The Promised Land

Hey all,

Drizzly rainy day up till about 6PM – but went out anyway in search of the Roman theatre which is carved into the side of a hill here. Bit the bullet and applied one of the silicon pads, taped it down, and put on my new boots – took the stupid blue things along for when the heel got too painful – didn't need them. These silicon things are amazing – I know civilisation functioned before they were invented, but it is hard to see how.

Found the theatre – it was closed because it was being prepared for a concert, but I wandered in anyway – no one seemed to pay me any attention but I didn't stay long – was not much to do apart from clambering over the scaffolding, in which case they might have paid attention. Then a botanical garden to take some photos of weird trees for K, who finds such things interesting.

Big win for the day for me was going to a Wind shop, one of the phone/internet companies here. Italy really is the promised land for 3G connectivity – if you buy one of their usb sticks it is 10EU a month for unlimited access. Amazing. Anyway, had a look at the models – the girl in the shop was really helpful – came home to check which ones would work, then decided to have a look at unlocking the hitherto useless one I bought in Corsica from its equally useless network. With the help of a friendly hacker (don't bother clicking unless you are a nerd, use linux, and need to unlock a USB modem) who figures that if you buy something you should own it, not the stupid network who sold it to you, I unlocked mine. Back to the Wind shop after siesta (everything closes from about one to about four) and just got a sim card which worked in my now not useless USB stick – I didn't have to buy a new one. Joy. Now have the internet anywhere in Italy for significantly less a month than I spend on my mobile phone a week, and it is not even on contract.

Kept wandering around after that – sat down for a while in a really beautiful church (Chiesa e Sagrestia di San Michele) – tried to get in the other day, but even the churches close for siesta. The place really comes alive at night and has a beautiful look and laid back feel to it. Watched crowds for a while with a hot chocolate and cigar – then caught a bit of an Audi sponsored event on the docks for some big sailing regatta – complete with hot cars, roller-girls working the crowd, and some weird Italian rap/rock outfit in tracksuits. I thought they sucked, but they must be pretty famous and successful – all the beautiful people were singing along with every appearance of enjoyment.

Bus tomorrow back most of the way I came the other day – glad I came to Cagliari and pretty happy with the Maria Chiara B&B as well.

Photos. 1. A Roman theatre, still in use. 2. A weird tree. 3. An even weirder street act – I wonder how many mice he went through in the process of training the cats. They all just sat their on their little podium, looking cute and friendly. 4. The beautiful church. 5. The dome of the church from the outside. 6. Cagliari at night. 7. An Audi. 8. Aforementioned band and crowd.

Cheers, B