Oristano, Sardinia--Another Working Day in Sardinia

Sunday, August 16, 2026

Oristano, Sardinia

Another Working Day in Sardinia

It is Sunday but, for some reason that I cannot figure out, we are working on full schedule today and will have a free day tomorrow! I awoke at 5.00 am and began blogging. An hour later, I was done. I jumped into the shower and got dressed for breakfast. Today, I had muesli with strawberry yogurt, made myself a sandwich with a plain croissant, some smoked ham and cheese and ate it right there (I did not make a takeout sandwich today as I have a few leftovers in the fridge that I would like to finish). Then, I had a bowl of cut-up stone fruits (yellow plum and fresh apricot—the nectarine was too tart and I had to leave it). All washed down with a hot chocolate. It made a lovely breakfast. Then, I was out the door and walking towards Old Town to find the ATM machine so that I could get out some Euros.

Early Morning Walk in Old Town:

It’s really such a good thing, come to think of it, that Old Town is right across the street from the lane in which my hotel (Mistral 2) is located. In just five minutes, I am crossing the old walls of the medieval city and finding myself in a completely different venue. Logn story short, on a Sunday, the place was dead—only a couple of dog walkers around. The church doors of San Francesco were open, but there was no Mass at that time. I took a few pictures in the Piazza of Eleanora and then walked to the Unicredit ATM machine and got out 120 Euros (about $150). Then, since I was still quite early for my Workshop session, I explored a few shops of Old Town. Not much later, I found the narrow, quaint lanes that would lead me back to the Delada Instituto.

Morning Session by Tim:

Tim was the star of our morning session with his presentation on “Draft, Revise, Review”. He had lovely examples from the Diaries of Susan Sontag and then asked us to do a spot of writing ourselves in just 4 minutes: Profile of a Day, a character sketch and portrait of a place (all in bullet points). Very interesting exercise. It is something from which I could profit as I am always so wordy—even in my blog posts! There were pastries for us to choose from and with one in my bag for later, we were all free. I chose to sit down in the Instituto itself, in the air-conditioned room and review my draft of my memoir (only 2 pages done so far). Then, at 12.30, I ate my lunch that I had carried along (leftovers from my fridge in my hotel—couscous and potato salad with a chocolate donut that was just divine).

Afternoon Workshopping Session:

At 1.30 pm, our afternoon workshopping session began. We had four students’ work to review: Mara, Jane, Lisa and Hal. The feedback they received was very helpful, I think, and they are all so willing to rewrite—that’s the best part of really good writers. They know that good writing involves workshopping, being open to comments and criticism and incorporating them into their work.

We were all done by 4.30 pm. I had made plans with Annalisa to have a zoom chat with her at 5.30 pm from my hotel. So, after the session I raced off and returned to my hotel. However, I did not go straight up. I spent quite a while at the Reception counter where two very helpful girls pulled up the train schedule for tomorrow from Oristano to Olbia and back (as I intend to spend the day in Corsica). I now have the train timings and will only hope that the connections I have to make by bus and then by the ferry crossing the straits to get to Corsica will work as planned. I am going it alone as Ifeona backed out when she found out how long the journey is and how much time it takes to do it in one day and get back. Equipped with this information, I felt more at ease. I returned to my room and spent a while getting my backpack ready for my trip tomorrow--trying to keep it as light as possible. At 5.30 pm on schedule, I had my video chat with Annalisa who now lives in Padua (her flat in Vincenza is being completely renovated to be rented out soon). It was absolutely joyous to catch up with her after such a long time. We spent more than an hour chatting (up to 6.30 pm), when I had to race to get myself organized for the next part of our day.

A Classical Guitar Recital at the Museo Diocesano:

I met Ifeona at the door of her hotel, just down the road, where we were joined by Tim too. The three of us than walked across the road to Old Town and arrived at the Museum Diocesano which is attached to the Duomo. There, inside, we discovered that there is a big exhibition on Tharros—perhaps I shall go there again, if time permits.

The evening’s recital was underway soon enough (at 8.00 pm). It was organized by Ciriaco, who heads the Delada Instituto. He introduced the three guitarists (who are apparently celebrities in their community) and they were off. The concert lasted about an hour and was quite lovely with two guitarists and one percussionist who also played a tiny guitar (a ukulele, perhaps). Then, with everyone starving, we went out looking for dinner.

Finding Dinner in Old Town:

And with that all done and behind me, I took the elevator to my room, had my medication (my cold is now an irritating cough—so bad sometimes that I actually had to leave the room to get over a coughing fit) and went right to bed—at 11.30 pm. Lots of prayers before I fell asleep for the success of my trip tomorrow.

Because it is a Sunday, almost nothing is open today and even the restaurants are closed. After settling down at Il Duomo, we discovered that they only serve drinks and snacks—no food. So off we went deeper into Old Town where it was really hard to find a place to eat. Eventually, Ifeona, Anastasia and I found a place where I finally had pasta—although my Spaghetti con Gambero (Spaghetti with Shrimp) was quite disappointing. I found it much too al dente for my liking and also lacking in flavor. Anyway, while at the table, I realized that I needed to return to the ATM machine to get out more cash for my trip to Corsica tomorrow and that the Receptionist Frederica would go off duty at 11.00pm. So I paid my bill, took another take-out container with my leftover pasta and raced off to the Unicredit machine where I got my money in five minutes. Then, I raced back to my hotel and got Frederica before she went off duty. She helped me buy my ticket to Olbia tomorrow, using my credit card and with that in the bag (12.50 euros one way), I felt so much more at ease. Tomorrow morning, I have a taxi coming at 7.00 am to get me to the Oristano station (25 minutes’ walk). Plus, I was told that I could come down at 6.30 am and get a bit of breakfast (perhaps a croissant or two and a cappuccino) before I get into my taxi. So far, things seem to be working—let’s hope they stay this way.

And with that all done and behind me, I took the elevator to my room, had my medication (my cold is now an irritating cough—so bad sometimes that I actually had to leave the room to get over a coughing fit) and went right to bed—at 11.30 pm. Lots of prayers before I fell asleep for the success of my trip tomorrow.

And with that all done and behind me, I took the elevator to my room, had my medication (my cold is now an irritating cough—so bad sometimes that I actually had to leave the room to get over a coughing fit) and went right to bed—at 11.30 pm. Lots of prayers before I fell asleep for the success of my trip tomorrow.

Until tomorrow, ciao…