“Where are you from?” I asked him, and he, a little shy, replied, “I’m from Cagliari.” He was a handsome young man, you know? Tall, elegant. “Bruno Serci, please to meet you,” he said.
She was a cheeky girl.
"Character. I even proposed to her. We married on October 9, 1961, and it was a great love, blessed with four children."
From her perch in Piazza del Popolo, which opened in 1960, Angioletta Loi chose her husband, observed the daily lives of generations of Pula residents, and witnessed her town's transformation from an agricultural center to a tourist destination. At 89, the doyenne of Pula's merchants remains fearless in her toy shop, a fairy-tale room with a pink door where local customers have been joined by vacationers, ordinary folks and even celebrities. The photos of celebrities hanging on the walls or displayed in the windows tell the story of this vacation spot's evolution from a simple summer retreat for Cagliari's bourgeoisie to a star-studded tourist destination. "For that matter, even before opening the shop, I helped out in my father's shop, also here in the square. He was the one who supplied fresh fish and crates of fruit and vegetables to Pula's first hotels, and the first of all, the Is Morus. Ah, it was the 1950s, a long time ago."
Pula, then, what was it like?
"A town of people who worked the land, many of them in the fields of Donna Maria, who was married to General Cremese. Near my father's shop was the mill, and women would come from Sarroch, Capoterra, Domus de Maria, and even further afield, all with baskets full of grain on their heads. They would arrive carrying grain and leave with flour."
Scenes of peasant life.
«Which slowly disappeared with modernity».
And the tourism industry.
Even in the 1960s, you didn't see many vacationers. Later, renowned hotels opened and joined Is Morus, starting with the Forte. And the golf courses brought elegant people from all over the world. In Nora and Santa Margherita, there were villas owned by Milanese, Roman, and Cagliari residents. Many of them were my clients, too.
Even VIP customers.
"Fiorello, Mogol, Renzo Arbore, and a thousand others. One time Fiorello came into the shop wearing a woman's hat. 'Angioletta,' he told me, 'nobody recognized me.' He laughed with satisfaction."
So, when did you really see your country change?
«In the 1980s and 1990s».
Do you miss the farming village of your childhood?
"There's nostalgia for my age. I was a very lively girl."
It's not hard to believe her.
"I'll tell you a story. I mentioned Donna Maria and General Cremese, right? She sold artichokes to my father, and I often brought her the money to pay for them. Once, while she was receiving me in the living room of her splendid villa, I slipped on the polished floor and ended up right in front of a small table where the general was sitting. 'Good morning, General,' I greeted calmly. 'Oh, Angioletta, what happened to you?' She loved me, everyone loved me."
Piera Serusi