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Domu Antiga - Sardinia

Domu Antiga, a mysterious place in Sardinia

A guest post by the bloggers of IN SEARCH OF:
Lucie Herrmann and Maria Giesecke

Sardinia. The island, which gained Caribbean fame mainly because of the water around it, not only offers a vacation to really let go of, but also hides an exciting secret: the island tinkers with old people! Can we maybe take a look at that? I'll put it this way, my own basic substance has been better before and I'm becoming more and more aware of my transience, out of necessity. There are many trips and tricks from the outside: You should only drink cold-pressed juice and do Pilates five times a week, filter water and stroke bees... But does that really help? How do you get really old and still be happy about it? But before I put leeches on all my lymph nodes and only eat raw vegetables, I would like to see if there are other options.

Blue Zones - Let's grow old!

Sardinia is one of the so-called Blue Zones. In these areas, people get particularly old. Especially the interior of the island promises a long life and has an extremely high number of centenarians (men). In addition to Sardinia, there are more of these hotspots in the world where people like to exceed 100 and are old and happy for a long time. Okinawa in Japan, Nicoya in Costa Rica or the Greek island of Ikaria promise a long, gnarly life. Particularly noticeable: It is really only islands or remote regions that break age records. Scientists have set out to examine the eating habits of these regions in particular. The key has to be hidden somewhere and somehow you have to be able to transfer that to the rest of humanity.

Elderly people in Sardinia

Lucie and I set out to find out for ourselves why the Center of Sardinia is the key to a long life. We found the village of Gergei with 1.300 souls in the heart of Sardinia, far away from tourism, the beach and life-shortening hustle and bustle. In the old stone house of the boutique hotel, which has been awarded by UNESCO Domu Antiga, which has been renovated true to the original and is in its original condition from 1700 in a small alley. You can experience for yourself that even stone houses are getting excessively old here because life is crucially different: Quiet. Slowed down. And: Radically regional. Slow everything. The family has lived in the region for generations, and the family's son, Samuel, likes to play the squeeze table, bought the house after studying abroad and renovated it after his longing for home became too great. His entire family has joined him, including his sister who already lives in Australia. Together they run this beautiful, fully sustainable hotel.

Donkey races and weddings are a welcome change

When walking through the village, it is noticeable that it is really very, very quiet now. There are horses, donkeys, sheep and some domestic animals. Everyday life is constant and constant. Traditional celebrations, donkey races and weddings bring variety and from time to time support the necessary mixing of the gene pool.

the cooks at Domu Antiga
Homemade pasta
Ingredients - everything is homemade here at Domu Antiga
Pasta making workshop
Pasta like in a picture book

The perfect nutrition for a long life

In many articles I have read that the "Mediterranean diet" is primarily responsible for health and ancient people, so a lot of fish and other seafood. The sea is far away here. We were on the road for over an hour. The region's menu looks accordingly: pasta, meat and cheese with vegetables and eggs are staple foods here.

In a cooking course together with sister Giulia and Mama Maria Grazia we were able to take a closer look at the diet of the area. Everything, really everything, comes exclusively from the region. The milk for the cheese comes from the farm next door, the durum wheat for the pasta is ground in the stone mill in the neighboring village and the vegetables are grown in our own garden. When asked why everyone was getting so old here, Giulia said that it was certainly also due to the isolation. There is little outside influence and the products that are used are mostly original and spared from industrialization. Nothing has been optimized here for yield, but robust and tasty cultures have prevailed and are ideally adapted to the environment. Just like people. Family cohesion is particularly strong in the region and we are very lucky that our hosts welcomed us so warmly and that we were able to gain such a detailed insight into life. Otherwise it is not so easy for outsiders to get to these families. Life takes place in the courtyards, closed off from the outside. So, nutrition, family, little stress and a sip of conventional medicine and ZACK: Long life.

authentic sleeping place

Let's go slowly

Unfortunately we were only there for one night and not even 24 hours. I would have loved to have done extensive field research, asked old people about life in the past and eaten even more of the delicious food.

The fact is that stress and an unhealthy diet are reducing life expectancy. Industrial food may be cheap and readily available, but it also brings us to the grave more quickly. Of course it is difficult in a big city like Berlin to feed exclusively regionally and organically, to ride a donkey to work and to slaughter a lamb once a week. But a little slow food and slow life as a life-prolonging measure should be possible.

Bloggers Maria and Lucie

On her blog IN SEARCH OF (www.insearchof.best) Maria and Lucie write together with other great people about their eating and travel experiences, a sustainable lifestyle, beauty and the good life in general. Maria loves everything that is fluffy (animals) and completely freaks out at all kinds of animal sightings. Their favorite consistency in general is crispy. Lucie is a great cook, takes care of the well-being of her fellow human beings and has an impressive collection of boys at home.

Photos: Maria Giesecke

Comment

  • Alex

    Thanks for the nice tip. Sardinia is at the top of our list for the next holiday in Italy and in addition to Costa Rei and the Geremeas beach, let's take a closer look at the rest of the country with its idyllic places.

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