[ˈkaʎʎari]: The Unreal Reality that is Sardinia

The end of this week was extremely eventful! Starting on Wednesday night, we all went to Republik in the hopes of seeing Eli and Dylan play on stage. Unfortunately, they did not end up playing, but plenty of other good artists came on and everyone had a great time per usual. Luckily, we were able to sleep in on Thursday morning before classes started in the afternoon. After a lazy morning, we all hiked up the hill and went to class. On top of Annalisa's lectures, we were visited by Aldo who gave us a lecture on hydrogen recovery as well as providing us with tiramisu. I'm pretty sure that was the first time I have ever had tiramisu and I have to say that it was pretty tasty. After Thursday classes wrapped up, we did work, went out to dinner, and got packed up for the away trip.

Starting on Friday morning, we boarded the bus and headed for our first stop, The Museo Della Vita E Delle Tradizioni Popolari Sarde in Nuoro. Here, we learned about the traditional costumes and dresses that people from Sardinia wear for various occasions such as weddings, ceromonies, and carnival-esc parades. It was interesting to see how intricate the costumes were and it was also interesting to see how heavy the costumes were fabric wise. I couldn't really imagine wearing any of them in the heat of this island. I was also happy to note that we were not at any of the festivities where these costumes were worn due to the fact that it sounded like the people come after you harassing you in various ways. After the museum, we went to the Church of Santa Maria Della Solitudine. The story behind the church and the famous Sardinian author was fascinating. It takes some real courage to do what she did and go against the grain, especially at such a young age. Once we were done visiting Nuoro, we went up meet with the shepherds for lunch. We ate a variety of cheeses and meets and all around it was a pretty solid lunch (With the exception of the firewater). While lunch wrapped up and Eli was off being harassed by older women, the shepherds performed and danced with us. As if our day wasn't eventful enough, we went over to Orgosolo to look at some of the art that was all over the buildings. The whole town was a pretty interesting place...if there wasn't something painted on the walls, it was filled with gunshots. I also finally bought some knives as souvenirs for my dad and grandpa there so it was definitely a productive trip. Finally, after a full day, we headed up to our final destination of Hotel Enis Monte Maccione to eat dinner and crash.

Come Saturday morning, some of the group and myself woke up at 5:00 am to hike the mountain and watch the sunrise (I missed out on the hike the day before because I was playing with the world's cutest kitten). We got to the top of the mountain and the view was pretty breathtaking. One good view led into the next as we departed for the Gulf of Orosei. We boarded the boat and headed for the Grotte del Bue Marino. I'm a secret geology nerd so adventuring into the ocean-side cave was extremely awesome. After the cave, we spent the rest of the afternoon, going from beach to beach and enjoying the crystal clear water. There's not many words that can describe the beauty of the beaches and water. I don't think anyone wanted to leave when the final boat came to come pick us up. After the beach, we got back to Cagliari and returned to normality. Overall, this weekend was incredible and I know I will take away memories that I will never forget.