Review: Western Med Jade cruise Nov. 1 -12, 2014

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Cagliari, Sardinia

 

I booked with Francesco of Sardinia Dream Tours a year in advance, as he is quite busy when ships are in port, and I wanted to design a tour that would do some sightseeing and have time to include a true, Sardinian meal! DH and I had watched one of those Anthony Bourdain shows, and the episode about Sardinian food seemed intriguing!

 

Francesco was very helpful with information in his emails and we designed a day that would include a visit to the site unique to Sardinia- the nuraghi of Su Nuraxi di Barumini, and a full lunch at an authentic Sardinian restaurant, with a drive around Cagliari afterward.

 

Interest in the tour was good on the roll call, and our group grew to 11 people. Francesco reserved his 2 jeeps for us, and worked with me online to send paypal links for individual down payments.

 

As the day approached, he also sent me information and a photo about the cruise terminal shuttle bus that had recently been added at the port- we would now have to shuttle to this parking lot first, to meet up with him.

 

 

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When we arrived for our tour, it was easy to spot the jeeps and find Francesco and Gabi -a terrific guide who also drove the second jeep.

 

 

 

We enjoyed a scenic countryside drive and it was fascinating to see the artichoke fields and fig trees along the way. Francesco and Gabi were informative and fun during the drive. When we arrived at the Barumini site we were given time for a washroom break and then proceeded to the site.

 

Rest stop here:

 

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We arrived well ahead of any other groups, so had the place to ourselves, which allowed us to take our time. Gabi was the group guide for this part of the tour, and she was very knowledgeable. The nuraghi date back to 1500-800 BC, and are thought to have been defensive structures.

 

 

 

 

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We followed Gabi into the maze of boulders, and then up the steps:

 

 

 

 

 

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From up high on the catwalk you can see there was originally a design to the site, not just a pile of rubble! There is a person walking on the right side of the photo, to get an idea of the scale of this place!

 

 

 

After the catwalk and into the top of the structure, we could peek through this gate, and to get down there inside the nuraghi, we would now have to step backwards through a narrow passageway to get inside!

 

 

Gabi reaches inside the passage to help one of us out:

 

 

We then headed into one of the 'rooms':

 

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It is interesting and challenging to climb into the nuraghi- there were steps up, catwalks across, and narrow passageways to squeeze down into the nuraghi. Gabi was great assisting with this and very patient. A few were not able to do the inside descent, and so explored the outside. It does require careful footing and agility, and you will be in dark, close quarters. Once inside, the domes are high up, but the archways into them are low.

 

 

 

 

 

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Gabi then gave us some information about the outside structures and we looked around a bit before heading back to the entrance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This stonework was added centuries later,when the Romans came:

 

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We then had a visit to the gift shop. Pretty reasonable prices for some local crafts, many made of cork from Sardinian cork trees.

 

 

 

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We then took the 5 minute drive to Casa Zapata, a museum on top of another nuraghi site-you can see the remains through the plexiglass floors below. There are also many artifacts on display. Before we left, Francesco surprised us with a little vino break, and then we headed back to Cagliari for our meal.

 

 

 

 

 

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Francesco and Gabi

 

 

Gabi

 

 

Casa Zapata

 

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Arriving in Cagliari, heading to the restaurant for our feast!

 

 

 

 

 

The restaurant doesn't look like much from the outside, but it is one of the most popular with locals for authentic Sardinian meals!

 

 

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The meal was prearranged, to include a variety of Sardinian foods and drinks at a family run restaurant, Ammentos. The restaurant has an unremarkable entranceway that you would just walk by if you didn't know about the place. It was an absolutely excellent meal! We had sliced meats and out-of-this-world sarda cheeses, served on huge cork trays; also salmon bruschetta, vegetables, salad and spaghetti aglio e olio-the best I have ever had- with bottarga, which is not usual for this meat-oriented restaurant, but I had requested it in advance to try it! We also had suckling pig, goat stew, delicious bread... house wine..With barely any room to spare we managed to try some sweets and really liked the marzipan, and the dessert wine, and finally the mirto liqueur! Many of these items were featured on the ‘No Reservations’ show with Anthony Bourdain; his wife is from Sardinia.

