Cagliari.

The Kingdom of Aragon conquered Sardinia from the Pisans and local Judgeships. The Spanish built a series of coastal towers around the island to protect it from Muslim raids.

Sardinia, including Nora, was conquered from Carthage by the Romans in 238 BC.

A Roman road runs throughout Nora.

Nora was home to four bathhouses, a sign of great wealth.

Nora went into decline after the 5th century conquest of Sardinia by the Vandals.

These stone columns were imported from Africa.

The Roman amphitheater at Nora was used by Medieval smugglers to store goods.

Come see Nora before it disappears into the Mediterranean Sea.

Cagliari

Cagliari is the capital of Sardinia. We were greeted by a friendly neighbor on the way into town.

The Airbnb had an interesting elevator.

And an interesting collection of maps.

Nautical

The top of the Bastion of Saint Remy has great views of the city. The Piedmontese turned the old fortifications here into a staircase.

The gulf of Cagliari

The old town is next to the Bastion.

An interesting place for a shrine.

The Cathedral of Saint Mary, constructed by the Pisans in the 13th century.

Cagliari was badly bombed during World War 2. Evidence of this can be seen around the city.

View from the old walls.

The Elephant Tower was also built by the Pisans when they controlled Cagliari in the 13th and 14th centuries.

The Pisan inscription on the tower

See the elephant?

Ecce homo

Sardinia was an important Roman holding. Cagliari has an ancient Roman amphitheater in the center of town, among its many hills.

Cagliari is home to many cats.

There are many pleasant parks scattered across Cagliari.

Many cats

I'm not sure what this fountain art was going for.

The Castle of San Michele was built in the 12th century to protect the capital of the Judgeship of Cagliari, an independent offshoot of the Byzantine empire.

Good views from the castle.

The bathroom was a little strange.

Cagliari stretches through the valleys adjacent to its hills.

The archeological area of Saint Eulalia is a Roman ruin that lies under a church in the heart of Cagliari. Cagliari was originally a Carthaginian settlement called Krly. Remnants of Cagliari's Punic past are scattered throughout the city as well.

An old Roman road

The dog church?

The Basilica of San Saturnino, which has been rebuilt many times, was originally a 5th century Christian church built where St. Saturninus of Cagliari was supposedly buried.

The Villa of Tigrello is another Roman ruin complex in the city.

Modern art where the Roman aqueduct once stood

Cagliari is also home to the Tuvixeddu Necropolis, used by Carthiginian and Romans starting in the 6th century BC.

The necropolis is now a very cool, free, open air park.

Don't fall in.

The Cagliari Archeology Museum is excellent. Would you like to touch the Mother Goddess?

This is what a beach on Cagliari might have looked like 100 years ago.

The native Nuragic civilization has its own unique culture before Phoenician settlement. They natives were talented bronze workers, and made some interesting looking votive vessels.

These are Punic offering to Bes to cure the ailments shown on the jars.

Nuragic statues found on the west coast of Sardinia.

Saint Efisio is carried from Pula up the coast of Sardinia to Cagliari every year.

A stone tablet that may be one of the oldest examples of written language in Europe. Scholars still don't agree on what it says.

Statues of the Egyptian god Bes have been found around Cagliari as well.

Like all great Italian cities, Cagliari has some strange street art as well.

La Pola restaurant in Cagliari was crazy, hectic, and delicious. The lobster, traditionally served with onion, was a steal.

That doesn't seem like a fair fight.