South of Bastia, Corsica  -  Monday, June 21
Location:  AT A CAMPGROUND

John:  Well, we took the ferry and now, we're not even in Italy anymore.  We passed the island of... I think it was Elba we went by.  It was just like a mountain sticking out of the ocean.  Just one little town and a couple houses.   And now... we're in Corsica.  

Dick is unhappy because he has a broken spoke and his back wheel is wobbling.  So, we pulled into a campground a little early.  And, he's still puttering around straightening the wheel.  It's now been about three hours of puttering.

Dick:  Now, wait a minute.  It hasn't been that long.

John:  Sure, three hours.  At least the wheel is straight now.  Meanwhile, while you were playing mechanic, I went for a swim in the ocean.  I don't even know what the name of the ocean is here.  I'm so confused. What ocean is that, Dick?

John:  Really clear beautiful water.  And, the sand below was completely smooth, no rocks, no pebbles, nothing.  So, I really enjoyed splashing around in there.  Then, I came back after an hour or so and Dick was still working on his bike.

Solonzara, Corsica - Tuesday, June 22
Location:  AT A CAMPGROUND

John:  So, here we are in... let me get out the map... Solonzara.  A 52 mile ride from... Querciolo.  We traveled along a rather listless, rolling hillside without view of the water almost the whole time. It was a dull ride, wouldn't you say, Dick?

Dick:  Yes, half the ride was and the second half was infuriatingly bumpy.

John:  Solonzara is a resort town where all these French and German tourists come. We're at a big crowded campground which is again right on the beach. The rules of the French Riviera also apply to sunbathing here. Almost all the women are topless out there.

Tomorrow we'll probably finish up our grand tour of Corsica and stop off in neighboring Sardinia. Looking forward to going to Sardinia, Dick?

Dick:  Ummm... yeah... I guess. Not real enthused about it actually.

John:  It's a one hour ride by ferry from Corsica it says here on the Michelin map. Dick discovered that his purchase at the supermarket was deceptive.  What he thought was cottage cheese... What was the name of it? What was it called?

Dick:  "Fromage" and something else.  I don't remember the name. It had "cheese" and "cream" in it so I thought it was cottage cheese but it turned out to be sour cream. 

John:  Well, we stopped for three Kronenbourgs around lunch time to get out of the intense sun. Going to get up early tomorrow, Dick?

Dick:  Yeah, why not.

John:  Dick's sort of anti-heat and he likes to get out early to beat the sun.

****

Bonifacio, Corsica - Wednesday, June 23
Location:  AT A CAMPGROUND

John:  Well. Who ever heard of Bonifacio. Did you?

Dick:  Yeah. Don't they have a special kind of tuna fish they make here?

John:  Do they really?

Dick:  Something like that.

John:  Well. If anyone ever asks you where that tuna comes from, it's from the southern tip of "Corse" or as they say in "Amerique", Corsica.  There are these incredible limestone cliffs facing out towards Sardinia to the south.

My breath was taken away. The turquoise water was clear.  People were swimming in it.  The view was really unexpected, too. Because we didn't even know it was supposed to be beautiful there.

We're waiting for the ferry tomorrow to Sardinia.  Actually this campground is the most scenic we've been at.  We're very high overlooking, as the sun sets, the mountains of Corsica above a little inlet of the Tyrannian Sea.  There are about four different levels of bluish shading on the various mountains.  There are clouds moving in between the two mountains ranges over there.

Dick:  Oh yeah. Look at that.

John:  And the sun is starting to set to our left. It's very windy up here.  Did you have a good time riding today in this wind and... those mountain passes, Dick?

Dick:  I actually enjoyed it.

John:  I figured you did. You seemed to be grinning as you climbed.  Do you want to tie some rocks to your bike for the ride tomorrow to give you more of a challenge?

Dick:  I'm fine, thank you. That last pass we went up was a little bit challenging.  But we haven't faced anything as stiff as the pass in the Apennines.  It was kind of enjoyable chugging up these mountains this afternoon.

John:  Do you think Sardinia is going to compare favorably to Corsica?

Dick:  I don't think... well, I haven't heard a whole lot about Sardinia. So I don't know actually what to expect. But I imagine it is quite similar to this because it's only a stone throw's away from Bonifacio.

John:  It's a one hour ferry ride. Not very far.  But tomorrow will be only a quick one day tour of Sardinia, not even an overnight.  

Olbia, Sardinia - Thursday, June 24
Location:  ABOARD THE FERRY

John:  Well, after a whirlwind tour of Sardinia, here we are, Dick, aboard the "Tyrannean Cruiser" ferry boat.   Just about to leave from here in Olbia, Sardinia heading back towards Civitivecchia and then towards Roma on the Italian mainland.

The ship's getting ready to depart. They haven't thrown the line away yet though.

Dick:  There's the tug boat. We're hooked up to the tug.

John:  We got here with perfect timing to catch the ship in the port of Olbia.  Impressions on Olbia, Dick?

Dick:  Quite seedy.  It ranks up there with Livorno as one of the great armpits of Italy.  There's a lot of truck traffic. It's pretty grimy. A lot of noise. You name it, it's got it.

John:  I guess most port cities are like that. ...Seems like we are moving a little bit.  A lot of people brought sleeping bags and are camping out on the deck. Because, right now, it's 11:00 at night. You leave at 11:00 at night and get in at 9:00 in the morning. So, it's a ten hour cruise. A night cruise. Plus the Italian army seems to be aboard. They're on the poop deck getting bombed and then on to pooping.

There are four decks. It's a huge boat, isn't it?  That is if this is the right boat. You see, there were two ships preparing to go at the same time but there were no signs to explain which was the right ship.  But we assumed that it was this one because everyone was waiting to get onto this one.

Dick:  There goes the rope. And, we're off.

John:  We're underway... Bon Voyage.

No bands to send us off though. Or confetti. But there is a bar on board, as usual. There was even a bar on that tug from Corsica to Sardinia.

There are flat areas in between the decks where people are camped out.  A lot of backpackers on board.  There are people singing Italian folk songs on the upper deck.  And, in the back there is wine flowing.  Sounds like a good idea... drink a bottle of wine, pass out, wake up and you're there. ... Oh, one of the rowboats above us is leaking.

Dick:  This rowboat has water in it.

John:  No wonder the deck is so wet right here.

Dick:  The life boat's got water in it!  It's dripping down right on the bench.

John:  If this ship goes down, we're not hopping into that lifeboat.

Dick:  We're starting to really cook along here.  This boat's really picking up steam.

John:  Yeah, but we've got so far to go.  Italy sort of curves in at about a 33 degree angle off of the main of Europe.  And, Corsica and Sardinia go down straight.  So, the further down you go in Sardinia, the further away you are from Italy.   So, unless this boat is slower, the four hour trip to Corsica from a relatively equivalent spot in Italy becomes a ten hour distance from Sardinia.