BaroqueW

After making of the launch of their iPhone 3GS a big event full of rejoicing for the nerd herds and apple maniacs, Apple is getting sloppy with the unlucky ones that won’t get their new iPhone early.

In Sweden, it’s only discreetly that Telia announced, a few weeks after the official keynote and 10 days after the release in some other countries of Europe, that the iPhone would only reach god-forsaken Sweden on July 31st.

For Apple, the iPhone is already available all over the world except a couple of poor African countries.

Also, note to Apple, most people do not speak Spanish in Sweden. So hey, don’t forget that having a popular product doesn’t mean you can get sloppy!

July 1st, 2009 | Posted by BaroqueW | Tags: Apple, iPhone, Sweden | Category: Articles in English, Suède / Sweden, Tech | Comments (3)

You may be wondering how we lived our lives on Corsica, far from our computers and cell phones. (Well okay, we had our phones, but I only turned mine on for 2 minutes to wish Jenny a happy birthday and then turned it off again super quick!)

Wedged in with barely any space to get out of our van

Well first we had to take a boat with Corsica Ferries from Toulon (mainland France) to Ajaccio (on the island of Corsica). Since we were planning on getting around in the van Max’s oh-so-generous parents loaned to us, we needed to pull our van into the underbelly of the ship and park with cars wedged in all around us. Like sardines in a can.

Nutella, a French staple

The ferry took 10 hours there only 6 on the way back for some reason. Which gave us plenty of time to do… nothing. I did get a cute photo of Max sitting on a chair that looks like a jar of Nutella*. I’m not sure that qualifies as productive activity. It was easier to tolerate on the way TO Corsica, since we had a big lovely cabin to ourselves.Our lovely cabin with luxury view!

Our cabin with its luxury view!

The cabin had 4 beds – the couch rolls around so that it becomes a bed, and there are two more beds folded into the walls as you can see, and a little writing desk. There was also a bathroom with a shower, toilet and sink. For the first time ever in our joint cruising experiences we got a window that was actually a window worth having. It was so peaceful looking out on the ocean. In the morning we could see the rocky islands begin to appear showing stark sheer cliffs. What a wonderful way to wake up. Even if they do require you to get out of the cabin at 6am.

Our first campground, Camping Barbicaja, was… well… uninspiring. It was well-shaded… but that’s about all I can was positive about it. There were herds of feral skinny cats running around. The ground was barren and hard, under the pine trees. The laundry drying line couldn’t dry anything, since the shading was so thick in our rock lined terrace/forest. The shower area was filthy and I kept my sandals on out of fear of planters warts – and the lights went out about 5 minutes after you press the button. You basically just have time to get to your shower stall and be half-naked when all goes dark.

You can't see it, but we have a tiny baby gas stovetop in the back for cooking!

Although the van was fitted with a mattress (quite ingeniously, actually, with storage under the mattress and shelves over the foot of the bed in the back) we had a tent which we set up to mark our place at the camping lot.

We stayed there out of pure laziness, really. We noticed that almost everyone camped around us only stayed for one night, which is never a good sign. After three nights, we finally decided we’d had enough. So while out on our “day trips” around the island, we randomly picked a camping place. When I say “randomly” what I really mean is that I told Max every single time we passed a camping place every day of the trip, and he decided that he would deign to go down a tiny little road out to a camping place not listed in our many many many travel guides. That camp ground, A Marina, turned out to be WONDERFUL.

It was only about 30 minutes from Ajaccio and far superior in every way. It had amenities we didn’t even dream of in our first hovel of a camping ground. They had a small store which sold, amongst other things, chilled rosé wine – a must in southern France – and ice-cream! They also had an on-site pizzeria/restaurant, a washer/dryer, clean brightly lit bathrooms, wide open fresh spaces for each lot and IT WAS ON THE BEACH!

You heard me! ON THE BEACH! We could listen to the ocean in our sleep, and take an after dinner stroll in the sunset dusted waters along the shore. It was our new base camp for the rest of the trip and I strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to go to Corisca!

*The picture is crooked because this computer refuses to turn images, it only turns them for the program, not the actual file. 

Nothing as romantic as a sunset on the beach... or so they say

June 17th, 2009 | Posted by nikkitaa | Tags: camping, Corsica, ferry, France | Category: Articles in English, Voyage / Travel | Comments (3)

Ants always persevere

While I would love to upload all the photos of all the animals, I’m extremely hindered by this extremely low quality computer connection. It seems that the camera is taking pictures that are of too good quality, it takes ages to try to convert them to something lower – and then they refuse to be adjusted. So pooh. It also somewhat dampens my idea of blogging every day and putting up pictures, since it takes hours and hours and hours of struggle to get anything up (no inuendo intended.)

But I will persevere! Inspired by the ever pervasive ants. The field outside of one of our campsites was literally crisscrossed with barren paths where the ants had cut a swath through it. 

That said: let the blogging begin!

Goat Crossing!

