Corsica

Well, now that I've helped everyone gain ten pounds from all the food on Seabourn, let me tellyou that we left port on schedule and were introduced to a most affable captain. Apparently the Captain had been a farmer in his native land with no family history of seafarers. For a number of years he lived in Roswell, New Mexico (yes, that is in the United States) and then obtained his master's license and went to sea. And with a name like Captain Geir-Arne Thue-Nilsen, I could see him sailing the Bounty or a Nordic ship exploring the North Sea.

Seabourn is owned by Cunard which also owns the Queen Mary II as well as Seabourn and a number of other ships. In fact, many of the crew train on the QE2 before they get assignments on Seabourn yachts.

Our first port of call was Calvi, Corsica, and as with many of the islands, we found a medieval building facing us as we entered port. In this part of the world where Romans, Etruscans, Carthaginians, Spanish, and a host of other early world people resided, the remnants of their buildings can often be seen perfectly preserved and available for visitation. Many are medieval fortresses that are still standing.

I think the highlight of our trip to Corsica was not so much the scenery as the entire region is gorgeous. Azure, cobalt and turquoise waters make a spectacular place to see and visit. But we stopped at a little tourist place where they sold olive oil and other products and outside, we were greeted by George, the small, black-haired donkey, who works three months of the year churning the olives into oil.

Now an interesting thing about olives is that each island seems to deal differently in the matter of harvest. In Corsica, for example, they place nets under the trees and when the wind blows the olives into the nets, they are harvested and squeezed into oil. If they do not get many olives in the nets, they say that it is a "bad harvest."

Elba, on the other hand, and most other nations or islands, will place the nets under the tree and then shake the tree until all the olives are down. What makes them different? Well, those who refuse to shake the tree are content to let nature take its own course and they show great respect for the tree by not rousing it. In other words, they don't want the tree to get angry and stop producing.

In other islands they tie ropes to the branches and shake. Still others climb into the tree and shake. But in Corsica they wait for the wind to blow them down and when the wind stops, that is the end of the harvest. What is left on the trees, stays on the trees.

After petting George, who took everything in stride except the fact that none of the tourists had any treats for him, we went into the store. It was a bare bones type of place, home-made by some farmer who then transformed it into a gift shop. Most goods were also hand-made as well.

They had bowls of bread laid out (small chunks of crusty bread about 1" by 1" wide) and bottles of olive oil. You poured a little into a paper plate, dipped your bread and sampled the oil. They also had salt and pepper. The olive oil was for sale, of course, but I could just see the security people in JFK airport rioting over our attempt to bring in some strange Islamic liquid that was destined to blow up a federal building or some airport.

We did buy some very nice souvenirs and considering this was a tourist place, the prices were not all that bad. I will say that having the European Union (EU) is a blessing to the travelers. Euros are accepted just about everywhere including Tunesia and make it very easy to transact business. Most shops have things marked in Euros and all you have to remember is that they use a comma instead of a period. Example: a price may be marked 3,700 which mean $37.00.

Most shop owners in the larger areas do speak some English. In rural areas you will have to fend for yourself, but even a little high school language will suffice. The Corsican people are a handsome people, the women slender and gentle appearing and the men rugged and well conditioned. Like most of the isolated islands, they do not fawn over tourists but accept them in passing. They don't stare either, but they do meet your eyes with a wondrous simplicity that seems to accept the tourist with a casual nonchalance.

One thing I should say about Corsica is that it is the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte. They don't teach much history in schools these days -- teaching them to be gays and atheists, I imagine -- but that is where he was born and from very humble beginnings; he became a formidable dictator who twice had to be defeated.

He was exiled to Elba in 1815 and, within one year, he had raised another army and was back conquering territories. He made his brother Emperor of Portugal but when the brother wrote and asked him for funds with which to better the Portuguese people, Nappie gently reminded his brother that Napoleon was Emperor and his brother should do as he was told.

I hate getting into history but it is hard to visit Europe without visiting history as well. It's just there. So as I write about our cruise, I will also add a little history and hope you find it as enjoyable as Virginia and I did.

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Well, it's that time again. Keep me afloat by getting animal lovers to purchase Tears and Tales and experience an emotional impact they will never forget.