Back in Bastia

Picture captions: road between Bonofacio and Porto Vecchio; knives are popoular gifts in Corsica; it's quite a hike UP to teh old city of Porto Vecchio; the harbor in Porto Vecchio from the terrace of the restaurant where I had dinner and heard the shots of the MAFIA assassination.

September 6, 2010 La Place Republic, Porto Vecchio 26/2054km 11:00am

And the cycling portion of our program comes to a close. Cycled back here from Bonofacio this morning. It took just over an hour. The hills t the very beginning weren’t nearly as steep as I had remembered them on the way in. After that, it was pretty much rolling and flat for the middle portion. Then, the hills here to get to the City Center and the hotel. Oh, and the wind that was in my face on the way to Bonifacio had somehow managed to turn around and was in my face again. The Bicycle God certainly has a sense of humor. I guess I can say it now without worrying about whether I’ll jinx myself…ANOTHER CYCLE TRIP COMPLETED WITHOUT A SINGLE FLAT TIRE!!! Pretty amazing. Of course, it’s better to carry spare tubes and not need them than to need them and not have them with you.

The room at the hotel isn’t going to be ready until 12 o’clock. I’ve put the time to good use. I asked the young woman at the front desk to call the bus company ad reserve a spot on the 8:00 am bus tomorrow with a bicycle. No problem. Then, I walked down to where the bus leaves from. About a 10-minute walk from where the hotel is. No worries. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for a smooth take-off tomorrow.

Sadly, it’s time to retire the overall SCOTT cycling pants. I’ve had them for about three years now, and they’re pretty much worn out. As is the wearer. There’s a small hole in the right pant leg. I still have my other SCOTT cycling pants. Maybe for next year’s summer cycling I’ll pick up another pair of overall pants. Maybe I’ll hang the retired pants on the wall somewhere in my apartment with a list of all the cities and countries that those pants have gone (with me in tow).

Walking up from the hotel to here, I picked up a t-shirt. On the front, it simply says “Corsica.” On the back it has a picture of a skull-and-crossbones with the saying “That’s the Spirit” underneath. Obviously, the island of Corsica has a long history of pirates. I just liked the shirt. It’s white. They didn’t have the black in XXL. Oh, well. I’m sure I’ll pick up one or two more in Bastia. Of course, that’s just what I need…more t-shirts. I also have to figure out what to get everyone else as souvenirs. AND, of course, I have to mail all the postcards back in Bastia. If the bus gets into Bastia by around 11 tomorrow (as it is supposed to), I should be able to ride/walk the bike over to the bicycle shop and try to communicate that I want them to put it in a box for me. Here’s hoping.

The woman who works at the restaurant on La Place Republic where I was sitting having a Coke while waiting for my room be ready just came up and asked if I was an actor. How nice. I had to tell her no.

Back to the hotel just after 12. I’m actually in Room #1. I don’t think I’ve ever been in that room in any hotel I’ve ever stayed in ANYWHERE. Same lovely view, just a floor lower. AND, the air conditioning is working in this room. I watched a little bit of Charlie Rose interview Bob Gibson and Reggie Jackson about their new book, Sixty Feet, Six Inches. Pretty interesting stuff.

Today’s Monday, so, like many other European places, many shops are closed. Not much going to happen today. I’ll have to wander around to see if I can find the same place for the “set menu” dinner as I had last time I was here. If not, I’m sure I can find another place for a margherita pizza.

I’ve asked for a 7am wake-up call from the front desk so that I can get down to the bus stop by 8:00 for the bus to Bastia. There should be a couple of places on the way down where I can pick up some snacks for the trip.

Received little bit of bad news yesterday. Since I hadn’t sent off a rewritten proposal taking into account all of the suggestions from my potential thesis supervisor by the deadline (right about the time of Mom’s passing), my application for starting my Ph.D. in October has been withdrawn. I’m guessing I can still apply at a later date, like maybe for January 2011 or even October 2011. We’ll see. I’d hate to think all of the reading I’ve been doing over the past two years will go for naught. Oh, well. We’ll see. I’ve certainly got quite a bit on my plate right now as it is.

Oh, ya. I picked up a novel by John Sanford (a good trashy, quick read type), who writes the “Prey” novels, featuring the central character of Lucas Davenport. This novel didn’t feature that main character, but was still a good distraction for most of the afternoon and evening. I finished the book while enjoying a post-dinner glass of wine.

For dinner, I went back to the same place for pizza again. I don’t know what changed, but this time the pizza pretty much matched the size of the plate. I still had the mixed salad before, but this time the pizza was margherita (only cheese) instead of ham and cheese. And, of course, the small pitcher of local red wine. I finished it all instead of leaving half like last night.

