[ May, 2018 ] It continued raining even after we arrived in Alghero in Sardinia in Italy and it was really pouring when we got off the bus from Bosa.
First
, we had to find shelter and the shop we ran into was an enoteca called Concept 37.
We both felt a bit peckish, so we decided to eat something light here.
A middle aged small but sturdy man who used to be a chef recommended a bottle of wine and we ate some roast pork, ham and two kinds of cheese with it.
The wine was called “100 Kent Annos”, which means 100 years.
In Sardinia, they toast by saying “A kent annos!” and that means “May you live to 100 years”.
Sardinia is famous for longevity.
While WHO announced in 2016 that the average life expectancy in the world is 71.4 years, the number of people who live for more than 100 years in Sardinia is apparently twice as much as the world average.
Sardinian people are proud of that.
In Alghero, there were many photographs of people who are more than 100 years old all over the town.
Thos
e photos were all beautiful and artistic.
People often say that the secrets to a long life are healthy eating and keeping active, but on top of that it seems important that the person has the feeling that he/she is needed within the family.
So not only should we take care of old people, but we have to rely on them, asking after their opinions or ideas and so on.
One characteristic of Sardinia is that the men live as long as the women, apparently.
By the way, I learned that the regions where many people live for a long time are called “Blue Zones” and there are 5 zones in the world.
Apart from Sardinia, the rest are Okinawa in Japan, Nicoya in Costa Rica, Ikaria in Greece and Loma Linda in the USA.
Many are islands or peninsulas – is the sea something to do with the long life?
Back to this 100 years wine.
The winery is situated in the middle of the island where there are many people who are 100 years old and older.
In the family who run this winery, there is someone who is 106 years old.
The taste was rich and mild at the same time and I felt the slight sweetness, too.
We liked it, so we asked him to send some bottles to our home.
Because he had only 7 bottles at that time, he added 5 bottles of another wine, made from the grapes which grow only in Alghero.
We tried the local sparkling wine, too, but this one was not to our taste.
After our holiday, the ‘100 years’ wine arrived soon enough and now we are enjoying it.
I wonder if we can live to 100 years.
