Bastia
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One of the most amazing things about Corsica is how beautiful the scenery is. After all, Corsica is called, “Ile de Beauté.” And riding the train from the south in Ajaccio to the north in Bastia had some of the most beautiful views I’ve seen. It’s cold enough now that there’s snow on the mountains almost every day. And everyday I’m blown away by how pretty it is.
My friends Ella and Natasha and I decided to go to Bastia for the weekend. We met up with the assistants living in the north while visiting Corsica’s second largest city. Two birds ya know? We met a wonderful girl on the train and had a fun time chatting in French with a real Corsican our age. They’re hard to come by so we got her number.
We left Ajaccio around 3:30 and got into Bastia at about 7:15. We stayed with Bailey, an assistant who was nice enough to share her home with three complete strangers. Her roommate, Christina, wasn’t there because she went to Ajaccio to stay at Ella’s. We were really wowed by Bailey’s place. It had a modern vibe, complete with dishwasher and full kitchen. Her shower has three whole walls, while mine only has two. I, for one, am a bit jealous. Taking a shower without flooding the bathroom can be tricky.
We chatted, had tea and munched on some delicious Moroccan bread while we waited for the other assistants to come over. Everyone was very cool and down to earth. They all seemed like a lot of fun and very very nice. We had a glass of wine and went out to grab some food at a meat bar. There were tons of traditional Corsican food, mainly meats and cheeses. I had a very good “bacon” cheeseburger. The bacon turned out to be ham. So good try, France. But that’s just straight up ham. We called it a night and went back to Bailey’s.
The next day, we wandered around Bastia. It’s definitely different from Ajaccio in the sense that there is a real difference between “old town” and “new town.” I think it’s more built up and a bit more industrial. It was a nice change.
I loved wandering around from new town, across a large plaza to old town and then back again. Like Ajaccio, they have little bays, marinas, and a citadel. We loved the two little lighthouses beneath the old town. Lunch was British traditional breakfast at "The Flying Circus." It was so good. And instead of dinner, we ate giant ice creams at a family owned ice cream shop and fruity drinks by the port.
The next day, we wandered around the market early in the morning. We bought beignets and some really good clementines and soon hopped on the early train back to Ajaccio.
