Exploring the South of Sardegna

Last week I attended the XP'09 conference in Pula, Sardegna. Friday after the conference Jutta, Susanne and I drove to Nora which is located just a couple of kilometers outside of the city center of Pula. Nora is a well known archeological site founded by the Phoenicians in the 8th century BC and is really well worth a visit. Most probably Nora was the first city on Sardegna.












The lighthouse of Capo di Pula












Roman Theater at Nora














Mosaic floor at Nora



















On Saturday Werner and I drove along the south coast of Sardegna and the weather was again gorgeous.

Our first stop was in Chia were we walked up the hill to Torre di Chia.














Barbara on Torre di Chia

From there we had splendid views on both sides.














Torre di Chia Beach














Chia Beach

After climbing Torre di Chia we drove just a bit further and did a beach hike at Chia Beach (picture above). The beach with its wonderful white sand, sand dunes and wonderful turquoise water really provides some Caribean feelings.

The coastline between Chia and Teulada is also spectacular and provides some stunning untouched scenary.











































Cows like the beach and the sun too :-).















Some impressions from Sardegnia's vegetation



































































From Teulada our drive brought as to Sant'Antioco island which offers a spectacular coastline.




























Close to the most southern spot of the island is Torre Cannai.


















On our way back to Pula we took an alternative route through the mountains.

Barcelona (2)

Today I visited Park Güell - another of Gaudi's masterpieces. To reach the park I took the metro to Lessepo and walked from there a bit more than a kilometer. I first walked to the calvary at the top of the park from where I had a nice view on the city.

At some distance you can see Sagrada Familia and the sea in the back.














I then explored the pathways in the park and walked by Casa Trias and the viaducts. Unfortunately, the limits of my lense showed very cleary today - I would have needed a better wide angle.













































The Rosary pathway brought me to the center of the park where Gaudi built a large square with benches.








































From there I walked down to the Market Place ...

































and further down the staircases














































to the main entrance of the park.

Barcelona (1)

After having prepared the slides for my first presentation I spent the afternoon sightseeing. I first walked from my hotel to the Sagrada Familia, which was originally designed by Antoni Gaudi. The church is Gaudi's major work and he spent the last 12 years of his life entirely on the Sagrada Familia.

The Passion facade has been devised by Gaudi to reflect the suffering of Christ (The Passion). The scenes of the Passion facade follow an "S" shape starting with the Last Supper and ending with the Burial.

This picture shows Judas kissing Jesus; the serpent on the right is a symbol of the evil. The cryptogramm on the left contains 16 numbers which can be combined in 310 ways always resulting in a sum of 33, the age of Christ when he died.


















The flagellation




















This picture shows the crucification of Christ (topmost scene) and Christs second falter on the Calvary path (secene at the bottom).














The interior of Sagrada Familia is not less amazing as the Passion facade.
































































After the visit of the Sagrada Familia I was quite hungry and looked for some nice place to have lunch.

I continued then with a visit of Casa Mila (also known as La Pedrera), which provided again great insights into Gaudi's work. The building was declared an UNESCO world heritage site in 1984. I was especially facinated by the sculptures at the roof of La Pedrera.








































My sightseeing tour ended with a visit of Casa Battlo which belongs since 2005 to the UNESCO world heritage and is one more of Gaudi's masterpieces.