Sunday, September 21, 2008

Villa Alba's Beautiful Sunsets....

On our way home from one of the nearby beaches....Costa Rei I believe, we were left breathless by this beautiful sunset.

It kept getting more.....

.....and more beautiful!

This is from our veranda, it was difficult not to pick up the camera every day, since almost daily it was a beautiful picture.



This also is a sunset that surprised us on the way back home, it covered the whole sky, and the colors were breath taking!


Now how would you like to look out of your car and see that?!?

Back at Villa Alba, new day.......


......same gorgeous sunsets.



The picture does not do justice to the colors of this sunset. the sky was an almost surreal mixture of blue and pink, wonderful....


Here we ca see very clearly the "Sella del Diavolo" or saddle of the devil, which is in the middle of the Gulf of the Angels (In the middle left of the picture).

As the legend goes, a horde of devils guided by Lucifer kept terrorizing the local citizens who called upon the Archangel Gabriel for help. Gabriel came to their aid with an army of angels and defeated the devils sending them running. In the haste of the retreat Lucifer lost the saddle of his infernal steed which fell in the sea, and turned into stone.

This is the promontory that is called the saddle of the devil, while the golf in which it stands is called "Of the Angels" There it is, it up by the rays of the sun in this heavenly sunset!















Good night!!!!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

"Trenino Verde" trip

Patrizia taking a picture of me taking a picture of her...

Have you ever seen Hydrangeas so beautiful?....Growing in a pot????

View from the train cockpit, the train crosses Sardinia from the south at Cagliari, infact I believe one can even pick it up in Monserrato, the town were I was born, and reaches Arbatax on the East coast in the middle of island.

We are about to enter one of the many tunnels, you can see how high above sea level we are, and we keep climbing.....

Here we stopped for a five minute rest, and a chance to take pictures. That is the train, at first we were disappointed that it did not have a steam engine....by the time we returned we were so thankful that it did not because, as it was we were hot and sweaty and the added coal coating would not have helped at all!!!!

Windmills creating green renewable energy...

Majestic mountains....so beautiful and not a very common site in Sardinia!

Another stop at an old station, in the olden days people would actually buy tickets, wait for the trains, and have something to eat in these buildings. One of these doors was labeled "First Class Passenger Waiting Room"

This was the office of the caretaker of the station, the room was furnished with period furniture and quite well kept. Today there is not a caretaker, and the room is locked, the only tenants are bats which inhabit the oven; we were allowed to go inside and grandpapa woke the bats so that they flew all over the room! We have the pictures to prove it.

Lakes do not abound in Sardinia, in fact the island has suffered a drought forever, that is why a sight like this is so beautiful.

This is a so called "Casa Cantoniera", basically a caretaker's home. This one is Nurri, a family would live here and take care of their stretch of railroad plus other duties that I am not too familiar with.
On the train....smiling trough the sweat...

More beautiful than the landscapes.....Marisa's smile!!!

Drinking from one of the many, many springs in Sardinia. This is in Niala at a big "Agriturismo" restaurant, AKA a restaurant that serves dishes entirely made out of their own products, be it farming, hunting, fishing, etc...

At our destination the "trenino" left us in the middle of nowhere, gulp! ...a moment of panic, then a quick resolve to find a site where we could have a pick nick. Thanks to Tony's enterprising skills we found an "agriturismo" which allowed us to use one of their beautiful stone tables, it was so peaceful and comfortable that Tony even had a nap on the bench!

Trip to Sadali ...and the caves of "The Jannas" (Edited)

Waiting for the tour to the caves to start....the tension abounds....so does the sweat!!!

There are several interesting rock formations in the caves, this is one of them, it is called "The frog" and it really looks like one don't you agree?

A skeleton was found is the caves, it was a rabbit/mouse combination that apparently lived here in ancient times, the guide holds a drawing of what it might have looked like.

This formation is called "The organ" it is hollow inside and, when hit makes a musical sound.

These are the caves....Stalactites and Stalagmites...the whole kit and cabootle !!!

The caves are called "The caves of the fairies" for a good reason. As the story goes, there were once three fairies who found refuge in these caves, it was Mardi Grass time, and so they decided to make donuts. The donuts were so good and they were having such a good time frying and eating that they did not realize that Lent had started. A monk, passing by, smelled the delicious aroma of donuts and decided to look into it, discovering the wayward fairies he turned them into witches. Not very happy about the change in status, the now witches hung the monk, but the all seeing God, who would never reward a bad deed and let them go on frying and eating donuts, turned them into stone.
Naturally the story is true, and is documented by actual pictures of...


.....the fairies tuned witches turned stone, and....

.......the monk....still hanging after all these years! Poor chap.....