Corsica: Bastia

From Tunisia, we headed to Corsica and Sardinia. Normally we would have started from the south. However, since we wanted to be in Sardinia for Easter, we flew into Bastia in the north of Corsica (via Nice) to start our tour.

For centuries Genoa ruled Corsica from Bastia. When Genoa was worn down by the independence movement in Corsica, it sold its claim to France. France was able to squash the independence movements and took over the island in 1769, three months before the birth of Napoleon in Ajaccio, who later moved the capital from Bastia to Ajaccio.

Today Bastia is the second largest city on the island, and supposedly the economic engine of the island, though it is not very apparent what runs the economy apart from tourism. Corsican independence is still very much alive, though the violence of the 1980s and 1990s is thankfully over. I wonder what the Independence parties have in mind for the island. We saw a lot of pro-independence graffiti in Bastia (below).



Being the middle of March, Bastia is surprisingly lively. Apart from a few souvenir shops, everything was open and Place Saint Nicolas was not dead. (see below).





The Napoleon Monument in Place Saint Nicolas


The skies were sunny and the sun warm-ish, and we had smiles for this selfie.


Our hotel was near the ferry terminal.


Bastia has several impressive churches. The Cathedral, located in the Citadel.


And the Church of John the Baptist which overlooks (looms over) the Old Port.






The Old Port is very photogenic.










We walked up into the hills to the Cappella di a Scala Santa. The Scala Santa in Bastia is one of only a few staircases in the world granted the same "perpetual indulgence" as the original in Rome, allowing pilgrims to seek penance by climbing its steps on their knees.




On the way down from the chapel we stopped at the Fort Lacroix "Belvedere of The Antenna" to enjoy the views.

Tunis: Around Town

We liked walking around Tunis looking at the many interesting buildings both in the medina and new city, this time as much as the last time.

However, we had to concede that, in terms of street food, Ramadan is a terrible time to come to Tunisia. There is pretty much nothing until 8 or 8:30pm when people come out after iftar. It was a good thing we had a very nice apartment kitchen and the central market had all manners of vegetables and fruits, otherwise we'd be losing weight: peas, tomatoes, fava beans, green peppers, oranges and grapefruits (Tunisia has the best ever).

However, we never bought dates (1st below). ;-)












One night we went out at 8:30pm and had a couple of bambalouni (deep-fried doughnuts). Tasty!




We wandered through the souks in the medina several times. The main "streets" were always busy.








One day we strolled around town, visiting places we missed in 2022, like the clock tower (1st below),the brutalist and closed-since-2000, Hotel du Lac (2nd), the Museum of Modern Art (3rd), Villa Yvonne from the Atlas Obscura (4th), and a courtyard in the medina (5th).










We did not ride the tram this time.


An atmospheric courtyard in the new town.


The Modernist ENICAR Building and Clock Tower.


The Art Nouveau Azerm Building with its fish-shaped windows is under renovation.

Tunis: Punic Kerkouane

Kerkouane is not a photogenic site, but was inscribed by UNESCO in 1985. Since it was abandoned after the First Punic War, it is the only Phoenician/Punic site remaining today that is unadulterated by the Romans.

The site is well preserved enough to make out what could have been the prototypes of later Roman houses; center courtyard and finished floor. Furthermore each house has a bathtub and basin; an obviously prosperous sophisticated civilization, destroyed by Rome.

It was not a waste of time as I had half expected. I even had an epiphany - Roman won the Punic Wars over the Semitic speaking people, but in the end adopted Judeo Christianity, a Semitic religion. Maybe that's the reason Christianity never seemed congruent with Europe to me, because it is really Roman at its core: conquest, subjugation, and hierarchy, as the new Punic War wages on.

The first stage of our visit to Kerkouane is a 2-hour louage (long-distance shared taxi/van) ride from the Bab Aliwa Louage Station in Tunis to El Haouaria. Below is the busy Bab Aliwa Station.


We passed Rades Olympic Stadium.


In El Haouaria, we took a brief look around town, before taking a taxi to the Kerkouane site turnoff. I was surprised to see an old cinema with a mural of Charlie Chapline as "The Tramp". And we walked towards the famous caves for a look at the Mediterranean Sea.




A glimpse of the old ways from the taxi.


From the turnoff, it was a 3km walk to the site.


The compact site museum (below). Check out the downspout ornament (2nd below) and Aerial Photo (3rd)






As one enters the site, there is an excellent map with a marked route and a legend.


Our first stop is the "Sign of the Tanit House". Check out the terraza-like floors and the "Tanit Sign" (close up is 2nd below)




The house also has a distinctive, and very cool IMO, red "hip bath" that seems to be in every house throughout the site.


House Doorway.


The so-called "House with a Courtyard and Peristyle" located right at the water's edge, and its hip bath.




One of the two Public Squares in Kerkouane.


"House of the Priest" signage and another hip bath. ;-}




Remnants of the City Wall.




And we taxi to the Kelibia Louage Station, and take a louage back to Tunis; 2 hours on bumpy roads.






Video: Our Louage Hits Some Traffic Returning to Tunis.


360 video of the Kerkouane site.