Two years ago, an unmodernized four- or five-bedroom house in the Galle Fort could be purchased for less than $50,000.
This slide from grace and favor meant that over time many aristocrats withdrew from the countryside to their city residences, their grand mansions at best unmodernized, at worst .
Pondering these facts, last week, seasoned travelers felt a twinge of regret that efficient, Fascist Carabinieri will now go to tidy up unspoiled, unmodernized Sardinia.