On an eight-day trip to Barcelona, hopping on a cheap, ninety-minute flight to Sardinia for two days proved irresistible. Here are some of the memorable things we saw in Cagliari, the provincial capital of the island:
So now I get why they’re called sun-dried tomatoes. Duh.
Every town in Italy seems to have its own pasta style and shape. We encountered two in Cagliari’s. The first, mallalloreddus, is a regular semolina wheat pasta, but in an unusual shape meant to better hold the sauce, or “gravy,” as we would say in Philadelphia. If hand-made in the traditional way, the ridges are formed by pressing the pasta with a straw basket.
The second, culurgiones, is a potato-stuffed dumpling. We had it here with pine and hazelnuts, and plenty of olive oil.
The ever-present laundry hanging from balconies adds to the beauty and charm of the narrow, winding streets.
Nothing, nowhere, beats Italian coffee, which is excellent every single time. Sorry, cafe con leche. Not even close.
I love that this little corner convenience store has hand-made (fatti a mano) ravioli on offer.
We came upon a facility displaying restored church art. Here are two very different depictions of the Virgin Mary. 
Saint Rita of Cascia, the patron saint of abused women, was forced into an arranged marriage at age 12, and is always shown with her forehead stigmata, which legend says appeared when she was deep in prayer and continued to bleed after her death. It turns out there is a national shrine to her on Broad Street in South Philadelphia.
Sardinia seems to be known for its knife-making talents. Here’s a window display at one of its shops. Unfortunately, I didn’t think I’d be able to make it through airport security with one in my bag.
We stumbled into Framento, a pizzeria that turned out to be the highest-rated on the island. Here, the pizzaiolo has a special twist of the wrist to get that perfect glob of burrata cheese, with an end result that tasted even better than it looked. Notice that they cut it into American-style wedges, rather than the Italian norm of everyone getting their own pie. 
Noteworthy graffiti:
Racists are stupid and ignorant 
Enough with the writing on walls!
The Villa di Tigellio, 2000-year-old Roman residences, shares the block with modern houses, shops and a hospital.
Gigi's Italia 