O look -- another ferry. This one from Corsica to Sardinia. No sleeping on this one because it is only about an hour trip.
I really liked Corsica and kind of hate to leave, but it isn't all that big an island. I think I saw about all there was to see there. Time for a new scene.
This is the harbor the ferry is going to be leaving from. If you look way back in the background you can see some multi-milllion dollar yachts back there (the ones in the foreground are only a mere million -- chicken feed). I've seen some expensive yachts like those other places in Europe, and they all seem to be registered in the Canary Islands; don't know why.
Anyway, bye bye Corsica
Hey dude! You're going the wrong way!
And just like that -- Wham, Bam, Sardinia, here I am!
Can you tell from this last picture that Sardinia is not nearly as mountainous as Corsica? It makes up for it with absolutely beautiful beaches. They say that Sardinia was a favorite with Princess Di because of the beaches. Hmmm. Okay, if you say so.
There were a lot of topless ladies on this beach. I wonder if Princess Di went around topless in Sardinia. Nah, it would have made the London scandal sheets.
There was supposed to be a trail from this beach to a cave. I tried mighty hard to follow it, but when I got to the worn out, weather ropes I decided it was time to do like everyone else and take a boat to the cave.
And it was well worth the price. I thought ocean caves were supposed to be tiny and dank. Not this beauty.
Just kidding with this last picture. It just shows the entrance. The cave really was pretty once inside.
I wasn't supposed to take any pictures. Don't tell anyone. Okay?
What do you think of these bushes. They grow all along the roads in both Corsica and Sardinia. I'm not sure if they are planted on purpose, but I think they are. They come in Red, Pink and White; and there is also a yellow bush but it is a different species. They sure make the roads pretty. They grow sort of like hedges in the front of houses also.
One thing I noticed right away was that they have honest to goodness guard rails in Sardinia, unlike Corsica. Sardinia is Italian; Corsica is French. I will let you draw your own conclusion.
Although Sardinia is not mountainous, it still has roads that twist around like a pig's tail. Fun to ride, but kind of slow.
A big part of Sardinia is a national forest -- not with huge trees however, so I assume it was all logged over in the not too distant past.
My GPS was really proud of taking Odysseus and me down the road in this last picture. It is always doing that sort of thing to us, but it really outdid itself this time because this road was absolutely terrible: rutted, broken up, chuck-holed. Odysseus and I had it all to ourselves; not another vehicle anywhere.
Pretty though. Check out these weeds along the road.
I have talked a little about how crowded European campgrounds are. There are no campground like we have in our State and National Parks; instead, they are all private. They like to cram the tents in -- there is always room for one more.
I thought it was a little ironic that a French woman made me move my tent farther away in another campground when I was setting up about thirty feet away from her. But you know, I have met rude, overbearing people like that in the United States. Mostly, though, everywhere you go people are nice as can be.
One thing they have in Sardinia, but not in Corsica, are absolutely ancient ruins. This one dates back to the Phoenicians at about the time Moses was parting the Red Sea so the Children of Israel could escape their Egyptian Captivity.
What a lot of work it must have been to build these things. But can you imagine the house the guide is in front of with a wooden roof. Got to do that or none of it makes any sense.
Time to do some exploring inside the tower.
Pretty dark in there. Not to worry though if there is a good flash on the camera.
Finally made it to the top.
As you can see in this picture from the top of the tower, a lot of Sardinia is gently rolling hills given over to hay fields.
Here is another ruin. This one Roman. Don't worry-- I promise not to show many such things on this blogs. Ruins get old. (Ha! Ha!)
My last night in Sardinia was in a campground with flamingos in a salt water marsh. It wasn't easy getting a picture with my cheap camera, but here you go---
Time to head on south to Sicily. But first, gotta find the ferry, which is always a chore. I hunted around a long time for it. I tried asking directions, but the people around there were very cranky, even with each other. They speak their Italian very, very fast and get mad if you don't understand. It sounds like they are always mad when they are talking, and not just to me but also to each other. It must have been something about that particular town the ferry leaves from, because I have found Italians to be soft spoken, friendly, and helpful everywhere else. Hmmm. Don't know. Maybe they all woke up that day in that town and decided the Grinch stole their Christmas.
Anyway, time to go on to Italy itself. I wanted to go to Sicily, but the ferry to there only runs once a week. Can't wait around for that one. So, I am off to Rome on an overnight boat. I will head down to Sicily a different way than I had planned.
Ciao,
Ron