INSPIRATION

Of the three nuraghi from which it takes its name, no trace remains, but Tresnuraghes, on the border between Planargia and Montiferru, preserves important archaeological traces, many other nuraghi, giants’ tombs, the Pischinainos betile, the Dolmen of su Jù Malmuràdu near the sanctuary of San Marco.

All things that I will not see, because with this heat, and being alone, I want to  enjoy a part of the long coast of this municipality, before going back to sleep in Bosa. So the visit to the village is quick.

The main road has many buildings with red trachyte elements, a type of stone that is reappearing more than in the villages of the past few days. I enter the narrow streets and arrive at the parish church of San Giorgio Martire, which has a beautiful white facade in neoclassical style with trachyte elements.

A market takes place in the square. I take this opportunity to buy some fresh fruit and quench my thirst. I continue the tour and arrive at the Casa Deriu museum, closed today. Here there is an exhibition on the history of journalism and the Sardinian press. The house retains original furnishings and a collection of around one thousand volumes from the 17th and 18th centuries.

I get to the Byzantine church of Sant’Antonio da Padova, which I see from beyond a closed gate, and then decide to take the road that leads to the coast. I stop outside the village, in the shadow of a drinking trough, to reflect on where to go, from here I can admire a good part of the coast.

The problem is that the coast of Tresnuraghes is very extensive. Getting to Foghe, the mouth of the Rio Mannu, would mean about ten kilometers with hundreds of meters of altitude gap, which I should then do all uphill on the way back. I leave it. And for the same reason I decide not to visit Columbargia beach. Too bad because not only do I miss two beautiful locations but also the view of the Spanish coastal towers. But I’ve seen so many before!

I choose the easiest solution. I travel like a missile the few downhill kilometers that lead me to Porto Alabe, the marina of Tresnuraghes. Like the three nuraghes, there is not even a shadow of seagulls, from which this place takes its name, from the Catalan. On the other hand, there’s a few people scattered on the beautiful beach. The sea is very calm, I arrive by bike almost to the shore, amidst people’s curiosity, and enter the water, enjoying these last moments (at least for me) of real summer!

 

SOUND FRAGMENTS

Three notes at a time, with three different basses, like the “tres nuraghes”.

 

SARDINIAN SHORT STORIES

Matteo Cossu, originally from Tresnuraghes, after graduating from Sassari, with an Erasmus experience in Finland, and having specialised in Paris, now finds himself working at the University of Illinois as a researcher. His specialty is Archaea, single-celled organisms that develop in extreme conditions, and for this reason his research is also held in high regard by NASA, with which his university collaborates.

For some time now the theme of “brain drain” has been one of those highly debated and sometimes thorny topics with which the Sardinians, people and institutions, confront each other. And in recent years various programs have sprung up to try to reconnect these “brains” with their homeland. One of these is Talent in Sardinia / Brains to Sardinia, created by Crei Acli Sardegna.

Various projects presented by young emigrants, or children of emigrants, will be selected to activate a series of cultural, tourist, food, wine, social, and entrepreneurial promotion processes in Sardinia, in order to promote the development of the regional economy. A nice way to import innovative ideas and projects for Sardinia and to create international networks.

Often on this trip I find people who look suspiciously at emigrants, especially successful ones, as if they were traitors to the “homeland”, not only when they do not “bring back” something to Sardinia, but also when they do so by continuing to live outside Sardinia.

I think those who emigrate do it many times out of necessity, but as many times to pursue a dream that is difficult to achieve in Sardinia. Or it is achievable with timing and methods that not everyone would accept. Not all of us feel (I speak in the plural because I too am part of the ranks of emigrants) brought to fight and dedicate our energies and our time to change things.

Returning to bring back knowledge and skills can and should be done, but not to the detriment of one’s human realisation, even before a professional one. There are already many smart and competent people in Sardinia, and I have often met them on this trip. Many times they remain relegated to stronger powers, to the arrogance of incompetent people, and perhaps it is precisely those people who at some point feel compelled to find their own way elsewhere.