This past Thursday we had a free day. In the morning, we took a walk to the Mercato San Benedetto in Cagliari, one of Italy's largest indoor markets. There were two floors, the first with so many stalls of fresh fruits, cheese, bread, pastries, coffee, wine, meats, and more. I bought some Albicocche (apricots) and a cannoli, both of which were amazing. Then, I took a took of the bottom floor, which consisted of mostly seafoods of all kinds. It was interesting to see all the fish in the open, and the lobster out in the open (still alive). There were also different kinds of fish that I would not find at home and that was cool to see too. Also explains why I've eaten so much octopus since I've been here! Here are some pictures of meats I saw at the market:
Afterwards, before heading to relax for the rest of the day, we had some time to roam around the city and enter some of the buildings we've been eyeing for the past week, including the church pictured below.
The next morning the lovely cook of the hotel taught us how to prepare pasta. Though it took overcoming some intial difficulties, we infact had a lovely meal with the pasta we helped prepare. We also prepared seadas,a traditional sardinian dessert which is a fried seminola pastry filled with sheep's milk cheese (called Pecorino) and lemon zest. Regardless of our variety of shapes, the cooks were able to use our preparations and their fool proof fresh ingredients allowed us to have a great sadinian lunch. Here is a picture of the prepared pasta and pre-frying picture of the sedas.
The last stop of our weekend trip was to the sand dunes of Sardegna, the only sand dunes that are right next to the coast. The sand was very hot even on the beach, and must have been even hotter on the dunes themselves. Only one hotel exists near by, and many famous people who don't want paprazzi runaway to the beach area here. Unfortunately didn't see Leonardo diCaprio today but it was still a beautiful and perfect end to a great weekend.
Friday we had a traditional class in the morning, but then had a mini-lab class with 3 of the PhDs from University of Cagliari who showed us how to quarter different waste samples and walked us through the process of how they analyze the moisture content of the samples as well as their chemical properties. It was great to get some hands on experience in the lab! Here is a picture of composted waste getting quartered.
We also had a speaker later in the afternoon come in and answer our questions we had on trash collection in the areas outside of Cagliari, specifically their door-to-door collection that they have been doing since 2001. It was interesting to see how government affects their business in the waste industry, since they are not allowed to fine their customers who do not separate their trash, even though it is against the law. They must instead warn them and report them to the government to have them penalize them instead. It was also nice hearing her insight and all the planning that goes into the trash collection industry, from the truck size, the routes, etc. Its easy to forget how important waste collection is in the waste management process when studying in school about the more advanced topics.
This past weekend we had a weekend vacation trip up northwest about 2 hours away. Our first stop was the mining facilities in pane di zucchero. We were able to walk inside the tunnels of the mining port, Porto Falvia and learn a little bit about their mining techniques for zinc, silver, and other metals and their strategies. It amazes me how they could work in there with all the dangers of dynamite and do laborious rock sorting inside the caves for 11 hours a day. Below is a picture of the cave as well as the view at the end of the tunnel
Next we visited the remaining structure of an ancient Roman temple over 3000 years old. People went there to pray for the healing powers of the gods.
We ended the day at our lovely bed and breakfast place where we got to have a nice home cooked meal and relax on the fields. It was nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and see the stars (and of course also to play with the cats, dogs, and kids).
The next morning the lovely cook of the hotel taught us how to prepare pasta. Though it took overcoming some intial difficulties, we infact had a lovely meal with the pasta we helped prepare. We also prepared seadas,a traditional sardinian dessert which is a fried seminola pastry filled with sheep's milk cheese (called Pecorino) and lemon zest. Regardless of our variety of shapes, the cooks were able to use our preparations and their fool proof fresh ingredients allowed us to have a great sadinian lunch. Here is a picture of the prepared pasta and pre-frying picture of the sedas. The last stop of our weekend trip was to the sand dunes of Sardegna, the only sand dunes that are right next to the coast. The sand was very hot even on the beach, and must have been even hotter on the dunes themselves. Only one hotel exists near by, and many famous people who don't want paprazzi runaway to the beach area here. Unfortunately didn't see Leonardo diCaprio today but it was still a beautiful and perfect end to a great weekend.
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