Accommodations

We are staying in a large apartment overlooking the busy little port of Porto Torres.  The light, especially at dawn and dusk, is lovely.  The flat is up in the attics of the Hotel Elisa, which looks to have been built in the 1930s - I guess this flat was installed or modernised about 20 years ago. 

   

No expense was spared - it’s lavishly arranged with tiling, superb wooden floors, folding doors, concealed lighting, and a recently installed fitted kitchen. The windows to the front overlook the port with its pretty Aragonese tower, and at the back there’s a small quiet terrace with washing machine and dining table.  

The sad thing is that despite the glamorous fixtures, there are a number of niggling problems in the apartment - the loo seat is not properly fixed. The wifi barely works. The hot water has to come from a long distance and is very intermittent.  The automatic lighting on the landing outside the door is extremely random in its operation. The bathroom mirror has started to lose its silvering. This is how we all wear out, I suppose. 

At the front we hear the street, the traffic, the shipping, the fishing boats and tugs, machinery, and all the noises of the passers-by.  At the back we hear the children playing in the piazza behind the building, and the screeching orchestra of the starlings as they flock back to town for the night. The double-glazing is a very effective sound-barrier, thank goodness, as these noises barely stop at night.  

However, the constant movement of the ships is fascinating. Some are just small local ferries, and some are great international things - perhaps heading to Barcelona or Genoa.  Their decorations are wild - one quite big one is dressed as Batman - I can see it from where I’m sitting on the sofa at the back of the room.

    

Today we are planning to go a little inland, to Sássari, and some prehistoric sites…   Sássari was established as the port here declined in the 11th century…. one reason seems to have been attacks by Genoese and Saracens, not long after the beautiful basilica of San Gavino was built.  It’s rather remarkable that the port should have been so active and such an important little place for such a very long time.