 

 

 

 

 

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We had an amazing time and a terrific and interesting meal. Gabi and Francesco then gave us a scenic tour of Cagliari before driving us back to the shuttle bus stop.

 

 

 

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We had a wonderful day - enjoyed seeing a site unique to Sardinia, the delicious food, and everyone's hospitality! Francesco and Gabi were generous with their time and information, and we never felt rushed.

 

The jeeps are quite serviceable and safe, although not every seat is comfortable; for a longer drive, if you have more than 4 people per jeep, you might want to rotate seats throughout the day, or ask about vehicle options.

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Wish your review was available before our cruise. Just came back from the 21 day on the JadeThank you for the wonderful pictures posted, what a great reminder!

Just a word of advice. For those who purchase anything at the Central Market in Valencia, keep your receipt. It will get you in to the restrooms downstairs for free! Otherwise you will have to pay .50 to get in.

 

Thanks ROCruiser! With 21 days you must have seen so much, how wonderful!

 

Just uploading photos for the next port, Palermo.

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Palermo, Sicily

 

For Palermo, it took us a while to figure out what we wanted to see when planning this cruise. After researching, it seemed like the city itself was crowded with traffic jams, was rather dirty in parts, and had lots and lots of old churches. I thought I might like to see the theatre, Teatro Massimo, but that is closed on Mondays! As it turned out, Monday closures were a real challenge for places to visit in Sicily.

 

With nothing in Palermo really grabbing our interest, I looked at little towns to go to instead, as we always enjoy those types of tours. There are fewer companies to successfully contact about private tours here compared to other ports, but I did find Roberto Bruscemi tours. His wife, Kristina, emailed back and forth in the months prior to our cruise. The response times were much slower than I had experienced with companies elsewhere, but it did work out just fine. We decided to go to 2 towns, Cefalu and Caccamo, with a visit to Caccamo Castle, and a stop on the way back in Termini Imerese for lunch at an upscale restaurant. I posted the tour on our roll call and we got good-sized group.

 

Only a couple of weeks before the cruise, Kristina emailed me that the castle would not be open on Mondays anymore, even though they knew we were coming. Yikes, just what you don't want to hear so close to your cruise.. So we had to scramble and come up with a revised itinerary. We switched to the castle town I originally wanted, Castelbuono, after Roberto contacted the mayor of Castelbuono, who agreed to open the castle there for us on Monday! Because the revised places meant a longer drive, we had to delete the lunch visit in Termini Imerese, and instead just let everyone do their own thing in Cefalu for lunch. This meant a few cancellations by people that had booked with us from the roll call, but we did get enough new people interested in the new itinerary to make it work. As it turned out, it was one of my favourite tours.

 

Roberto met us at the port and had Elisabetta with him, our guide. Roberto does not speak much English so Isabella helped interpret. The traffic getting out of Palermo and then back into the city, was horrendous. Once outside the city, we had no traffic issues for the rest of the day. The drive along the coast and then up into the Madonie mountains was beautiful. When we arrived in the hamlet of Castelbuono, Roberto directed us to a cafe for a bio-break, and espressos!

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Palermo view from the ship:

 

 

 

 

 

Arriving in Castelbuono:

 

 

 

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We then walked up the hill almost to the town square, turning instead to the Ventimiglia Castle entrance. We had a good tour in this medieval castle, it was just like something you might imagine from stories of old! There was a modest entrance fee, about 4e I think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Plaza within the castle walls:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Within the castle, there was a small chapel, Cappella di Santa' Anna, with incredibly ornate stucco-work.

 

 

 

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From the altar looking toward the back of the chapel:

 

 

 

 

 

Old stone floor of chapel:

 

 

 

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