Ciao, people of HIVE!
For some time now, I’ve started a new job, and I’ve had very little time to write, unfortunately. In the spare moments I’ve had, I’ve tried to spend as much time outdoors as possible, enjoying the spring, and now that summer has finally arrived, I’ve been soaking it all in.
Today, however, I’m back, and I want to show you a place that’s very dear to me. I’ve mentioned it to you before last winter, and it will be interesting for you to see how different it looks now. The place is called Turri, a locality on the island of Sant’Antioco, famous not only for its beautiful beach but also for Torre Canai, a tower built in the mid-1700s.
Its purpose was to protect the island from pirate attacks, which were still frequent in the Mediterranean at the time, and especially here, as Southern Sardinia was essentially on the fringes of the Kingdom of Italy. The last attack on Sant’Antioco took place in 1815, causing several deaths and significant destruction. Hundreds of inhabitants were taken to Tunisia as slaves. But I’ll talk more about that in another article.
I visited the tower at the end of May. It was a beautiful late spring day, pure Mediterranean spring, the kind of spring that already hints at summer. Wonderful scents were floating in the air, scents of mastic, helichrysum and wild fennel, which are found everywhere around here. I love this place in every season, but in the summer it’s truly incredible. I often come here to swim, because, among other things, it’s also a perfect spot for snorkeling, with its crystal-clear waters. However, the beach has a peculiar feature: the tides carry away the sand during the winter, then return it in the summer according to their whims. Consequently, you never quite know how much space there will be the next year.
Some pictures that I took with a GoPro some years ago.
This doesn’t make it very appealing to mainstream tourism, and we locals consider it a bit of a hidden gem, just like the many travelers who come here to find a more secluded beauty, an intimate connection with the environment. Not surprisingly, the parking lot is always full of campers, mostly from mainland Italy or Northern Europe.
That day, I was there for work, so I didn’t have time to swim. I was there to interview the volunteers of the association that takes care of Torre Canai. However, once my work was finished, nothing could stop me from taking a walk along the cliffs, in the silence broken only by the waves of the sea and the calls of seabirds, enjoying the calm, serenity, and the sun on my skin.
Thanks to the volunteers I interviewed, I also got to take a tour of the tower (which is open to the public for free). Inside, there is a photo exhibition about the local wildlife. But the thing I absolutely must show you is the view from the top of the tower, which you reach by climbing a spiral staircase inside. The view from up there is magnificent, overlooking the blue sea, the rocky and rugged coastline and the islands on the horizon: la Vacca and il Toro (the Cow and the Bull).
When I left, driving along the southern coast with the window down and the radio blasting, I truly felt alive, full of energy... happy.
Thank you, as always, for your attention, your time, your support and your suggestions.
Feel free to share your experience, or any similar one, or an emotion that my article has stirred in your heart.
See you soon on the road,
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