Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Life is Beachy

Alright, new update. This time around we're going to be looking at some of the most popular beaches in the south of Corsica, south-ish. 
Let it be clear, I am not a beach person, on the contrary I'm always hiding from the sun because it fucking hates my guts and last time Milk convinced me to go to Cancun I ended up with some nasty burns on my face and had to go to the hospital. Having said that, I'll continue on with my rants. 
Ah Corsica, Corsica. What a beautiful place to spend the summer it is. Perfect weather, clear waters, sandy beaches, beautiful people; to be perfectly honest here, you could just go ahead and take your chances at any random beach in the south of the island and you'll find yourself in paradise. 
There is very little to criticize. 
But I'll try my best. 

Cannedda (Cannella) 
Location: 6.8 kilometers south of Sari-Solenzara


Milk was extremely excited about going back to Cannedda, apparently it's one of those beaches MADE for children since it's barely a meter deep. That is the one problem I see really, I'm not so keen on swimming alongside a dozen toddlers on floaties, they're whiny and loud and frankly I'm not so sure they take bathroom breaks outside the water. But you gotta give it to the damn beach, water is crystal clear, swim all the way to the deeper parts and you can still see you feet on the ground. And the deeper you go, the more fish you get to see, and the damn fish are friendly too. Best beach to go to if you have kids, hands down. 
Fautea 

Location: 17 kilometers south of Sari-Solenzara


This was actually the second time we went to Fautea, the first being last summer. It was one of Milk's favorites as a kid. See that tower over there? That's Genovese, back when Corsica was part of Genoa, long long time ago. Fautea beach is actually to the left of the tower, that's the main part anyways, its a lot bigger than the little pool on the picture to the right of the tower. But it's this little one that is nice; the sand is much cleaner and there is a lot less people since in order to get there, you're forced to walk some 50 meters through a rough patch of bushes and bugs. Yeah it's pretty, and its clean, and its kind of private, but it fucking stinks. Wish I was joking, apparently there is some sort of sulfuric action going on down there, from what I heard, the rocks around the beach got pissed off at the heat and decided to release their anger into the water, it stinks like rotten eggs. On the other hand, it's nice and warm. 

Palombaggia (photo is ours bitch)


Location: About 5 kilometers south of Portivechju (Porto Vecchio).

So for those who aren't familiar with it, Palombaggia is divided into three beaches, each separated by a riff you can't swim around. Our favorite being the second (middle) part. You enter through Bocca di l'Oru and look everywhere for a big sign that says Palombaggia like a drunk mexican teenager and since there isn't one, you'll drive and drive until you end up back on the highway, then you turn around and drive back to Bocca di l'Oru, ask for directions and drive 3.8 kilometers until Villa Aria di Mare (past the big sign of a hand pointing at a pizza), where you will see a lot of cars parked and a lot of people in their bathing suits walking down the road. Next is the most important part and I cannot stress this enough: park your car and follow them! You do not have to go into a private parking lot, you do not have to continue driving looking for "more people" or "signs of the beach", just park your car on the road and follow the people who know better, you'll end up in the second (middle) part of Palombaggia beach. That's where you'll have a friggin' blast. There is less people than in the larger beaches of course, but the most important thing is there are A LOT of fish because this beach does get deep at some point and it's the best place for some amateur snorkeling. Unfortunately, word goes it does get kind of crowded, especially in July and August, so from here on we will get our asses there at 7 am sharp. This is the most awesomest beach ever, just drive down there with a parasol and a cooler full of beers, you'll spend the entire day there, something I had never done before. Drunk fun. I had Milk dig his first parasol hole ever. 

Rondiara


Location: About 10 kilometers south of Portovechju, next big beach after Santa Gulia

You would think this is the best most awesomest beach ever, wouldn't you? I mean look at that fucking blue. I've been begging Milk to take me to Rondinara for two years now, and last week he finally, finally did. O brothers, was it not worth it. First, it's located in a fucking tricky place, you have to drive over a hill to get there and I get dizzy swimming in the ocean, imagine my suffering. Only available spot to park the car is inside this private parking lot that is not really well thought out I think, just some Corsicans installing a booth and charging 4 euros per car. Mind you, some Corsicans, they looked like tanned Greek statues the beasts. Anyways, long story short, the beach is infested with ants. If you have a boat though, this is the place for you, because the water really is that fucking blue. 

Bunifaziu (honorary mention)


Just felt like I had to mention Bonifacio cause its the best looking part of the whole island, though there are no 'real' beaches unless you have a boat, you can still walk down the less inclined parts of the rocks and go swimming anyways, that's what we did before and I'm insisting we do again. Plus Milk owes me a dinner in Bonifacio, I'll make sure we go back before long. 

Corsican word of the day: Avedecci (Goodbye)
18 Days in Corsica feeling: hungry.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Yes, soupcorse!

Quick update on what's been going on. 
Nothing. We went swimming a couple of times, visited a few abandoned villages and I've been cooking a lot but that's about it. Last night we visited a traditional Corsican family restaurant and all I've got to say is: wtf. Milk had the Corsican menu and I had the seafood one and talk about great value for money, I mean the soup course was huge, you get a giant bowl and I tell you O brothers, I had 5 servings of fish soup until I couldn't eat more and I still didn't finish it. Milk had the soup Corse and the rest of mine. The other highlight was my dessert, cause that was the first time Milk wanted to trade with me, that's how awesome it was, something called Castagnolu, huuuge thing, it was some sort of mousse dripping in some sort of honey but damn it had this lingering taste of alcohol pfff, so not easy to explain so I just took a picture of it, and the soup which I now present to you. 


