After the long hike the previous day, it was nice to cool down by taking the train to Corte and spend a day exploring the old Corsican capital, which is situated in the middle of the island, surrounded by mountains.
The day after visiting Corte, I had a last hike, hoping to reach the summit of a nearby mountain. That turned out impossible without a proper map, so I went to see Cartu, the last of the closest mountain villages I hadn’t seen.
The train journey took about 2 hours, and was made with a train like this. Lonely Planet promised a rattling ride, but I think they’ve fixed the tracks since the book was written. The views were however spectacular.
Corte is at an elevation of 400 meters, surrounded by many 2ooo meter peaks. When Corsica was independent in the 18th century, Corte was the island’s capital.
A bakery in Corte.
Corte is dominated by a citadel, that into the eighties was used by the Foreign Legion.
In Corsica you can skip the leading brand and Enjoy Corsica Cola.
There are three Christian brotherhoods on Corsica, and these are their costumes. Looks a bit scary, of course due to KKK.
A view over Corte taken from the Citadel.
A fallen bridge pictured from the train. The track goes through mainly uninhabited land.
This deserted hotel has obviously seen better days. Situated next to the Bastia railway station, it doesn’t seem to have been inhabited for many years. The small boy in me of course would have liked to explore it inside, but it was properly locked up.
During my hikes, I was happy to twice get quite close encounters with birds of prey. I don’t know enough about birds to identify this one. It is beautiful anyway.
Corsica’s most famous son, Napoleon Bonaparte, stands statue in Bastia. He was born in Ajaccio, though.
A typical street view in Bastia. I really love that the city isn’t overly tidy to please tourists. This is real life, no need to hide it.
Corsica is a mixture of cultures, but this habit comes from France! In Italy (and most other Western European countries) they have rules about parking (and obey them), but this was a common sight both in Corsica and Cote d’Azur.
Coming up next: Italy
