L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2019 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano 2 A dream-like itinerary to explore one of Italy's most char- ming and surprising corners. The opportunity to immerse yourself in the history, legend and breath- taking beauty of an ancient and secret past, to stroll throu- gh the luscious, powerful magnificence of untouched nature. We are in Sardinia and L'Italo-Americano wants to offer you a flight for two and nine amazing days traveling around an island blessed with 1200 miles of coas tline, sandy beaches and crystal- clear w aters , and holds within precious, millenary treasures. Breakfasts, private visits to amazing locations, tours and a personal guide, transfers to and from all locations, museums and park tickets, carefully chosen excursions: everything is included. All you need to do is try your luck and get your ticket for our new sweepstake, The Sardinia Experience: A Paradise to Discover. Look at Cagliari: built on seven hills just like Rome, she is the beating heart of a region where modernity, shopping and wi-fi cohabit with the unsettling, ancestral faces of Mamuthones, Nuoro's own ancient masks. Surrounded by them and by the sound of dozens of cattle bells, you'll feel like an entire ethnographic museum came to life. In Oristano, Carnevale takes the enchanting shape of Sartiglia, with its beautiful horses and their elegant harnesses, while the pious knights' procession of the traditional s'Ardia feast well matches the luxury of Costa Smeralda, a place that, every summer, is a favorite destination for many of the most iconic and beautiful yachts on Earth. Support L'Italo-Americano and get the chance to win the trip of a lifetime to Sardinia From the director Sardinia's mountainous inland and its trekking trails, on the other hand, reveal a landscape dotted with thousands of nuraghi, myste- rious, beehive-shaped stone ruins dating from the Bronze Age: they look like medieval castles, but they were built three thousand years earlier by almost unknown civilizations. The tours included in The Sardinia Experience: A Paradise to Discover will bring you to places and offer you experiences bound to leave you speechless, just like the Su Nuraxi, in Barumini: one of the island's largest prehistorical sites, it was habited until the first century BC and, thanks to its unicity, it has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1997. Not far from Oristano, in the Cabras area, is another astonishing archaeological site, visited every year by more than 100,000 people: Tharros. Of this ancient city founded by the Phoenicians, conquered by the Carthaginians, then seized by the Romans, we can still admire houses, shops, a temple and the baths. After the Romans came the Vandals, the Byzantines and the Saracens, a clear sign of the conti- nuous coming and going of mediterranean cultures on the island throughout the centuries. And now, are you ready to travel in time? Look into the mesmeri- zing eyes of sixteen boxers, six archers and six warriors, the last vesti- ges of an ancient and mysterious army, incredible sandstone colossi discovered by chance in 1974, by a group of farmers: you'll get lost in the remotest of pasts. The Statue dei Giganti can reach 2.5 meters (8 ft) in height, and were buried between the sea and the hills, within a vast necropolis today known all over the world: the Tombe dei Giganti of Mont'e Prama. In many ways, you'll almost feel like being on Easter Island, or standing in front of the Terracotta Army, the hieratic second century BC soldiers whose duty was to escort the Chinese emperor to the Otherworld. But we are in Italy, here. And the large concentric circle of these statues' eyes, the straight line of their mouth, their finely chiseled armors, their quivers filled with arrows frozen in stone, all speak about the most ancient part of our country's history. It's amazing. And then, the sea. Just a stone's throw from history, a half moon of turquoise water waits for you, gently touched by the finest, rice-like quartz, in shades moving from green to white to delicate pink. Is Aru- tas is the perfect beach to relax, immersed in the most breathtaking of landscapes. Not far from there, you'll find s'Archittu with its stone arch standing on the bluest waves, then beautiful Putzu Idu or s'A- rena Scoada, where you'll certainly feel like jumping into the sea, even in the middle of winter: its green and azure waters will call out to you like the voices of Ulysses' mermaids. A fun raft tour will lead you all the way to the natural treasure of Budelli's Spiaggia Rosa, and then to Cala Coticcio, Caprera, Spargi and Cala Lunga. You'll realize, there and then, you need to come back to Sardinia, as soon as you can. The Sardinia Experience: A Paradise to Discover will give you the chance to take an incredible trip to Italy, to discover Sardinia and to see with your own eyes some of the beauties of the Bel Paese, those very same beauties we tell you about and show you in every edition of L'Italo-Americano, along with the country's folklore, landscapes, monuments and incredible food. We are a 501(c) (3) organization: this means that, to keep on ser- ving our community and showing Italy in all its splendor, we need support. Join our sweepstake, be generous: the more tickets you buy, the more chances you get to win this once-in-a-lifetime trip to a truly charming region. And we didn't even mention bottarga, seadas, por- ceddu, mirto, culurgiones, fregola and malloreddusu, yet: intense flavors and scents you won't find anywhere else. You may wonder why we regularly organize these events. The answer is simple: we want to offer you a reward for all the support you give to "your" newspaper. With The Sardinia Experience we ask you to embrace your dream and, at the same time, to maintain L'Italo-Americano dream alive, too: keep on serving the West Coast Italian-American community, as we've been doing for more than 110 years. Simone Schiavinato, Director NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS

• Cover