Corsica

Balagne.  Calvi.  Porto.

The French island of Corsica mesmerized me in an in-flight magazine several months ago . . . and then we watched the Tour de France start this year's epic cycling race on the stunning island.  So, I really wanted to go, and go we did!

In the footsteps of Le Tour

We flew into the regional capital (Ajaccio) on the west coast, the birthplace of Napolean Bonaparte.  We picked up the car and started our 2.5-hour journey through the interior of the island to Calvi on the northwest coast (no, there is no real "direct" route and the main roads are in less than perfect conditions in many places!)  The roads were some of the twistiest and bumpiest we've ever been on!  They repaired a lot of them in advance of the Tour, but that leaves a lot that are still in need of work.  Good thing we don't get motion sickness.  We passed through some really cute hilltop villages and admired the scenery, which changed dramatically from sawtooth peaks to dense forests, to turquoise waters on the glittering coast. 

Our first stop was the resort town of L'Île-Rousse, which was jammed with stop-and-go traffic on the main road.  We decided it was a good time for lunch anyways so we found parking to enjoy the town while we waited/hoped for the traffic to die down.  Here, we were treated to our first up-close glimpse of the clear waters - they were beckoning us to jump in!   Not quite yet, we'll have to wait 'til Saturday.

We then continued on to the Notre Dame de la Serra, which offered amazing views of the Calvi Bay and its ancient citadel.  Spectacular!

Before checking in to our hotel, we drove away from the water to the idyllic countryside to see some tiny hilltop villages of the Balagne area.  Known as the "Garden of Corsica" this area produces large quantities of honey, fruit and wine. Gentle rolling hills are dotted with vineyards, olive groves and fruit orchards.

After a pretty full day of driving and sight-seeing, we were ready for Calvi, the main destination for our weekend.  It's a small port town dominated by an ancient citadel that overlooks the harbor.  The city also claims to be the birthplace of Christopher Columbus.

Our hotel was right on the water and offered amazing views of the yachts below and the sandy beach in the distance.  Not too shabby!

At night, the city really comes to life -- the dinghies ferry the yachters in to town, the outdoor seating at the restaurants fill up, and those who aren't eating stroll the streets with gelato in hand.

Saturday was a glorious beach day.  It was amazing how far we could walk out in the water, it was almost to the yachts!  We spent most of the day at the beach and then headed up into the citadel for dinner on a patio overlooking the bay (too bad the food wasn't as good as the view).

To head back to the airport we decided to take the even less direct coastal route.  The twisty, turney 1.5 lane (sometime 1 lane) road hugged the side of the island as we drove along the western coast.  We were the only vehicle on the road for the first section, but as we got closer to the next biggest town (Porto) there were a few more cars on the road.

Watch out for cows!

Porto is a small town situated halfway between Calvi and Ajaccio, famous for its iconic Genoese watch tower.  We decided to make a pit stop and walk up to the top of the tower.  It was pretty dramatic with the waves crashing below.

The road in and out of Porto is perched on the cliffs above the Mediterranean and in many sections is wide enough for only one car.  At a few bends in the road we needed to stop and back-up to let an oversize RV pass.  Needless to say we didn't make good time, but we didn't care because the scenery was so pretty (I couldn't stop taking pictures out the window).

We eventually made it to Ajaccio where we enjoyed a nice lunch on the promenade before we had to drop the car off at the airport... we were sad when the weekend ended.  Corsica is a real gem!

Bratislava

Getting in touch with Kate's Slovak roots.

Our weekend in Bratislava was wonderful.  It started off with a bang - prosecco upon check at our hotel and an upgrade to a big suite (living room and kitchen area, 1.5 baths, 2 TVs . . .)!  We could run laps, it was bigger than our apartment!  Oh, and there was a complimentary bottle of wine waiting for us as well.  Nice nice nice!  We took a 45 minute taxi ride from the Vienna airport so we still had time to go out and check out the town at night.  It was very lively -- all the restaurants and bars in the old town were crowded with outdoor seating and lots of people were walking around.  Good vibe!  We found space at a wine bar and enjoyed the warm evening and people watching (it was next to some sort of club with a throng of people going in and coming out).

Saturday we headed to the "new" area on the Danube, which hosts a nice shopping mall and a ton of outdoor cafes.  Pretty swank!  There's also a nice path to walk along the river.  There was some sort of event at the mall, so they had a stage set up and Slovak bands playing (pretty loud for 10 AM, I might add!) 

We toodled around a bit more, walked along the river back to the old town and took in the St. Martin's Cathedral, the site of coronation masses for Hungarian kings and queens for almost 270 years.  On the ground there's a trail of small brass circles with crowns etched on them, from the Cathedral to St. Martin's Gate.  Now it was time for the Walking Tour!

We had a great time learning about the history of the region while seeing all the major sights.  Bratislava is quite small, but packed with  a lot of charm!  And there were definitely tourists around, but it didn't feel overly crowded, which was nice.  It felt very relaxed.

In the afternoon we headed up to the Castle (fortress really, which looks like an upside down table) and admired the panoramic views of the city. 

We continued on to the hilltop memorial Slavín, passing beautiful stately homes and embassies along the way.  Slavín is a monument and military cemetery in memory of the 6,000+ Soviet soldiers who died pushing the Nazis out of West Slovakia during WWII.

On Sunday morning, we took a (slow) boat ride up the Danube to Devin, a scenic hilltop ruin surrounded on all sides by fantastic views of two countries - Austria and Slovakia.  Perched on a hilltop above the river, it offered an excellent location for defensive and lookout purposes.  The original wooden fortifications date back to the 8th century and the stone fortress ruins we see today were built a few centuries later.  There were even medieval costumed men and women offering target practice, jousting and there was some sort of hookah tent as well.  Here, we had a good kielbasa, nice and spicy!  We also sampled the local soft drink, kofola, which tasted kinda like root-beery medicinal coke, not super good.

A quicker boat ride (30 minutes) returned us to the city, and our afternoon ended with tall glasses of refreshing lemonade (all the cafes advertised different varieties of fresh lemonade) before heading to the bus station for the airport.  We had a wonderful weekend - much love to Bratislava and the wonderful Tulip House Boutique Hotel!

One of the city's multiple statues