The European Chronicles 2023.6

June 04, 2023

The European Chronicles 2023.6 - Au Revoir Corse!

First, to Bonifacio, Corsica's southern tip

I've got a "west coast" route planned from the Parc Natural in an effort to avoid the mountain thunderstorms. Happy to say it worked!

Relive 'To Bonifacio'

The Hotel Santateresa sits high on a cliff; that's Sardinia in the distance, 16 km away.

Eventually, Mia gets company. Booking.com lied, there's no garage!

Some interesting artwork

A very nice charcuterie, local beer and view of Sardinia from the hotel bar. Tough duty. 😎

The Strait of Bonifacio, which separates Corsica and Sardinia, you're looking at it the above picture, is only 11 miles wide but "notorious among sailors for its weather, currents, shoals and other obstacles." Let's hope for smooth sailing! When I was in line for the Savona - Bastia ferry, a couple from Switzerland on a Multistrada was telling me a story of a trip to Corsica and Sardinia where they didn't pre-book the ferry between the islands. It is only an hour crossing, but can sometimes be cancelled because of weather; if you don't have a reservation, you are last in line behind those that do for the next available ferry. They could not leave until the next day! I've got reservation in hand, and the weather looks pretty good...fingers crossed!

Bonifacio itself is split into two areas, the old town, or la Haute Ville (the upper city), is the site of a 9th century citadel and built on limestone cliffs.

Why the fortress...well...according to Wikipedia...

Corsica was taken from the Roman Empire in 469 AD by Genseric, king of the Vandals, and recovered by the Eastern Empire in 534. The Lombards having taken it again in 725, Charlemagne cleared them out by 774 and handed the island over to the Papacy, which had been the most powerful complainant of the island's devastation by Germanics. Starting in 806 the Moors of Spain began to contend for the island and held it for a short time but in 828 the Papacy assigned its defense to the margrave of Tuscany, a powerful state of the Holy Roman Empire nominally under the Kingdom of Italy.^[10]

The city in evidence today was founded as a fortress by and subsequently named after Boniface II of Tuscany in 828. He had led a naval expedition to suppress the Saracens of North Africa and returned to build an unassailable fortress and naval base from which the domains of Tuscany could be defended at the outermost frontier. Most of the citadel postdates the 9th century or is of uncertain date but Il Torrione, a round tower, was certainly part of the original citadel.

The old city is a maze of nooks and crannies.

Krisanne, I know, you want one! 😂

Django, as ever, unchained.

Small touch: a demarcation post...split it and its art. No idea about that pile of wood. 😂

The are quite a few knife vendors...apparently, a Corsica Vendetta Knife is a thing.

Although I can see the use, with plane travel in mind, I went for a hand hammered keyring in the shape of Corsica...although, I suppose I could leave a vendetta knife here, just in case... 😎