Nuraghe

Nu what? The Nuraghe (nu’rage) are everywhere on Sardinia, and I went to see the most important one in Barumini. The Nuraghe is a 10-20 meter high tower from megalithic time. They where buildt for…. nobody knows exactly. As my guide said ,,there are a lot of maybe and perhaps in the story.”

Barumini Nuraghe

Wikipedia has the whole story: Nuraghes appeared on the island in an undetermined epoch (not earlier than 6th millennium BC). Some elements have been dated 3500 BC, but it is supposed that most of them were built from the middle of the Bronze Age (18th-15th centuries BC) to the Late Bronze Age, though many were in continuous use until Rome entered Sardinia (2nd century BC).

To Barumini it was only 50 kilometers, from Cagliari, but it was a big adventure. My bus left at the station at 14.00, so that was not the hardest part. But getting a ticket was not so easy, as almost nobody speaks English here. After asking the guy at the desk in my best Italian, he told me to go to the McDonalds…. OK. I went in this smelly place, but nothing more then hamburgers and teenagers. In the back there was an other desk wich sold a ticket. Why inside the McDonalds???

Is this the bus to Barumini, I asked one guy. He did not know, but a small woman (she looked 16 but probabbly was 28) told me yes. And off I go. In Barumini the girl-woman warns me to get off.

The countryside

There I stand in some small village with a terrible cold wind. Where to go now? Thank god there where a lot of signs, as the Nuraghe-site is UNESCO World Heritage. At the entrence I had to wait 10 minutes for the tour to starts… are there more tourist? No one, so I get a private tour on the site. The buildings are very impressive.

The trip back was more complicated. First I waited till six o’clock on the bus. I took me to the trainstation. But before arriving the busdriver needed a pizza. No problem on Sardinia. He just stoped in a village, went inside and ordered a pizza. After 5 minutes the trip continued.

At the trainstation it was really quite. Nobody, also no one to buy a ticket from, just some Italian sign. I had no idea what it said, so just wondered arround. Sudenlly I saw a ticket machine but ofcourse only in Italian. Some woman that just entered the building helped my out and after pushing some buttons I had a ticket. The train brought me safely back to Cagliari.