Favorite Places: The Bastione San Remy, Cagliari

On top of the Bastione San Remy

A recent thread on Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree asked: "Sardinia where to go?" It got me thinking about the fact that I haven't written much about Sardinia yet, even though it's one of my favorite destinations and I find frequent excuses to return to it. I don't know what I love most about Sardinia. Maybe it's the historic but lively cities. Maybe it's the vast empty landscape dotted with ancient ruins... and flocks of sheep. Or maybe it's the exquisite culture of food and wine that ranges from Michelin Star-winning restaurants to delicious home cooking to the utterly bizarre (care for some snails baked in salt? calf thyroids? cheese with worms?).

Heading to the top of the  Bastione

So I decided it was time to write about Sardinia and at least begin introducing readers to one of my Favorite Places. My favorite city in Sardinia is the island's capital, Cagliari, and one of my favorite spots in Cagliari is the beautiful Bastione San Remy. The Bastione is an 18th century fortification built on top of Cagliari's old medieval wall system, originally constructed 400 years earlier. Now the Bastione serves as a beautiful look-out point from which to admire Cagliari's colorful rooftops, winding streets, and blue harbor. If you head up the Bastione's broad double stairs from Piazza Costituzione, you'll find yourself in a grand piazza. All around you stretch gorgeous views: to the south is the sea with its harbor full of cruise ships, to northwest is Cagliari's lagoon with its complement of pale pink flamingoes, and to the north, up yet more flights of stairs, rises the castello itself, Cagliari's old fortified city where you'll find one of its great cathedrals as well as its archaeological museum.

Enjoying the sun

There are plenty of benches on the Bastione if you want to sit in the sun and admire the palm trees, and there are cafes at the edges of the piazza if you need a refreshing cappuccino after climbing the stairs. If you visit the Bastione on a weekend in the summer you're likely to find an artisan market selling jewelry, sculpture, and hand-made t-shirts. And if you're looking for nightlife, the Bastione is a great stop. At night its cafes fill up with Cagliari's glitterati and occasional events like Argentine tango in the piazza keep things lively.

Napoleon's cannonballs

A final amusing note about the Bastione should appeal to history buffs. When you visit the Bastione, take a good look at the pink building you can see in the background in the picture above. The careful observer will spot three cannonballs still embedded in the wall - a small souvenir of the Napoleonic Wars.

Copyright 2010 Sara Harding

Beauty in the Beast

The crushing loneliness of a Medusa in the Capitoline Museums, Rome.

Copyright 2010 Sara Harding

The Best of the Bazaar: Colorful Gloves in Florence

Leather gloves from Florence against a colorful silk scarf from Syria.

Traveling in Italy has permanently shifted my style toward the colorful. American clothes can be so drab, at least if you're past the age where you're shopping in the junior's section. My inner Italian rebels at the color choices she's offered in American clothing stores: black, brown, camel, beige, cream, denim... at best, she may hope to find hunter green or mulberry or red (if it's around the holidays).

That's why I find myself gravitating toward bright accessories when I travel - a khaki trench coat is just more fun if you dress it up with an orange silk scarf and blue gloves. But where can you find nice blue gloves? In one of my all-time favorite shopping destinations: Florence.

From designer stores to chalk artists, charming fountains to gorgeous architecture, it's easy to stumble onto beauty in Florence. The markets are no exception. There are several around the city and they're full of gorgeous scarves, jewelry, clothes, and a Florentine specialty: colorful and sumptuous leather.

Leather handbags in the Market of San Lorenzo

Any kind of leather you want is available in the markets of Florence: jackets, handbags, shoes, belts, leather-bound journals, and - of course - gloves. The gloves are my favorite. Not only are they an elegant accessory, the variety they come in is practically infinite. In the Market of San Lorenzo, the largest of Florence's markets, you can find gloves in every color from lime green to canary yellow to my selection, turquoise blue - and those are just the solid colors! Other common options are black with red piping, multi-colored pastel patchwork, and fingerless driving gloves with chestnut leather palms and crocheted cotton backs.

Not only are the gloves gorgeous, they're extremely affordable. My pair, which are unlined, cost 14 euros, which is pretty standard for outdoor market prices. A few euros extra will get you the silk-lined variety, and there are also fleece- and fur-lined options. Whether you love gloves for their bygone-era drama, are trying to find a match for an unusual scarf, or just appreciate fine leather, a pair of Florentine gloves is a fitting souvenir of this beautiful city.

Copyright 2010 Sara Harding

Home Again... On The Michigan Flyer

Back in the Detroit airport... long before I wanted to be.

So... I'm home again. I had a wonderful trip in New York and returning home is a bit anticlimactic. I already miss my boyfriend, too - so much so that I'm going to write a short post and then put on my pajamas and eat candy.

The big thing I want to share isn't my post-boyfriend depression, however, it's a useful resource I discovered while trying to find a way home from the Detroit airport. A friend dropped me off for my outgoing flight, but no friend was available to pick me up on my way home. Of course, I put off thoughts of leaving until the very last minute, so at 9 pm the night before my departure I found myself cross-legged on my boyfriend's bed googling ways to get home.

Of course, there's a cab stand at the Detroit airport and there are lots of shuttle services, but I'm trying to save money so I wanted something a little cheaper than the $35 shuttle service that was my most economical option. Fortunately, I happened upon a useful bus service called the Michigan Flyer. Prices range from $15-$30 one way depending on your destination: Ann Arbor, Jackson, or East Lansing. There are also small discounts for round-trip tickets and/or multiple passengers. Booking online - even the night before - was fast and simple and the bus driver was impressively courteous and helpful. He offered us complimentary bottled water and also offered to arrange for taxis to meet us at the bus's drop-off points.

I know this is a rather specific travel tip, but I hope some of my fellow Michigan residents find it useful. If you live in Ann Arbor, Jackson, or East Lansing and you need a way to the airport, the Michigan Flyer offers great service and convenience at a great price.

Copyright 2010 Sara Harding

Mill Korean Restaurant

Mill Korean Restaurant, 2895 Broadway, New York

As I wander around New York, I'm loving the abundance of good food to be had conveniently and inexpensively. For example, I love the “green carts” that sell fresh produce to passers-by on the street. Why don't we have these in Michigan, where the greenest food you can get from a street vendor is a hotdog with extra pickle relish?

I also love the restaurants here in New York. I haven't exactly been checking out the haute cuisine, but I have seen an abundance of small restaurants offering tasty-looking dishes for less than I would pay back home. Today I decided to check out a Korean place on Broadway near my boyfriend's apartment. Mill Korean Restaurant packs about 15 tables into a cosy interior with a few more tables out on the sidewalk (New Yorkers seem determined to dine al fresco until there's actually snow falling on them). The ethnic wooden decor and the old newspaper clippings on the wall give the restaurant a lived-in, comfortable feel that made it the perfect place to spend a cold afternoon. Lunch started with dishes of delicious cold appetizers, then moved onto miso broth, then to our entrees: beef bibim bap for my boyfriend and stir-fried rice noodles for me.

The food was spicy and memorably good, the green tea was nutty and complex, and the price was fantastic: everything together came to under $20, including my 20% tip. My curious nature generally leads me to try a new place whenever possible, but Mill Korean Restaurant is going on my list of restaurants to return to.

Food: Very good Korean food
Atmosphere: Cosy
Price: Inexpensive ($7-$8 for lunch)
Bottom Line: A great lunch spot on a cold day

Copyright 2010 Sara Harding