I didn‘t know what to expect in Sardegna. Before this trip, I have not heard of it before, and it is not a well-known destination among our friends. The only reason we decided to visit is because when I was having decision paralysis on where to go in Italy, Steve pointed at the map and asked, “This looks like a big island. What is on there?” That was how Sardegna ended up on our itinerary.
Out of all the places I have been to, Sardegna is probably the most similar to the Big Island of Hawaii. It is a rural island with many beautiful beaches and mountains, and the pace is pretty slow and relaxing. We went snorkeling every single day while we were in Sardegna. We went on a snorkeling tour on our first day, and then we realized snorkeling is Steve’s favorite activity. Therefore, we bought our own snorkeling masks from the local Decathlon to explore different beaches at our own pace. Before Sardegna, I had only snorkeled twice, once in Green Island and once in Hawaii. I thought snorkeling was fun, but I was never obsessed with it. This time, since we were snorkeling so much, I finally started to get its appeal. The Mediterranean water was warm and clear. There were a lot of fish, but they were less colorful and thus harder to find than those in the tropical Green Island or Hawaii. Therefore, looking for fish and then following them around somehow became a therapeutic and relaxing activity. I often lost track of time — I would be watching the fish for a while, and the next thing I noticed was how wrinkly my skin got, and it was time to get out of the water. (It reminded me of the safari in Tanzania, where I felt like I could do nothing and stare at the animals grazing all day.) Steve and I both had tons of fun snorkeling. I also realized that in fact, I did not all of a sudden stop liking the ocean and beaches after I moved to the Bay Area. I just don’t like the cold water in Northern California — I still love the warm water (like the ocean surrounding Taiwan).
We spent most of our time in Olbia and the surrounding areas, but one day we drove across the island to see Neptune’s Grotto, a giant limestone cave formed over millions of years. It took quite a bit of planning to get there from the land — we had to make a reservation and buy timed tickets in advance, park our car some ways out and take a shuttle to the site, and take “Escala del Cabirol,” a 654-step cliff-side stair with breathtaking views of the coastline, to enter the cave. (The descent and ascent back up was very hot and exposed, but the view was well worth it.) The cave itself was spectacular — I have seen limestone caves before, but nothing of this scale. The giant chambers, the mirror-like lake reflecting the impressive formations, and just the sheer scale of the stalactites, stalagmites, and columns that took millions of years to form inspired so much awe and reverence.
Finally, while we came to Sardegna mainly to relax and enjoy nature, it was fun to get a flavor of its unique culture as well. When we were in Rome, we learned that the Kingdom of Sardegna played a critical role in the Unification of Italy in the 19th century, which led to the creation of the Kingdom of Italy, the predecessor of modern Italy. Vittorio Emanuele II, the King of Sardegna, became the first king of the independent, united Kingdom of Italy. There is a giant monument of him in Rome (Altare della Patria), and many roads in Naples are named after him. However, in Sardegna, which used to be the kingdom he came from, he barely has any presence, and we never figured out why. My best guess is that the formation of the Kingdom of Italy effectively erased the Kingdom of Sardegna, and I am not sure how much the Sardinians actually benefited from the unification. Further, it was interesting to see how little Sardinians identify themselves with Italy. They have their own language, Sardinian, which is different enough from Italian that they are basically mutually unintelligible. (We saw plenty of Italians visiting Sardegna for vacation who seemed as clueless as we were because they could not understand the language.) In restaurants with multilingual menus, Sardinian and Italian are listed as separate languages, too. (Of course, Sardinian is always at the top.) Further, we took a pasta-making class in Olbia, and the instructor made a very interesting comment, “We make our pasta with semolina only, unlike how they do it in Italy.” (Even though Sardegna is technically a part of Italy. This feels like going to Green Island and hearing the locals say, “We put seaweed in our mochi, unlike how they do it in Taiwan.”) It was intriguing to see the separation, and I wish I had a little more time to talk to the locals to better understand why.
After Sardegna, we wrapped up our trip to Italy. It was indeed an unforgettable experience. Although Italy didn’t shake me the way Tanzania and Cambodia did last year, I still learned and saw so much more than I expected. As a country, Italy has so much to offer — the history and glory of the Roman Empire, the legacy of the Renaissance, the incredibly beautiful nature, the variety of delicious food, the diversity of culture, and so much more. Before this year, I never had a strong urge to visit Italy, but I am really glad that we did. We saw some great parts of Italy this time, and I hope we will have a chance to come back and see other parts in the future.
