Tonight's picture was taken in August of 2008. As you can see, Mattie and I were watching his chemo going through the IV pump into his body. I know it was chemo, based on the covered brown bag hanging on the pole. In fact, I know the exact chemo he was getting. It had to be doxorubicin, an awful red colored toxin, which was sensitive to light (which was why it had to be covered with a bag). Mattie was wearing hospital clothes that first week, but there after his clothing of choice in the hospital were always flannel pajamas! I also know that the room pictured here was the room Mattie began his first chemo treatment and it is also the room Mattie died in.
Fun Facts of the Day: Corsica is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Cyprus, Sardinia and Sicily islands, and is located to the west of Italy, south east of France, and then to the North of the island of Sardinia. Corsica is a mountain range in the Mediterranean ocean. The island is only 114 miles long from top to bottom and 52 miles at its widest point, roughly the size of Puerto Rico. Despite its small size the island has an unbelievable variety of landscapes, from lush mountains with snow capped peaks, to forests, glacial lakes and fabulous beaches with crystal clear, turquoise waters. The official language is French.
Today the Crown Princess docked in Ajaccio, the capitol and
port of Corsica. Also the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte. Ajaccio is pronounced A-Jack-See-o! Corsica is an island off the
coast of France and Italy. It is only 3,367 square miles or 150 miles long and
50 miles wide. It takes about three hours to traverse the entire island and I
would say given our tour today, we traversed at least half of it!
Unlike Rome and Naples, where we just visited, Corsica is
MUCH different. It is peaceful, lush, secluded, and an unspoiled natural
island. It is no wonder people from France and Italy come to vacation on the
island. The tour guide had us laughing today because she wanted us to know that
the natives of Corsica are NOT the ones lying on the beaches under the hot sun.
Whoever we see on the beaches in the mid-day sun are TOURISTS!
Corsica is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean
Sea and yet it seems untouched by the modern world. How wonderful is that??!!!
It seems too good to be true and yet I think the photos we took today will speak
for themselves. Corsica is governed by France, though a portion of the
population would like to be independent, the majority of the island realizes
they couldn’t possibly survive without France’s financial support.
Two words describe Corsica to me: water and mountains. Corsica
is surrounded by water that is so pristine and blue! Blue and all shade of blue!
It is absolutely breathtaking to see and yet despite all the water, the mountains
are equally impressive. In fact, 92% of the island is comprised of mountains
and some of these mountains are 9000 feet tall.
Though Corsica is surrounded by amazing blue waters, the
majority of towns and villages are found in the interior hills of the island.
This may seem very odd to a tourist. However, given Corsica’s history, this
makes perfect sense. Corsica has had a tumultuous history in which many different
cultures battled over the possession of this island, such as Greece, Italy, and
finally France. In order for the natives of Corsica to protect themselves from
attack, they learned to live in the mountainous areas of the island. There are
not only mountains, but they are mountains which are covered with “Maquis”
(pronounced ma-keya), or thick scrub brush. Corsica has NO industry. Their main
industry is tourism and as such small developments are beginning to pop up
closer to the water to attract tourists.
Corsica is also known as the “scented isle” because of the
strong flowery perfume that hangs in the air. Wild oregano and mint add their
fragrance to that of the flowers. In addition to all of this are olive and fig
trees. This is a wonderful photo of one of the fig trees we walked passed along
our journey today.
There were parts of Corsica today that reminded me of Sedona
in Arizona. Why? Because of these amazing red rock formations!
We took a six and a half tour today of Corsica. However,
because the island is SO mountainous, to get around it by bus was the ultimate
challenge. First of all it is NOT walkable! But I would say this bus ride wasn’t for sissies.
