We set out for a shortish day, planning to anchor near some Phoenician/Carthaginian/Roman ruins.  We did catch a glimpse of them from the sea as they are right on the coast, but with indifferent weather and making good progress, we decided to press on to Sardinia’s capital, Cagliari. 

“Goosewinged” – sailing with the wind behind us as great speed!  Unfortunately it didn’t last very long on this occasion as the wind shifted.

One of the many watchtowers on the Sardinian coast:  They were built about 500 years ago to warn of the approach of N African pirates.  Some of them reminded us so much of the type of plastic bucket which comes complete with corner towers and crenallations to make the perfect miniature sandcastle!

The Elephant tower in old Cagliari built in the early 14^th century when the Pisans were in charge.  Cagliari has a crumbling old centre little changed since Medieval times.  Apparently DH Lawrence, visiting in the 1920s, described the town as looking a bit like Jerusalem.  It has some dilapidated charm, but attempts to smarten it up have been undermined by extensive graffiti.  It looks as if the city administrators have given up trying to prevent it and we have never seen so much “urban art” covering what should have been the more impressive outdoor spaces.

Cagliari does have a pretty good museum of archaeology which we visited before we left on Tuesday.  Its real treasures are an incredible group of pre-historic bronze figures which were unearthed at the sites of the island’s many ancient stone constructions dating back to the Nuraghic era around 1500-500 BC.