以前我從未聽說過撒丁島，它在我們朋友中也不是一個熱門旅行目的地，所以此行之前，我對撒丁島一無所知。決定去撒丁島的唯一原因是，當我無法決定我們義大利之旅的目的地時，Steve 指著地圖問道：「這個島看起來好大，上面有什麼？」就這樣一錘定音，我們將撒丁島納入行程。
在我這輩子去過的所有地方中，跟撒丁島最像的大概是夏威夷的大島了。撒丁島非常鄉下，擁有許多美麗的海灘和山脈，生活節奏也相當輕鬆緩慢。在撒丁島期間，我們每天都去浮潛。第一天我們參加了一個浮潛導覽團，發現 Steve 非常喜歡浮潛，所以我們去了島上的迪卡儂，一人買了一個浮潛面罩，這樣我們就可以自己在不同的海灘浮潛了。在去撒丁島之前，我只浮潛過兩次，一次是在綠島，一次是在夏威夷。以前我覺得浮潛有趣，但從來沒有特別狂熱。這次，因為我們天天浮潛，我終於開始體會浮潛的魅力了。地中海的海水溫暖清澈，魚群眾多，但顏色較為樸素，不如熱帶綠島或夏威夷的魚五彩斑斕，所以更不好找。因此，在海中尋找魚群，然後跟著它們四處悠游，就成了一種療癒身心的活動。浮潛時，我常常游著游著就忘記了時間，等我回過神來，通常我的皮膚已經被海水泡皺、是時候上岸了。 （這讓我想起了在坦尚尼亞的獵遊，在塞倫蓋蒂大草原上，我也感覺自己什麼都不用做，整天就看著動物們悠閒地吃草。）我和 Steve 都玩得很開心，我也意識到，我並不是搬到灣區之後就突然不喜歡大海和沙灘了。我只是不喜歡北加州冰冷的海水——我依然喜愛溫暖的海水，就如台灣的海域一樣。
我們大部分時間都待在撒丁島東北的奧爾比亞附近，但其中一天我們開車橫穿了撒丁島，去參觀著名的海神洞，一個歷經數百萬年形成的巨型石灰岩洞穴。從陸地前往海神洞需要縝密的計劃——我們必須提前預約並購買定時門票，把車停在距離洞穴還有一段車程的地方，然後乘坐接駁車前往，最後沿著「山羊階梯」（一條654階、鑿在絕壁上的陡峭階梯，沿途的海岸線美景令人嘆為觀止）而下，進入洞穴。 上下階梯的過程非常炎熱且全無遮蔭，但是沿途的景色絕對值回票價。海神洞本身的景觀和規模令人心生敬畏——我以前也進過石灰岩洞，但從未見過如海神洞般宏偉壯觀的洞穴。巨大的石洞、如鏡面般倒映著壯麗景觀的地下湖泊，以及那些歷經數百萬年才形成的鐘乳石、石筍和石柱，其驚人的規模令人讚嘆不已。
在經歷了羅馬和龐貝的文史洗禮後，我們在撒丁島主要的目的是放鬆身心、享受自然風光，但我們也稍稍體驗了撒丁島獨特的文化。在羅馬時，我們學到撒丁王國在19世紀義大利統一運動中扮演了至關重要的角色，最終促成了義大利王國的建立，而義大利王國正是現代義大利的前身。撒丁國王維多‧伊曼紐二世成為了統一義大利王國的第一位國王，羅馬有一座他的巨型紀念堂（又稱「祖國祭壇」），那不勒斯也有許多道路以他的名字命名。然而，在撒丁島卻幾乎找不到任何關於他的痕跡，我們始終不明白箇中緣由——我猜測，雖然義大利的統一運動由撒丁王國主導，但或許義大利王國的建立導致了撒丁王國實際上的消失，又或許撒丁島人最終並未從統一中獲得多少好處。此外，撒丁島人對義大利的認同感令人意外地低：他們的語言撒丁語，跟義大利語基本上無法互通，我們看到許多來撒丁島度假的義大利人，也跟我們一樣什麼都聽不懂。在提供多國語言菜單的餐廳裡，撒丁語和義大利語也被列為兩種不同的語言。 （當然，撒丁語總是排在最前面。）此外，我們在奧爾比亞參加了一堂義大利麵製作課程，老師說了一句很有意思的話：「我們這裡只用粗粒小麥粉做義大利麵，和義大利的做法不一樣。」（儘管撒丁島實際上也是義大利的一部分。這感覺就像去了綠島，然後聽綠島人說：「我們的麻糬裡有放海草，跟台灣不一樣。」）這種文化和語言上的隔閡耐人尋味，可惜這次沒能多跟當地人聊天，深入瞭解他們的文化。
離開撒丁島後，我們的義大利之旅也圓滿結束。這是一次令人難忘的旅行，雖然義大利不像去年的坦尚尼亞和柬埔寨一般帶給我直擊心靈的震撼，但我的收穫依然遠超預期。義大利擁有豐富的觀光資源——羅馬帝國的輝煌歷史、文藝復興的遺跡、令人嘆為觀止的自然風光、形形色色的美食、不同地區的多元文化……等等。此行之前，我並沒有特別嚮往義大利，但這次的美好經驗讓我對義大利改觀，希望將來有機會能再次造訪義大利，探索它更多的美好。
