New Arrival in Nuoro

It's ten days now since I arrived in Nuoro, Sardinia to spend several months with my Italian girlfriend, Maria Rita, who lives here. I don't think I've ever experienced bright sunshine and temperatures well into the twenties in my native Bristol during November, but that's what we have here. Ironically though, I've picked up a virus and have something of a severe head cold which is something I wasn't expecting to experience soon after I'd arrived!

The famous English novelist D.H.Lawrence wrote about Nuoro in one of his travel memoirs, 'Sea and Sardinia', and was rather dismissive about it having any memorable attributes. Obviously it has changed a great deal since then and it's so different and so much smaller than Bristol that it would be futile to make comparisons. However, one thing about both cities strikes me as very similar. They are places of extraordinary potential which has never been fully realised.

Bristol should be on the map as a tourist destination of international repute but isn't (and there is a lot of truth in this review from an online tourism guide). Parts of it are breathtakingly beautiful. One thinks of the Avon Gorge, Clifton Village, Cabot Tower, Ashton Court, Snuff Mills and Blaise Castle Estate. Parts of Westbury-on-Trym and other districts have all the charm of a Cornish village, although inevitably there are also the rather unattractive housing estates which can be found in any reasonably sized city. In addition, it has a cultural and architectural heritage equal to anywhere in the UK relative to size. Bristol should have a Premiership Football Team. It doesn't. It should have a decently sized concert arena. It doesn't. It should have a public transport system adequate enough to reflect its size and commercial importance as the largest city in the South West of England. It doesn't, even though it has a local railway infrastructure which could hugely reduce its congestion problems. However, the temerity of the local authorities in taking on vested interests and arrogant and ignorant London-centric National Government Departments, who say "concentrate on buses", has left most Bristolians frustrated and angry. In fact, the Local Authority has been found wanting every time when attempts have been made to build a new football stadium or concert arena. Furthermore, the cynic in me says that Bristol City's application to build a new football stadium, just recently approved, would have failed were it not for the hope of staging some World Cup matches should England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup Finals succeed.


Maria Rita relaxing by Cabot Tower on a recent visit to Bristol

Nuoro is a town in the heart of Central Sardinia, a little to the North, which the locals say reflects the real Sardinia as opposed to the pseudo Sardinia of the Costa Smeralda which has been invaded by the super rich. Surrounded by mountains, some of the vistas from the city are extraordinary as is the surrounding countryside, but the city itself is a strange mix of high-rise apartments and elegant historic buildings, scruffiness and charm. Lots of the buildings here are defaced by ugly graffiti, which the local authorities seem to have no interest in washing away (as opposed to Bristol where such work is given quite a high priority) and litter is just as prevalent, perhaps more so, as it is in the UK. However, there is a warmth and friendliness here which is quite touching. You can walk into the centre of town at night and feel perfectly safe, something which can't be said for many UK city centres. For all that, as I write, Nuoro, like Bristol, leaves me with the impression of being a place which could be so much more than it actually is.

Here I am on a previous visit to Nuoro in the 'centro storico' (historic part) of the town.