When Italy gave the Island of Caprera to Giuseppe Garibaldi after he unified the country he never left. He built a large home and compound and spent his last twenty years or so living and hiking around and through the rocks or fishing in the sea. The home is now a museum dedicated to the history of Italy and one of their greatest heroes.
On Christmas day we went hiking on Caprera, The museum wasn’t open but there are several old ruins dating back to prehistory which made for fun exploring. The ruins, mostly relics of war, are built out of the stones and in the caves that make the island. During the Napoleonic wars some of the forts were added on to or rebuilt then abandoned again. During WWII, once again the ruins were brought into service with more additions. This time concrete was used for construction, and mortar held the stones rather than dry stacking. The last additions were left to the elements after the war. During that war the forts were manned but never used.
The islands that make up this group of archipelagos are now a National Park. The park includes La Maddalena, Caprera, Stephano and other small rocks in the sea.
Garibaldi brought boars and other wild animals to the islands. Today only the boars still roam and are hunted on this island, but only when population control is needed. It was one of these boars that we ate at a “pig roast” last Saturday. Matt, a ship mate of Noah’s had several of his division over for a holiday party on Sardenia. His wife Rosa is from Sicily and everything was authentic Italian .
Christmas eve was spent with friends here. A couple of young women the kids know from the states were completing a semester abroad near Paris and came down to visit. In addition some of their local friends from the ship came over for a “family Christmas” We ate, had a gift exchange and enjoyed the holiday and this part of the world.
We are planning more trips around the area and, hopefully, a trip back to Garibaldi’s mansion on Caprera. We leave this Saturday for out trip to the mainland.