Next quick update: beaches. Coming soon. (As soon as we get back from them)
Corsican word of the day: Grazzie (Thank you, not so sure actually... this website says its Corsican but I've never heard it before and it just looks plain Italian)

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Win-die Day


Corsican word of the day: Va bè, vi ringrazziu (Fine, thanks!)
Day 10 in Corsica feeling: Oily.
Quote of the day: "My dad thinks I have no cervezo!" -Milk

Saturday, June 09, 2012

Rugby Day

The sound of cheering woke me up today. No, it wasn't coming from a cheering crowd, or at least not exactly. It was rugby day here in the free world, which meant only one thing: I was not going to have any attention from anyone the whole day, starting from 8 am when Milk began broadcasting matches on the computer. 
And so I asked myself: 'Myself, what are we going to do today?' 
Simply enough, I thought of the blackberry tree on the backyard and the possibility of me baking a pie.


O brothers, I dared. 
Started off quite innocently, looking at people baking pies on youtube, simple recipes, all beginners level, and I thought why not. Wonderful thing about France, they do sell baking stuff at the supermarket (France 1 - China 0). I managed to steal Milk away from the computer long enough to go buy the missing ingredients and a 10 minute blackberry picking quickie. And of course as soon as he climbed down from the tree he was gone, leaving rushed dirty footprints all over the kitchen floor. 


And I slaved away, cutting off the tails of 200 little blackberries, making pastry from scratch (which by the way, was not as scary as I had thought!), making the filling (surprisingly easy) and so on. 

Difficult part was actually rolling the pastry onto the plate, at first I made three little pies which were devoured instantly after, so I was unable to take a picture, but I was very happy at least I managed to get soooome attention from the men (at some point I had them both Milk and Milk Senior sitting opposite me at the kitchen table magnificently ignoring me, as they stared at the laptop screen while I did the most impressive figurines on the pastry after beating it down and rolling it thin to perfection, that would have gotten PRAISES back home, me making pastry). 

But as always, all good things must come to an end and so it happened with my pie baking experience, bottom line: not difficult at all! Though still a little scary. Seriously though, follow the recipe and it can't go wrong. I present to you O brothers, my first pie ever! Blackberry pie! 


Corsican word of the day: Cume stai? (How are you?)



Day 6 in Corsica feeling: Accomplished. 

Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Corsica, June 2012

I've left China, even though I still haven't got a job or a purpose in life, I can officially say I live in Corsica. Damn, I live in Corsica. The hell.

I had a teary farewell and an uneventful flight (except for the treat of seating first class Shanghai - Doha, Doha - Paris, courtesy of the Captain), finally arriving at M. on Monday night. Haven't been up to much in the past couple days, did some general cleaning on this insanely abandoned house, seriously I'm surprised there were no bats around. Milk of course decided it was indispensable to attend to the garden before even unpacking... which means all those mundane tasks of making the beds, vacuuming the carpets and folding clothes had become mine while he mowed the grass.

I did another flyer for the restaurant where Bi works at, they liked it a lot which means two very important things: 1. They will continue to employ me for future events. 2. They will recommend me to other restaurants in need. And I, as TEH most merciful of lords will of course, oblige.

I present now, the small village of M.
Population: 100.


At least there's internet.

This charming little village shall be our home for the summer, or until we get a job somewhere else in Corsica. In the most awful scenario that we can't find a job for the summer holidays, I will be moving to Corte in September where I will be attending P. P. University, nothing big, just French classes. By then I MUST have gotten myself some kind of job for the school year, and for my sister as well.

Milk will also be job hunting on his own. At this moment I wish the Corsican mafia were a bit more organized than they seem, or at least, that Milk Senior were a celebrated member and could score us some jobs.

Ideally, I would be a bartender and Milk the pizzaiolo of the same little restaurant. Ah, doesn't that sound lovely lovely? I was in such good spirits the first couple days, I had even thought of what I was going to say that would put me ahead of other job applicants:

1. I have two years experience mixing cocktails in Shanghai (drop a big name, they'd be like whoa).
2. I may not speak French yet, though I understand it well and I speak fluent English, Spanish and Chinese (again, whoa).
3. I love Corsica.
4. Most importantly, I'd do it for HALF of what you'd pay ANYONE else as long as the job offers accommodation and meals (I'll also eat HALF of what they serve, kill two birds with one shot).

I even learnt how to say that in French! Unfortunately it's going to take a couple months before I can begin to even conceive French writing, it just looks like drunk spanish on an AZERTY keyboard. No offense, remember I love Corsica.

And this "no cigarette" rule is highly inconvenient... last night I went downstairs at midnight and locked myself in the guest bathroom that happens to be full of those goddamned lizards that move really fast and grow back their tails, remember those? What can you do, when you gotta smoke, you gotta smoke.



Little Mongoliaaaaan!

Day 3 in Corsica: a little bored.
Corsican word of the day: Bonghjornu (Good morning!)