The road itself was cut into the mountain side and was extremely narrow and
winding. There were NO guard rails either!!!! Our first stop was to a SMALL
town called Piana. Taking an organized tour can be wonderful and certainly it
removes the stresses of having to plan the logistics of getting around and
figuring out what to see. Yet being on an organized tour requires you to stick
to a schedule, usually an aggressive schedule at that. During this 6.5 hour
tour, there was no time for lunch. When we did have time to stop, we had the
choice of touring around, shopping, eating, or having a bathroom break. But
doing more than one or two of these things in a short period of time was
impossible. Keep in mind that in Europe the idea of public bathrooms is a
rarity. The only way you have access to a bathroom is by going into a café or
restaurant and purchasing food. Which isn’t a problem per se, but these cafes
are not equipped to handle the volume of people who transcend on them from a
tour bus. Therefore a 30 minute stop could be spent in total on a bathroom
line!
We had the opportunity today to visit the Calanges. This is a
world heritage site that includes weather carved giant fantastically shaped red
granite outcrops that rise 1000 feet up from the sea. Check out the narrow and
winding road that our bus took. In fact, a French tourist landed up driving too
fast on this road and slammed right into the back end of our bus.
These natural wonders are absolutely incredible. I am not
sure what was more impressive, the Calanges themselves or the manmade feat of constructing
a road within these mountains. If you look closely in this photo, you can see
the tiny road we were on (on the right hand side of the photo).
Calanges surrounded by water and vegetation.
It is almost impossible to believe this is a real sight! It
seems too perfect. To me it looks like a postcard! Yet I assure you this is an
actual sight we photographed today.
A close up of the red granite, with its intricacies,
patterns, and grandeur.
Within the red granite formations, this HEART can be found.
This is not a manmade structure. This rock is called the “devil and the shepherd.”
Legend has it that the devil approached a local Corsican woman and wanted to
marry her, yet this woman was already married and wasn’t interested in the
devil. The devil was angered by this rejection and decided to turn her and her
husband into this formation. One part of the heart is the woman and the other
part is her husband.
Peter in front of the Calanges! These types of natural wonders are right up Peter's alley. I can only imagine if Mattie were with us. Together they would have been running and climbing all over the place while checking out these rocks thoroughly!
The next town we visited was Cargese. This town is deeply
rooted within the Greek culture, since it was founded in the 17th
century by Greek emigrants who were fleeing Turkish oppression in their
homeland. Cargese is filled with flowers and this is what a typical street
looked like. We walked over a mile around the town and ran into VERY little car
traffic.
Around 95% of the population (1000 people by the way!) is
Catholic. Cargese has two churches and keep in mind neither of them have names.
One is called the Catholic church and the other the Greek Orthodox church!
The interior of the Catholic church is incredible. It is
truly a beautiful piece of Baroque architecture and was influenced by Italy. In
fact, most of the frescos and art work was done by artists from Florence.
Around 300 people within Cargese are Greek Orthodox. These
are descendants from the original settlers. This church took 20 years to be
built. Why? Because the parishioners financed the building of this structure
and they also had to build it themselves. Therefore the only days of the week
they could work on it was during the weekends, when they were not at their
other jobs. So given that the church was only constructed during the weekends,
it took 20 years to complete. But what a magnificent structure they created!
The interior of the church is remarkable. It includes a
beautiful fresco of the “last judgment.” Our guide described the scene to us
with the left hand of the fresco filled with saints (lower left), notice their
halos around their heads. Whereas on the right lower side of the fresco are
just regular human beings. The red line that comes down from Christ (Christ is at
the noon position of this fresco) to this group of people (lower right),
represents how we mere mortals sit in God’s hands.
Peter spotted this cutie in Cargese!
Whereas I spotted this cutie in Cargese walking through the
vegetation and scrub brush!
At the end of our day, Peter snapped a photo of me with my
parents in front of our cruise ship, The Crown Princess. The Crown Princess has
already left Corsica and is in route toward Gibraltar. We will be at sea all
day tomorrow in order to arrive in Gibraltar on Wednesday. I am taking tomorrow
off from writing the blog and I am only doing this because Peter is willing to
write on sea days. Which I greatly appreciate and I also feel hearing his
perspective and insights are just as important.
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