Corsica and Sardinia (and some Spain/France)

Nov. 23 Almedra, Portogal to near Soria, Spain. 469 km 

In the morning we said our "good byes" and they all signed Portugal on the moto. I then went back to the river on the dirt track that Alex and I had riding the day before except I continued into Spain. Once in Spain I put on some kms. I wanted to get on the ferry to Corsica on the evening of the 25th out of Marceilles France. During the summer there is a ferry from Barcelona Spain but all the info on the internet said it wasn't running. I stayed the night at a Hostel near Soria Spain. I met some guys there that were pretty excited about my trip. Since I didn't have Spain on my moto yet, I let on of them sign it. Early to bed after some cafeteria food at the hostel.

The crew I left behind (See Portugal post)

This guy was super stoked so I let him sign Spain

My final route through Spain (this includes from earlier posts also)

Nov. 24 Solia to Figures, Spain. 531km

Up early and motorway for most of the day. Coming into a small town in North-eastern Spain, a police officer waved me over to the side of the road so I pulled over and stopped. He started yelling at me in Spanish that I can't stand on the bike. I made the mistake of saying "Porque no?" that lit him up further. After getting no where trying to explain that standing on a moto when you come into town is the way I stretch out.. I apologized in Spanish and he let me go on my way. Obviously he did not ride a moto. That night I found a hotel in Figures with a locked garage. To bed early again. 

View from the hotel just after sunset.

Nov. 25 Figures Spain to Marceille, France. 381 km

I got on motorway early and I arrived in Marceilles around 3 in the afternoon. The Ferry was at 7 so I had time to get some Kebab in the town. I was pretty paranoid in Marceilles so I didn't venture out of eyesight from the moto. Waiting for the boat I met some nice people who were going to tour Corsica for a week on their Honda. The people in my cabin insisted on keeping the heat on. I was sweating my @$$ off and I didn't sleep very good. I tried to explain that they could use more blankets to keep warm, but I am sweating laying on the bed so we should turn the heat off. But they weren't having it. Pricks. Anyway, I did finally get some shuteye and woke up in Corsica the next morning to a beautiful sunrise.

A couple on a Honda headed to Corsica

Nov 26, Ajaccio to Calvi (Island of Corsica, France) 202 km

I woke up to a beautiful sunrise in the Ajaccio harbor. I spent about an hour looking for Wifi in Ajaccio but I couldn't find any so I headed north. About 30 km I found a hotel/restaurant/bar with wifi. A few coffees later I knew where I wanted to go on the island. The weather was sunny and there was not much wind. I was surprised how rocky and hilly Corsica is. The riding was beautiful. Twisty roads along the ocean for most of the way. On the northern part of the island I found some very interesting hollow rocks. I am not sure how they are hollowed out.. maybe the sun baked the top so it is harder and the inside was eroded by the wind? Probably BS but its a guess? I was obviously on the island during slow times. Most of the hotels were closed and it was difficult finding a room on Corsica and Sardinia. I was very glad I had one last warm sunny day to explore Corsica because the next few would rain. I stayed the night in a way to nice hotel in Calvi. The off season rate was 70 euro. A budget killer but I didn't feel like camping.

Crazy holey rocks

In Porto, Corsica, France

Lunch picnic on this beach.

View from the hotel. Sun setting on the mountains across the bay. 

Nov 27, Calvi to Propriano. 245 km

The first part of the day the sun was trying to come out and it rained in the afternoon. In the evening I did have a nice sunset as I was riding down into Propriano. Once again, the fall colors were very nice. I had some amazing spaghetti carbonara for dinner. For those of you who have not had it, you really need to try. It is bacon, sauteed onions, garlic in a creamy sauce over spaghetti with an egg and lots Parmesan cheese. You can feel yourself getting fatter with every bite!

Its not an adventure road unless there are large animals on it. 

I want one of these for some reason. The "4x4 Panda"

I saw a few small rally cars like this one. 

Rain. 

My map of Corsica didn't have contour lines :(

Sun? 

In the fall leaves again. 

Not sure why this was on the side of the road.. or what the spray paint says.. but there were 2 of them.

Nov 28, Propriano, France to Cannigione Italy . 133 km (including ferry)

I woke up at 5:00 to catch the 7:00 ferry to Porto Torres but when I got to the dock. There was no one there, no ferry, not even lights in the parking lot. I KNEW the ferry was running on the 29^th. What I didn't realize is that it was only the 28^th. Once again I have forgotten the date. This is not a bad problem to have. I found out there was a ferry running from Bonifacio to Santa Teresa so I rode about 65km south to Bonifacio in the rain and got there about 1/2 hour before the ferry left. It was a short ride to Sardinia and I slept even though I was still wet. Once in Sardinia I was wet and cold and it was still raining so I started looking for a hotel. Most of the hotels were closed but I finally found one in the town of Cannigione, 50 km after getting off the ferry. I spent the rest of the day catching up on Italian dubbed US movies. You should see Dogma dubbed in Italian. Its pretty great.

Leaving Corsica 

Rough sea.. but I did get some sleep on the 1 hour boat ride

My new ride. (I wish)

Nov 29, Cannigione to Cagliari Italy 343 km

It rained on and off all day as I rode to Cagliari. In the evening I met up with Raminta and Simona and we went out for dinner. We had sauteed mussels, some amazing pasta and wine of coarse  They are both from Lithuania and going to medical school in Cagliari. For the next 3 days we hung out a lot. This was my first time actually using couch surfing and it was great.

Raminta and Simona

Nov 30, Dec 1 Cagliari Italy

There is a great market in Cagliari with fresh fish, meat, vegetables  cheese, noodles and whatever else you could want. I cooked for everyone on Saturday night. Prawns sauteed in garlic and olive oil and Chicken pesto on fresh noodles. The girls made a salad of fresh tomatoes, olives and cucumber. It was definitely a feast.

These guys made me laugh

Jack-a-lope?

Play your cards right...

I don't know what a "Solar Queen" is.. but it makes me laugh 

Giggity

I found a guy who said he could make me some stickers so I quick put together a design. I was afraid it would be to detailed for his machine. It turned out the machine could cut the stickers but it was to detailed to separate the junk from the wanted. So I will have to have another go at the design sometime. 

I will just have to get it printed and not cut out I think. 

That night Raminta and Simona cooked for me then a few of us went out. It turned into a late night very quickly and I took many photos in the city.

Sad bike :(

Bar tender man

Going up an elevator. 

Totally legal!

What do you do when you are drinking in the streets and the rain makes the cobblestones slick? THIS!

Its weird standing under something like this. (Please don't fall)

This bar was a cave. Literally the basement and dance floor were in a cave.

Public beer dispenser!

Randoms on the street

Back to the first bar

Religion? Politics? Best cheese ever?

"guantanamera...."

The most epic/shitty/scary/oldschool/small elevator in the world. 

Dec 2, 3 Cagliari to Rome.

I only had a few hours sleep when my alarm went off. The plan was to get on the ferry to Sicily at 10 in the morning and sleep all the way to Sicily. I got dressed, loaded the bike and I was at the dock by 8:30 just to find out they weren't running that ferry for another week. This time I had the date correct but they canceled it or something. The next ferry to leave Cagliari was an overnight ferry to Civitavechia just north of Rome. I would have to skip Sicily because of this. So I went back to Raminta's house and got some sleep then got on the evening ferry. This time my room was nice and cold. Perfect for sleeping but the sea was so wavy. I kept thinking the moto was definitely on its side. But when we arrived  she was still upright. A quick ride to Rome along the coast and I checked into my hotel, (which has locked private parking).