The port was pretty quiet last night because I think many of the boats in for the weekend had left. Most of the HUGE yachts had left, that I know.

On my way out of town this morning, I saw the bus from Porto Vecchio arriving in Bonifacio for the return trip. I had seen passengers waiting for it in the designated place. I just wanted to make sure that I was in Porto Vecchio before the 12:30 bus from Bonifacio arrived there. Mission accomplished.

As I sit here at the Café Tropicana (because of the free WiFi access), I notice that the wind has picked up quite a bit. Glad I don’t have to worry about that on the bicycle any more.

When I get back to Dubai, I’ll probably take a bit of a break from the bike at least outside and just do the stationary bike (so I can read as well). I’d also like to start swimming a bit more. To do that, I’d like to get a snorkel and goggles to wear in the pool. Anyway…we’ll see. Tennis and squash will also be on the itinerary.

September 7, 2010 Bastia, Corsica 5:15pm

Got my 7am wake-up call; got on the 8am bus to Bastia (and so did the bike). Now I’m back here to wait out my final day (and a half) before heading out on the 9^th.

Last night, I went to the same pizza place as I had eaten my first time through Porto Vecchio. I sat back out on the terrace. I was actually the first person who arrived for dinner. By the time I finished, I was far from alone. BUT, one thing that happened during dinner was that we heard two gunshots from somewhere down in the port. I could tell that the waiters and waitresses knew something was up. This afternoon, I read in the Corsica paper that apparently some sort of MAFIA-style assassination had taken place. GEEZ!! Wouldn’t Mom have just loved that? Just some Corsican-style excitement on a Monday evening.

Oh, by the way…dinner was great with the chorizo and onion pizza, the tomato and mozzarella salad, and the carafe of local red wine. I stopped at one place for another glass of red on the way back to the hotel, and then crashed pretty early because I had to get up early for the bus. I made sure to pack the night before, so all I would have to do in the morning was put on my sandals, grab my backpack and get my bicycle out of the garage (unless someone had stolen it).

I was at the bus station (empty parking lot) at about 7:20. There was a big blue bus in the parking lot. Since the name of the bus company is Rapides Bleus, I figured that was the bus and that the driver was sleeping somewhere (maybe even in the bus). Not the case. The REAL bus pulled in at about 7:45. I took off the front wheel and put the bike in one of the luggage compartments underneath. 30€ later, I had my ticket. When we pulled out of the parking lot, there were only two and a half of us on the bus. (The ½ comes because the woman had a baby with her…doesn’t really count) We picked up and dropped off people all along the way.

It was difficult to look at the road and think that I had bicycled over these same roads over the past week. Had I really done that? I guess so. I recognized each of the places where I had stopped for the night or along the way where I had stopped for a drink and a bit of a break.

We picked up 5 people who looked as though they had been hiking in the mountains here. I’d like to come back at some point and give that a go. We’ll see. I don’t think I’d want to do any of them in the winter. Highest point on the island is around 3,000 or so meters. I guess that translates to about 10,000 feet. Definitely talking snow at that point.

When we arrived back in Bastia, the protesters (mentioned when I first arrived), were just arriving in San Nicolas Square. I could see how it might disrupt traffic quite a bit. It seemed as though there were TONS of them. Don’t these people have jobs? How do they get the time off? I walked through the demonstration on my way back to the hotel.

I didn’t get the same room at the hotel. I’m in the central building this time. That means that I can’t take the bike up to the room (although there is room for it). I had to put it downstairs in one of the garages under the building. The room is nice enough, still with a water view. I got to check in right away. Good stuff. It was also good to get my bag out of storage. I’m wearing my grey CITY SPORTS t-shirt. For the last week, I wore either my Moosehead Lake long sleeved t-shirt or my KWIK-Dry black Nike shirt when I wasn’t cycling.

The wind here in Bastia (and through much of the bus trip) has been up pretty good all day. I am SOOOO glad I didn’t have to cycle in it. I might have gone insane. Oh, well.

Just before I sat down to write this, I mailed off 40 postcards to both the US and to Dubai. The cost for each postcard to both destinations was .87€. Overall cost 34.40€ or something like that. The hard part was that I had to put three stamps on each card. On stamp for .85€ and two for .01€. That’s a lot of licking!!! Oh, well. I’m glad I got it done.

When I first left the hotel this afternoon (after relaxing a bit), I found that my ATM card was rejected at two different machines. THAT was certainly cause for concern. Without being able to access money, I could pay for my hotel room (on my VISA card), but I wouldn’t be able to pay for the cab to the airport, or the bike shop for putting the bike in the box, etc. I returned to the hotel and called my bank in Dubai. It turns out that the card was being rejected because my bank in Dubai has a limit on the amount of money which can be withdrawn in a particular country over a particular time period. I guess I had gone over my withdrawal limit here in France. We got that straightened out. I know that because I have since used the card to withdraw 300€ late this afternoon.

