My uncle Andreas was doing another sailing trip, and I invited myself aboard! I did this once before (August 2014, documented here) and it was a wonderful, unique experience. This time, the trip would be starting out in Portisco Sardinia, where the boat had essentially been stranded since the pandemic started, from a previous trip. Andreas was sailing it back to the home port of Port Camargue France, via Corsica and the Cote d'Azure. That whole trip would take him two or three weeks, but I would be joining him for just the first seven days.
As it turned out, the weather was poor for the first three days, so we ended up spending a lot of time relaxing in the starting port of Portisco. This is in the Costa Smeralda (Emerald Coast) of northeastern Sardinia, and there are worse places to be stuck.
I took a hundred or two photos and videos, and posted a dozen highlights to Facebook (see Sept 17th in my timeline there). Someday I'll properly work them up as posts here. In the meantime, I logged the trip ...
Thu-Fri flight:
I used the wrong, smaller suitcase, doh; no room for gifts to bring home
Oslo
movie: Get Out
movie: No
Amsterdam airport
Flight over Alps, Milan, Genoa
Corsican coast
Costa Esmeralda
Olbia approach
Portisco marina
Dinner w steak tartare and lupe de mere, creme de pistachio dessert
Mistral winds delaying sail start
Sat
Hotel bed for one night
epic overnight battle to death with mosquitoes, white walls
3 hours sleep
Walk around port area
Dip in the sea
Sun
better sleep, local mosquito repellent not so great
Bike ride into hills
Mon
overnight, Wolfgang's mosquito repellent works -- for 6 hours
Driving all over northeast Sardinia ...
Arzachena:
La Scatole del Tempo (The Box of Time)
Museo Archalegico - website says closed for exhibit installation?
Museo LabENur - nuragic culture, says it opens Mon at 9:30
Calangianus:
Museum of Cork
impromptu lunch at a small deli/butcher
Tiempo Pausania:
Museo dei Grandi e Piccolo Motori
Alghero:
Museo Corallo Alghero
Nuraghe SW of Mores
Pasta dish and grilled chicken and dessert and a lot to drink
Tue
Kind of hung over
Out to sea now that winds have died down
11 hour voyage, rough seas, 9 hours of retching (anti nausea medication didn't work)
Skipped Bonifacio which is an insanely picturesque city on bluff (so Ive seen from pictures)
Arrived in Propriano, starting to rehydrate
No diesel, no shower, basic cheeseburger (blasphemy) due to upset stomach
Wed
Market and pharmacy for supplies
Finally a shower
Diesel drama
4 hour voyage to Ajaccio
Got good winds half way through as we rounded the horn and sailed the rest of the way
Appetizers on board (no eating during sailing), finally a hot shower, and then dinner at a dumb pizza place
Thu
Winds to get further north look bad, but need to be in Ile-Rousse by Friday
Tourist office to investigate transportation options
Train from Ajaccio to Ile-Rousse
Sit on western side of train for insane views incl of canyons, especially south of Vivario (east side of train has good views north of Vivario)
Highway should provide same views but difficult driving
Try to clean outside of window when at train stations
Cattle near and ON tracks
Descent to sea and Ile-Rousse
Wandering Ile-Rousse and nice tapas platter dinner
Fri
Try to rent bike
Early morning walk around square, no shops yet, no chance to buy usual tshirt
Church
Trek to view of Ile proper
Back to hotel to clean up and pack
Boarded ferry right on time, but they then departed 45 minutes late
Paid for cabin (nice) and wifi (non existent after we left Corsica)
Only one of 4-5 restaurants open, swarmed
Ferry arrived 70 minutes late, waited at exit doors for an hour to be first out, ran like half a mile to taxi stand, told taxi to race to airport (paid extra), but there was no chance to make flight
Rebooked flight for early next morning
Got hotel room next to airport
Took tram into city center (station platform frustrations)
Walked old city, beautiful streets, beautiful weather, beautiful young people
Sat
4am wakeup
First tram of day
Dawn flight to Munich
Train to family homestead
Family time!
Sun
Aunt gave me a bag for suitcase overflow
Late afternoon train from Munich to Kempten
Dinner at Bayerisches restaurant with American coworkers (after some covid drama)
Mon
Work
Tue
Work
Mid afternoon train from Kempten to Stuttgart
Family time!
Wed
movie: Room (first act)
movie: Oceans 8 (first act)
movie: Seberg
movie: Loop (Brazil, 200X, great, like Primer, the end was a bit bewildering)