Korzika - a mountain out of the sea!

Every summer demands a long vacation and as the Croatian coast is not so exciting after all these years, we decided to try something new. The French island Corsica was the first to fall in my head, probably because it has all the goods: sandy beaches, pointy mountains, idyllic nature, breathtaking biking terrain, extraordinary food and besides everything, we could drive there with my car! The first stop was in Firenze, where we were welcomed by 39 degrees Celsius, however, still enjoyed a nice evening - playing tourists and observing great architecture.

 
The next day we pushed towards Livorno and after a quick boat trip landed in Corsica - the promised land. As we struggled to find a less crowded camp around St. Florent, we realized that we have arrived on an island packed with Italian tourists at the peak of their "Ferragosta." We decided we simply couldn't stay here and the sunset drive across the desert was probably the highlight of the day. Tired and disappointed we put-up our tent in a crowded camp somewhere around the city of Ile-Rousse.

 
It was the last weekend of the high season and as we packed our things on Monday morning and moved to a much nicer camp, I could feel that Corsica has shaken-off a big portion of its tourist burden. We found a very shady spot on the edge of the camp right next to the Ostriconi beach. I set up all the commodities (table, chairs, water jug, hammock..), Ana made pancakes and even the summer heat couldn't spoil our happiness. A short biking trip in the evening was inevitable and if I forget the cactus spikes all over my hands, it was a very decent warm-up. Ana was full of energy and decided to chase a little white calf up the road, until he finally gave up the game and bravely jumped off the road (see picture above).

 
Early next morning we packed our things and continued to explore the interior of the island - where we found idyllic remote villages, endless mountains and when the sugar in our blood fell below a comfortable level, we simply stopped and ate fresh figs straight from the trees. In the evening time we drove to Calvi, had a short walk on its glamorous riviera packed with high-class tourists and luxury yachts that were posing like a line of polished soldiers. We enjoyed cold Corsican beer (Pietra) on the walls of the Calvi fortress - with endless views and more than a 100 meters of vertical cliff below us.

 
On the forth day we packed all the gear and moved to Corte - the capital city in times of Corsican independence which sits between magnificent mountains of the island. There we found a peaceful camp in the La Restonica gorge, with a crystal clear mountain spring 20 meters below our tent. We quickly figured that fresh water is the number-1 luxury of a camp. You can swim in the hot hours of the day, it offers a fridge for all the food and most important - I could drink cold Pietra:) Of course, we didn't neglect the mountains and went for a serious hike to a few glacier lakes, which strongly resemble our Triglav beauties.

 
The last two days were reserved for the east coast, which is the land of romantic sunrises and endless sandy beaches. We settled at a camp a few kilometers north of Solenzara, where the beach was just 30 meters from our tent. Ana continued with her "outdoor" food specialties and after a lot of biking, swimming and hours of simply doing nothing, we decided to spend the last day by a crystal pool of a mountain river, where we could freshen-up and drink cold Pietra again.

 
After a good week on the island we were ready to go back home, however, determined to return back to Corsica - the island that has it all!

 

Expenses (for both of us together):
- Food and drinks (including 5x restaurant)..................280€
- Gasoline + highway tolls..........................................200€
- Camps 7x (car, tent, 2 adults).................................140€
- Ferryboat (1 car, 2 bikes, 2 adults)............................85€
- Hostel in Firenze.......................................................40€
- Extra health insurance (9 days).................................30€
Together(2 people).................................................775€