Corsica was GREAT! Plenty of tiny winding roads, clear blue sea, tiny fishes (of which I have no pictures since I don’t have that kind of camera), goats, turtles, tortoises, churches, dragonflies, birds, cats, dogs, néolithique standing stones, boats, sand, pebbles, waterfalls, cliffs and CARS. Seriously, people park like madmen in Ajaccio. However, this particular little blog will focus on the animals.

He's so big, he dwarfs the car in the back. 250kg at least and freaking HUGE.

As you may or may not be aware, Corsica is famous for its cheese, charcuterie, and wine. Quite a lot of that cheese comes from goats. Cute tiny little goats that are actually herded from pasture to pasture, across the tiny twisty Corsican road you’re trying to navigate with your giant camping van. And then they sneak off to the side of the gate to nibble on some tastey bushes before bleating and throwing themselves along with the rest of the herd. They’re adorable. Goat cheese is also my absolute favourite kind of cheese, possibly since I couldn’t digest regular milk as a baby and had goat’s milk instead. Mmmm unpasturized French goat cheese.

Tortoise eyeballing me

Another well-known delicacy is wild pig, which is not to be confused with wild boar as wikipedia does. Wild boar is sanglier, and they feature in the popular Asterix comic universe. Wild pigs, on the other hand, are called cochon sauvage and are much more closely related to domestic pigs than boars. They also seem to have a complete lack of fear for human beings, as this one digging around near a parking lot near Vizzavona. Some are only half-wild, and have been let loose to gorge on chestnuts, acorns and truffles to improve the quality of the meat.
 

Turtles... on a stick (Jeff Dunham rules!)

People seem to let their dogs wander loose in the city, and the cats are nearly feral but quite happy to take a bit of your sausage. We found out that the cats at A Cupulatta – the City of Turtles, were actually put to good use as hunters to protect the tortoises from the ravages of rats while they hibernate.

Babies eating frisée lettuce

The reserve is the center for breeding and protecting turtles and tortoises, as well as rescuing the illegally trafficed and healing the injured. 
You can also view the tiny baby turtles that are kept separately for their protection against predation. They’re so tiny and adorable, like itty bitty button helmets!

Corsican dragonfly in a rare moment of rest

Of course, the park is not only a haven for useful cats and turtles. Birds, dragonflies, frogs and fish all make use of this refuge – as well as hot, sweaty followers of A’tuin!

One last creature has no name, because no one knows what in the heck it is. Is it even living? Thousands of them were floating around near the beach by Porto. After a lot of fear, I managed to get in the water with them – and don’t seem to have suffered any ill effects. But the weird little blue blobs were not fun to swim with and definitely spoiled the experience. At least they weren’t sharks! I had spotted a jellyfish out in the water, but these weren’t jellies.

Mysterious blue blob in the sand (thousands more in the water)

Max daring to hold the blob and photograph it for posterity

If you know what they are, feel free to leave a comment!

June 15th, 2009 | Posted by nikkitaa | Tags: Corsica, France, tortoise, turtle | Category: Articles in English, Voyage / Travel | Comments (7)

Sunshine!

Did you know that you can sunburn your stretch marks? Because I have, on my arms. They’re now neon pink in a sea of red.

How did this happen, you ask me? Because I couldn’t flip over! The lawn chairs don’t go flat, and I was reading in the sun. I *would* have flipped over and read while laying on my stomach if I could have, but instead my front half is quite pink and the back half has the same vampire-pale complexion as ever.  And the book I mentioned earlier was so great, I got lost in it and didn’t really notice I was becoming lobsterized. Sigh. It’s all finished now and it will be ages until the next one is released in paperback. Until then, I will have to be satisfied with starting an entirely new series, Dresden Files. The tv show was pretty enjoyable, although it was cut short with having only one season. Hopefully the books will be even better, and best of all there are LOTS of them! LOTS! Whoo! I already bought the first three in the series, and hope they will last through the week. As we are going to Corsica next week!

While packing the van for the trip, Max says: “Oh we need to think about what we need to take with us when we get on the boat, since we’re not allowed back in the van until it lands 10 hour later.” So I reply, “Shouldn’t we have thought of that BEFORE we packed the van, so it would be separate and ready?” His answer: “That would be too smart.” 

mmm… books… *homer-like drool*

Let’s see.. what else have we been up to?

Ah, the chicken. I have for the first time in my life handled a whole raw chicken. Minus the beak. but everything else. I’m pretty sure that there would be a lot more vegetarians in the world, or at least less meat consumption, if everyone had to do that. Not only is it a bit gross, but it’s so darned difficult to break it down into pieces! Of course you’d get better with practice.. but it’s so much easier to eat a veggie. 

The dish we made was quite interesting. I had no idea you could eat a whole lemon, peel and all, when it’s sliced and added to the pot. But you can, and it’s delicious. So basically you quarter a chicken, stick it in a pot with garlic, olives, olive oil, coriander seeds, lemon juice, lemon slices, salt and pepper. voila, a delicious tangy dish. It has to cook for quite a while, and  you’ll want a good sturdy pot – but it’s very easy (once you’ve gotten past the chicken staring at you with no beak). 

Now I’m curious about what other dishes can be made with whole slices of lemon!

June 8th, 2009 | Posted by nikkitaa | Category: Articles in English, Blog | Comments (3)