First stop and tour - Bonifacio, Corsica

  Bonifacio, Corsica, France
Sunday, September 14, 2008

  Port Civitavecchia to Bonifacio France -We think it is Sunday. So hard to get out of bed even though I was asleep by 9. Down for breakfast -the food is soooo plentiful and so good and we just seem to want to try it all! Down to the dock for our first tour.

our tender heading for dock

We boarded a bus for Porto Vecchio, Corsica, France.

comiing into town

This is the 4th largest island in the Mediterranean -114 miles by 52 miles.

rock work at church

Lots of macchia, a dense underbrush that gave name to the resistance fighters.

the harbor

Cork trees are found here, and harvested;

Bonifacio

Winds come from every direction. Napoleon was born here and returned here after crowning himself Emperor. PHOTO_ID_R=napoleon.jpg]We drove to Bonifacio, the southernmost town on the island. Life has been on the island since 900AD, but what we saw dated from around the 1500 upwards. The music on the island is always mournful, political songs sung only by 4 men. The people that used to 'kill' for vendetta were eventually called the Mafia, and they still live there. We had a wonderful guide named Francesca and as we sat by her learned about her and the area.

the town

The United States gave 2 things to Corsica - first killed the mosquitoes for them and then solved some other plague type problem, and they gave to us-----Coca Cola!!

an example of art at the dock

I had to use the facilities and found a charge of .50 euros and a choice of two rooms- did I want to peepee or uuummmmp? Many oleanders growing all throughout the area also, and eucalyptus trees, olive and many others. Petrol is 1.48 euros a liter-I don't know how to convert that.

colorful houses

And of course, it rained-we could see it coming, but it didn't slow us down.

typical housing

The town is tall buildings with few windows as they were taxed by the window areas. The stairs up to the 4 and 5th floors looked absolutely impossible to climb!

down to the sea

About 3 feet wide and extremely steep, with uneven heights of risers!

Narrow streets

The streets were so narrow that as cars came through we had to flatten ourselves against the walls!

just room for a car

The cemetery was quite interesting and most of the 'buildings' were better than what the living were in.

the cemetery

Finally back to the bus and the half hour ride back to the ship where Carol and I both laid on the beds and took an unexpected nap! Then up and off to the pool area for a swim for her and a hottub for me. We could see a storm coming and it finally hit-so back to the room, then I headed to the library for a book.  We noticed a notice for a singles get-together and decided to see if anyone was there- We have seen single women on the ship. We ended up spending time with two delightful young gals, Leslie and Lu, who work on the ship. One was on a ship during a storm and the bow tipped 42% - a ship cannot recover from 45%!   Next a visit to the ship gift/jewelry/clothing shop where a lady working there is from Eugene Oregon.   Back to our room to dress for dinner at the Grand Dining Room. What a great experience. This is the 4* on the ship. Perfect presentation and food  - will go back there again.  Of course there was too much food, and yes, we ate it all! Back to the room watched some TV on Hurricane Ike and off to bed-tomorrow is another early day.