Bimota Forum

[GeeKay]

Day 6 - arrividerci Genova, bonjour Corsica.
from street level, Genova appears to have little to offer in the way of sights. But standing on the stern of the good ship Moby Wonder awaiting departure, I spotted these amongst the modern office and tenament blocks.







oh yes - the Moby Wonder - easily lost in a crowded port.........



I tort I taw a puttytat.......



this terminal looked strangely quiet



money talks (or in this instance, floats)



arrividerci Genova



once underway, I enquired about the cost of upgrading from a reclining seat to a cabin. 20 euros - result!
all mine (for 4 hours)





so, showered and changed and off to the restaurant for a meal.

[GeeKay]

bonjour Bastia !









on (disputed) French soil



First impressions of Corsica weren't too great - it rained straight after disembarking from the ferry, though not hard, or long enough, to warrant the rainsuit. The ride from the port to Calvi was nothing spectacular. Then it rained when I got to the hotel Les Arbousiers. But they had a garage, so that was OK. The hotel was great - 1 street back from the busy promenade, so nice and quiet, with clean, simply furnished en-suite rooms and a really good continental breakfast.
Next day, I breakfasted early and set off on the coast road from Calvi to Bonifacio. The landscape is rugged, as is the coastline and some of the road surfaces!









around any corner.........

bull



bullshit



and bandits



now they don't look like yer average .22 pellets

[GeeKay]

the wild west coast

[GeeKay]

my route took me down the western coastline, from Calvi to Porto, on to the capital Ajaccio then down to the southern tip of the island and the pretty little port of Bonifacio (or Bunifazio as it was known in it's Italian past). I stopped here to locate the ferry terminal that I would be using to sail to Sardinia in 2 days time. It's a popular little place, but you can see it all in a day and there is a distinct lack of beaches nearby, though no shortage of berths for your yacht.









from Bonifacio, the N198 runs up the east coast through the Costa Verde all the way to Bastia. A fairly un-inspiring road, running just inland of the coast and affording very few glimpses of the sea. I turned inland at Casamozza and back to the hotel at Calvi. Thats another 315 miles on the odometer, taking the total mileage covered so far to just over 1800.

[GeeKay]

My overall impression of Corsica so far was that if rugged is your beautiful, then it is a very beautiful place indeed. For me, it offered nothing significant - the roads were average, the scenery bland and the road surfaces ranged from acceptable to diabolical.
On the plus side, the hotel and its staff were great and I found the local populace to be very friendly. There was a nice ambience about the place.
There is also a very strong French military presence on the island, probably to quell the resistance groups who appear to have traded their arms for aerosols and do nothing more militant than spray-out the French names on the bi-lingual roadsigns.
But Corsica had held back it's best until last.
Next day, I took the coast road from Calvi north to L'lle-Rousse, St Florent and up the Cap Corse. This is a beautiful part of the island - great roads wind along impossibly pretty landscapes, clinging perilously to the coastline whilst all the time ascending and descending mountains. From Pino, the road had been recently re-surfaced and allowed for some great riding to the top of the Cap at Centuri, where the road then turns south and winds down to sea level at Santa Severa. The road from here to Bastia is the best on the island, and I was treated to a great display of riding by a Fazer 1000 mounted local, who had followed me down the mountain, but now promptly cleared off into the distance. I tried my best to stay with him, but he was in a different league to me.

Cap Corse

[GeeKay]

Day 8 au revoir Corse,



bongiorno Sardegna.



Caught the midday ferry from Bonifacio, Corsica, to Santa Teresa Gallura, Sardinia. from here it was a long ride, down through Olbia then the fast-but-boring SS131 to Nuoro, where I joined the new SS389 towards Lansui. From here, it was mountainous switchback roads all the way to my hotel, the Su Marmuri, in Ulassai. And not as easy as I first thought - several "interesting" detours took me to places I couldn't even find on the map, and the locals weren't much help either. Needless to say, my 4 hour journey took 6 hours!
I avoided a thunderstorm



and a collapsed road



and rocks in the road



that fell from here



some late evening sunshine

[GeeKay]

view from my bedroom window, hotel Su Mamuri, Ulassai.



and from across the valley - Osini to the right, Ulassai on the left.



Once settled in to my room, I ventured out to see what Ulassai had to offer. Not a lot, I'm afraid. But I did get chatting to the son of the hotel owners, who was keen to improve his English language skills. I, for my part, was happy to let him. Made it a lot easier for me!

Meet Massimiliano



"Max" is in his final year at school, then is hoping to study philosophy at Cagliari university. He is fluent in 4 languages - his native Sard, Italian, English and French. We spoke for a couple of hours about life in and around Ulasai, deserted villages (more of which later), Sardish history and the world in general. His greatest aspirations are to qualify as a teacher in languages and visit his nephew in Manhattan, USA.
He also introduced me to the local "black" wine. I can vouch for it's potency!
After breakfast next day, I set off for the capital, Cagliari. I weaved my way down the stunning SS125 to Villaputzu, then on to Cagliari. From here, it was a gentle ride through the salt marshes and stagni, the lagoons that run one side of the coast road, with the sea on the other side. The stagni are home to many wild birds, including flamingo.







