INSPIRATION

For a few days my legs will have a little break. I am going down to the coast where I will spend the next few days. Today I have a few kilometers of descent, which are interrupted only by Ettore, the Videolina TV cameraman who’s filming me for the news program.

I enter the village, with Ettore, I stop in the beautiful and well-kept central square, on which the well-restored church of San Pietro overlooks. Here, in front of the church, some gentlemen rest on a bench. They look at me curiously and then I talk to them to explain what I’m doing. One of them tells me that Loceri is a quiet and sparsely populated village, and that the young people do not stay here. I say goodbye and we enter the Town Hall to greet the Mayor and the administrators. The day is beautiful and we take the opportunity to stay outdoors, in the beautiful yard outside the Town Hall, decorated with murals and even some ancient work tools. Ettore is always filming.

Daniela, the journalist who will interview me, arrives and at the same time Carla Giulia also arrives, who will host me for the day. Carla Giulia is a young and talented jazz singer with whom I have already spent the day in Pula, which culminated in an evening concert. We take the opportunity to play and sing outdoors, filmed by Ettore, and immediately afterwards Daniela interviews me. Once the Videolina crew has left, we leave our luggage at Carla Giulia’s house, and take a walk in the village center.

We walk by the beautiful little square of the War Victims, we cross a playground, and we arrive at the Funtana Eccia, the old fountain that supplied water to the village. From here we enter the narrow streets, all well maintained. On the walls many murals have been painted, almost all very colorful, contemporary and interesting, although at the fourth mural of John Lennon, who by the way I love, I begin to wonder if the mythical Beatle John had been here at some point!

For lunch Carla Giulia’s parents, Gerardo and Elisabetta, are waiting for us, and today too I taste the culurgiones, in a different and delicious variety. In the afternoon, we take the car to drive in the countryside around the village. We head to Monte Cuccu, where we find the little church of Bonaria, inside which we can only see through the peephole, and outside the statue of the Madonna overlooking the valley. Below us we admire Loceri and behind, the two peaks of Monte Tarè, which separates Loceri from Lanusei and Ilbono, which own a tip of the mountain each! Here too, Carla Giulia and I take the opportunity to throw ourselves into a jazz piece, with the little church behind us and the valley in front of us.

We return to the village, passing next to a green area where a healthy path has been created, with various gymnastic equipment, next to the beautiful swimming pool, in which also inhabitants of neighboring countries arrive. To end the tour and make an authentic experience, we visit Tzia Tittina, an elderly lady who is over 90 years old and who entertains us with her stories and her liveliness!

SOUND FRAGMENTS

SHORT SARDINIAN STORIES

Tzia Tittina, 91, is sitting comfortably in the living room, and we are welcomed by two of her nieces, who are shelling fresh peas. Gerardo teases her a little to make her tell some old stories. It does not take much. Tzia Tittina starts with memories. When she was little she went to the countryside to hoe and harvest the wheat, and then at night in the wooden hut she made a “spring” mattress, as she says, with murdegu branches (the cistus), the bottom sheet was a sack and the cover a shawl, and the fire was made in the middle. “That was life, hard, there were no doctors or pensions … we were not too poor … we used to say: with art and deceit, we cover half of the year receipt, with deception and art we work out the other part “.

Then she remembers when she spent the summer weeks in the colony of Monte Ortobene in Nuoro. And away with the songs! She remembers them all … and she sings them all … to perfection! She also sings the songs of the other girls’ teams by heart. Then she starts with the songs of the various male teams. All by heart! Laughter and applause for Tzia Tittina!