Corsica Day 6: Gorges de Spelunca, drive over the mountains

Friday, May 1, 2015

We packed and cleaned in the morning, heading out some time after 10 am. The apartment was spotless when we left it; I hope we get our full security deposit back and don’t get charged a cleaning fee.

We drove to Ota, a mountain village not far from Porto. Two kilometers after, there’s a lovely hike that goes up the Spelunca mountain gorge. It follows the river uphill to a 18th century Genoese bridge, the Pont de Zaglia.

The hike supposedly takes 1 ½ hours, but it took us 3 hours including stops to see lizards, to go to the bathroom, and to eat lunch at the bridge. Ivy and I dipped our feet in the icy mountain stream. “Froid! Froid! Trop froid!” she’d shriek in merriment and then go back for more.

We got back in the car at 2 pm and decided to drive the rest of the way to Lucciana, which is just outside Bastia. The drive was magnificent. On our way here 6 days ago, it was dark and I had no idea we were going through such stunning mountain scenery. It rivals or even exceeds the Canadian Rockies in scale and grandeur. And in some ways, it tops the Rockies since these mountains plunge straight into the sea. There is still snow on the upper slopes.

We only had one puke incident…surprisingly enough it was on a flat stretch of road! We had stopped to buy groceries, and we all ate ice cream cones before getting back in the car. Ivy threw up her entire chocolate ice cream cone a few minutes later. Poor little thing. At least I caught most of it in a container.

We met the couple renting their little cottage at the airport and followed them the rest of the way. It’s in the large flat marshlands south of Bastia. We were in this mishmash development of cottages packed one next to another. It sounds lovely, but it neighborhood had more of a trailer park vibe than seaside getaway. But it’s fine; all we needed was a place to sleep close to the ferry.

There were a few toys and kids’ books and a loft bed…which means our kids were in heaven and played right until bedtime. Eric had to leave to find an internet signal in order to send off a letter of recommendation.

I slept in a double bed with Ivy, and Eric slept in the kids’ room on a couch. Not an ideal way to sleep, since it was too short for him, but it worked. I woke up at 3:15 am to nurse Ivy and couldn’t get back to sleep. Anticipating our 5 am wake-up time, thinking of things on my to-do list, and imagining all the horrible ways the kids might die if I’m not paying close enough attention (this happens all the time…I try not to, but these scenarios keep coming unbidden.)