Next stop Nora, and the fabled ancient ruins. The site, founded by the Phoenicians, was later settled by the Carthaginians and then the Romans, each building on what was already there. Rumour has it that it was destroyed by a natural disaster, as much of the city is now submerged beneath the sea. Archeological excavation continues to this day, however, still uncovering stunning mosaics and other treasures.
Just for you, dear readers, I paid the 5.50 euro entrance fee and joined the touristy trail by taking a guided tour of the site. Two things soon became worryingly obvious - the tour started at 11:30 and it was a baking-hot day, and the tour guide spoke very little English and promptly lost his voice 15 minutes into the tour. His replacement spoke no English at all. I took to wandering off on my own, trying to find some shelter from the heat. Eventually, I called it a day and set off for the exit. My planned escape was thwarted by an on-coming tour party, the leader of which directed me back to "my" party. Eventually, myself and a German couple "took a wrong turn" and escaped to the shelter of the site entrance.

[GeeKay]

Nora

[GeeKay]

to save me lugging my gear around with me on the tour, the guy at the entrance offered to watch it for me. I was most grateful.

Meet Umberto, keeper of the casque

[GeeKay]

Leaving Nora, I took the SS195 along the south-west coast to Iglesias, an old mining and quarrying centre. From here the road cut through the mountains to Sanluri. I stopped for lunch atop a mountain, just outside Fluminimaggiore.





then, suitably refreshed, I carried on through Arbus and Monreal towards Sanluri. En route, I stumbled across the delightful Temple of Antas.










at Sanluri, I picked up the SS197 to Barumini. Just outside the village of Barumini is Su Nuraxi, the best preserved and most famous of the 7000-odd Nuraghi ruins that litter Sardinia. The pre-historic Nuraghic era existed between 1500 and 500BC. Little is known about them, but they left plenty of traces, the most conspicuous of which are the circular shaped stone built nuraghi. These are thought to be dwellings and defensive buildings and are unique to Sardinia. By the time I arrived, the last tour had just departed, so I wandered around the perimeter and took a few pictures.

[GeeKay]

Onto the SS128 to Isili, then the SS198 that would eventually lead me back to Ulassai.
Just outside Seui, I chanced upon this parked-up APE (pronounced arpay) and took the opportunity to take a picture.



Just as the owner appeared.
Meet Massimo, and his APE.



and some of the sights the SS198 affords

[GeeKay]

having covered 302 miles, I vowed that next day would be taken at a more leisurely pace. Back at the hotel, Max infomed me that the next village (Osini) was holding a street party and the chances of free food and drink were good. So, showered and changed, Max hopped on the back of the Mantra and we went to "check out the scene". Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera. Unable to drink alcohol, I had to turn away the offers of free wine and settled for a limonade to accompany my free meal of roast pig with local vegetables. Max informed me that the "pig" was actually wild boar, taken from the local mountains. Thought it tasted different. This, Max told me, was because it is cooked over open fires and scented with myrtle and juniper. Max knows an awful lot about everything.
I took a light breakfast next day, still full from the night before, and set off to complete the route of the delightful SS198. Checking my local map showed that I had ridden the first 75 kms of it, so I rejoined it just outside Osini and headed for the coast, and the roads conclusion, at Arbatax.
A little bit of local history - Osini is a relatively new village. That is because the old, original village of Osini was forcibly evacuated when it became apparent that it could disappear down the mountain any time soon. Which it hasn't - yet. The old folk of the new village, built several kms up the mountain, still visit their old homes.

[GeeKay]

the road to Arbatax was as good - no - better than the previous section. Winding through the Montidel Gennargentu region, it's a bikers paradise. Sparsley populated with traffic and with a good surface, it encourages you to have fun.
The first part of the route seemed familiar - it was the way I came in to Ulassai, confirmed when I came across this section again.



but after the turning for Tortoli, the road and scenery were all new.



the SS198 ends in Arbatax, 110 kms from its start. Arbatax is a non-descript little port on the eastern seaboard, although it was quite busy when I was there. I must have missed something.



took the SS125 north-bound out of Arbatax to Dorgali, then the SS129 to Nuoro from where I turned on to the "old" 389, now replaced by the super-fast SS389. this, however, worked to my benefit. The old road tracks the new one, but meanders around rivers and valleys and climbs over the mountain ranges the new road cust through with tunnels. In the first 60 kms, I came across 2 cars, 1 bike and a camper van - all going in the opposite direction!
views from the 398

[GeeKay]

unsure of the significance of this



but this corner was adorned with them - never saw any more though.



still raping the mountains



old 389, new 389



support leg of new 389

[GeeKay]

start of rainstorm, Villanova Strisaili



natures umbrella



which seemed like a good idea until it started thundering and lightning. The rain got heavier, the umbrella leaked and I got soaked.

Next morning, I had an early breakfast and set off for Olbia, approx 2 hrs away. I had to be dockside 90 mins before the ferry departed for Livorno at 11:00. I arrived early, to be told that the 11:00 sailing was cancelled and would now depart 15:30. This left me with over 4 hours to kill, so I took a ride to Golfo Aranci, just up the coast from Olbia. Pretty little place it is, too.



then further up the coast to the start of the Costa Smerelda (Emerald Coast).



Finally, on board the ferry for the 7 hour crossing that would deposit me in Livorno at around 22:45. And I still had to find a hotel room for the night.

arrividerci Olbia



buanasera Livorno