It was also nice to get back to my book stash in my bag at the hotel. I had pretty much exhausted the books I had brought with me. I’m now reading a book on one guy’s travels through Afghanistan. Seems promising.

I’ve been wandering through the souvenir shops to try to figure out what to bring back for my colleagues in Dubai without spending too much money. It looks like it might be stickers of Corsica (of various kinds and let them pick). For some of the more “important” colleagues, it might be key chains or something similar. We’ll see.

I’ll be taking the bike down (actually UP) to the shop tomorrow and hopefully pick it up on Thursday on the way to the airport. My flight to Nice (I flew in through Marseille), doesn’t leave Bastia until about 6:30 pm. I’ll try to get to the airport at about 4, just in case there’s any hassle with the bike and stuff. (That’s another reason I needed access to money…in case I have to pay for extra baggage.) I then have only about 1 hour in Nice to get to the next flight. I arrive in Charles de Gaulle airport at about 10:30 pm. I’ll get a hotel room at the airport. My flight on Friday is at 1:30 pm and I arrive in Dubai at about 10:15 local time. There’s only a two-hour time difference between here and Dubai, so the jetlag should be minimal.

So, we’re winding down on this Corsica thing. It’s been quite a trip. Wonderful towns and cities and beautiful scenery. Nice hotels (probably a little costly, but that the hell?).

Once again, my body has proven to me on this whole 2,000km bike adventure that no matter how poorly I sometimes treat it, it’s a brilliant machine and can accomplish some wonderful things. As I usually do at the end of these adventures, I vow to try to take better care of it. But, like always…we’ll see.

September 8, 2010 Bar Novelty, Bastia, Corsica 4:00pm

Last full day in Bastia. Last night I stopped by a pizzeria where I had eaten on my last evening in Bastia a week or so ago. The proprietress recognized me. Still good stuff. Mixed salad, margharita pizza, and a bottle of the local red. All the while reading one of the books I left behind when I did my bicycle trip: An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan by Jason Elliot. Pretty good stuff so far. As I write this, I’m about 140 pages into it.

On the way back to the hotel from the pizzeria, I stopped by the O’Connor Pub only to find it tightly closed up. That’s not a very good sign. Oh, well. I guess no “going away” drink there. The air conditioning wasn’t working in the room, so it was a god thing tht it was a windy evening.

The wind continued this morning. I was up and got the bike to the bike shop to be “boxed up” by about 9:30 am. (Go back to pick it up same time tomorrow morning…that’s quite a relief to have it professionally packed rather than my own doing. I mean…I could DO it, but probably not quite as well as the guys in the shop.) On the way back to the hotel, I stopped at a SPAR grocery and picked up a roll of duct tape and a package of razors Also, on the way back, I saw that the dark clouds were starting to come over the mountains outside the city. AND the wind started to really pick up. I hustled back to the hotel and back to my room. And then the rain started coming down in BUCKETS. I opened the windows, but the shutters stayed closed, so my room stayed pretty cool for the duration of the storm. After reading for a while and then showering and shaving (final time on the trip), I wandered back out. The wind had almost disappeared, and, if it wasn’t for the wet ground, you wouldn’t have noticed that there had been a storm.

Since then, I’ve just been wandering around the town, mostly trying to find stuff in souvenir shops to bring back for the Division of Arts and Sciences. It will mostly likely be stickers or key chains or some such thing. Anyway…since my plane doesn’t leave tomorrow until 6, I still have some time.

As I write this, I’m at the far end of San Nicolas Plaza. I’ll probably head up over to where the Old Port is before heading to dinner (probably same pizza place…don’t mess with a good thing).

Yesterday afternoon as I was sitting outside a café on the edge of San Nicolas Plaza, I watched a Corsica/Sardinia boat come in to the “modern harbor.” I then watched it pull out about 30 minutes later. I thought to myself, “That wasn’t very long.” I then caught myself. The boats that had come into the Istanbul harbor (which I could see from my balcony) were CRUISE ships. The ones here are FERRIES. They are simply designed to pick people up and drop people off. They aren’t stopping here so that people can visit the city and then get back on the boat and go to the next “port of call.” DUH!!

It’s official…I’m over 31,000 words for this blog. Pretty amazing. Of course, having the netpad has made that so much easier. It also added a little bit of weight to the backpack, but not too much…that and the camera. I’m glad I only brought one lens with me. It really was all I needed.

Perhaps when I get back, I can get some periodicals interested in some stories either about Boston or about Corsica. We’ll see.