INSPIRATION

It’s all downhill! And it really is. Shame it rains heavily. A sheepdog stands in front of me and comes towards me barking. I slow down and I stop shouting at him. It stops. I have to walk for a while in the rain waiting to get away enough while the dog calms down.

I arrive at the Town Hall drenched. I meet the Mayor Pietro and then the two women who will accompany me throughout the day, Maristella and Giovanna.

After a coffee at the club, where the walls contain a long poem dedicated to Sorradile by a citizen poet, the two ladies accompany me to the apartment where I will stay, a beautiful old house renovated and made available to visitors. Then they take me around the village, three of us with three umbrellas under the pouring rain.

First stop church of San Sebastiano. I’m not very interested in reviewing the churches I’ve seen so far, I usually just mention them, but I have to admit that this one is special, not only from the outside but above all inside.

Ancient but well renovated and very clean. Every chapel tidy and dedicated to a saint. Lots of beautiful crucified Jesus statues from different ages.

A beautiful altar, but above all … an ancient organ, Seven or Eighteenth century! It does not seem true when they ask me if I want to play it, I turn on the fans and go! I play a couple of inventions by Bach and improvise for a while.

We go on like this, visiting almost all the churches of the municipal territory: Santa Maria, San Nicola, San Giovanni al Monte, San Basilio. The day is not only rainy but also foggy. From the top of the mountain you cannot see anything, we are in the middle of the clouds. When they clear a bit the view of the lake is spooky.

They lead me to see vineyards grown in the middle of rocks, Sa Inza de Caterina Farai, impressing, then a ridge with some domus de janas, and finally we descend towards the lake.

Unfortunately we can not see the archaeological site of Su Monte, but at the end of the day at the museum they show me all the findings, amphorae, bronzes and other artefacts.

 

SOUND FRAGMENTS

Mystic inspiration in the church of San Sebastiano

 

SARDINIAN SHORT STORIES

Giovanna is a fervent believer in God.

At the church of San Sebastiano she proudly shows me the chapel she has taken care of and speaks to me of all the saints represented here. She is visibly excited.

When I finish playing the organ of the church she is even more excited. She tells me that there is certainly someone up there who protects us and asks me if I am a believer. Perhaps she is a little disappointed when I tell her that I do not feel like joining any religion. But she does not lose heart.

At each church we visit, she expresses her joy at being in the place, the calm and peace that these places and these saints bring to her. At the church on the mountain the cord of the bell hangs down to the ground. Giovanna takes it and pulls it repeatedly.

We have reached the heavenly peaks, angelic bells resonate, we are in heaven. Literally. The place is totally covered with clouds and can not be seen from the palm of the nose. And it’s raining heavily.

At this point I fear the universal judgment. Instead God is kind, opens the sky a little and allows me to glimpse a bit of the lake down below.