WELCOME TO FARNSNIENTE

A day of “if I see any more beauty my head will explode”! We started with a walk around the quaint city of Corte. Afterwards we took one of the most breathtaking drives I’ve ever been on from Corte to Piana on the west coast and on to Calvi in the northwest. Narrow roads, hairpin turn after hairpin turn, blind curve after blind curve we wended our way through the mountains to the sea. Sharing the road with us on the aforementioned blind curves were, at some frequency, other c

Beautiful drive transitioning from Bonifacio to Corte, called the “beating heart of Corsica”. We went the long way, meaning through Ajaccio, the capital city and birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte. We arrived in time for a great lunch at l’Instant (super creative salads) and spent some time walking around the old town. Then, off to the mountains in the center of the country. The drive was really beautiful with lots of twists and turns on the road, each one offering a great view

Another day of dolce far niente. I had a full day of driving, sightseeing and hiking planned but after all the stair climbing and medical drama yesterday, we all agreed it was time for some R & R. Our beautiful rental house and its lovely swimming pool were just what the doctor ordered. Other than throwing together a few meals we just relaxed and let the day go by

Nice breakfast at home then headed in to beautiful Bonifacio for the day. Our exploration involved many, many stairs - ancient, worn and unevenly sized (my watch gave me credit for 30 flights). Long walk along the city wall with many, many pictures taken. Late in the morning Tom ran afoul of a cement ledge - few things as alarming as turning around and seeing your friend with blood running down his face! After he was cleaned up and temporarily patched we continued on with our

Transitioned from the Italian island of Sardinia to the French island of Corsica by almost empty plane. Got our rental car and checked in to our lovely, secluded villa a short ways out of Bonifacio. LOTS of info from our hostess all in French - we were pleased to understand pretty much all of it. (Questionable how much we’ll remember!) Did some grocery shopping and had some pool time. Dinner, al fresco as is our preference, at Chez l’Oncle where they specialize in rotisserie

A day of mind boggling beauty! Rented a zodiac boat to cruise the Gulf of Orosei with birthday boy Tom serving as captain. Stunning coastline with many beautiful beaches in front of enormous cliffs. Lots of opportunities to anchor for a swim and picnic lunch. Very brisk, super clear water to swim in. Excellent dinner at Duepi

Visited the river source of Sorgente Su Gologone on a nice little hike. Grocery shopped and did laundry. Happy hour at the highly rated nearby restaurant/gas station/carwash. Dinner at Snoopy on the waterfront

In Palau we explored the outside of the Fortezza di Monte Altura where the rock formations are mind boggling, very other-worldly. Drove out to Capo Testa, the northernmost point in Sardinia for lunch with an amazing view. Back to Palau for a 4-hour boat ride through La Maddalena National Park and the island of Spargi, Budelli, Razzoli and Santa Maria. The water was gorgeous, the most amazing shades of blue and turquoise and crystal clear. Then a two hour drive to Cala

Drove towards Palau where we were to spend the night. Stopped on the way in Castelsardo, a very picturesque old hill town with narrow, winding streets. Got re-routed due to a closed highway and had a long drive through the mountains on narrow, winding roads. Beautiful scenery with amazing, jagged peaks all around. Happy hour at our B&B outside of town then beat the crowds for an al fresco dinner accompanied by frequent ringing from the church bells just above us

Very scenic drive south to the town of Bosa with good lunch at Boca Bistro. Dinner at our agroturismo place.

Homemade sheeps’ yogurt, cakes and cookies on the buffet. Dessert for breakfast! Drove into Alghero to get on the ferry to Neptune’s Grotto, a 40-minute ride away. Beautiful scenery along the coast, tall cliffs, sandy beaches, caves worn into the rocks by the sea. We didn’t pay the extra to enter the grotto but most others did. We arrived back in time for lunch which we had at Le Ninfe on Ninfe Beach. The beach was very crowded so we opted for a smaller, equally crowded, beac

Off to Alghero, Sardinia (Italy). Airport adventures that I’m sure Scott will share. Austin friends of 40 some years, Tom and Cindy, picked us up at the airport and drove us to our nearby agroturismo farm lodging outside the town of Fertilia. Back into town for lunch (at Quattro Punto Sei, i.e. "four point six") then chill time on the farm. Great dinner Al fresco at Sottoprua on the Calich Lagoon with a view to the

Travel day. Said a sad goodbye to Ron and Nancy in Vila Real and headed to the Porto airport for our flight to Barcelona. Late dinner there and off to bed

A total “dolce farniente”(sweet doing nothing) day. In paradise! I loved this place SO much. We spent the day lazing around, taking a dip in the pool and hot tub, having a lovely salad lunch on our terrace. More lazing around, reading, wine and another delicious dinner. Heavenly!

The plan for today was to drive out to the Douro Valley for two nights, stopping in the picturesque town of Amarante for lunch. But first, a booth to booth exploration of the Bolhão market and an Über ride to the airport to pick up our rental car. We never did find a restaurant but managed to scrape together a lunch from our bags. The drive is really spectacular, just jaw-dropping. Our inn was equally fabulous, a beautiful property on a hill overlooking the Douro Valley and t

Today’s Secret Foodie Tour of Porto confirmed my own secret: I’m not really a fan of lots of Portuguese food. (Salted cod, salted cod/potato fritters, tinned sardines and an abomination of a sandwich called a Franceshina which they alleged, WRONGLY, was an improvement on the French croque monsieur.) IMHO only! We did have a good tour guide, good wine, port and the ubiquitous pasteis de Nata dessert. As the tour ended down close to the Douro river, we headed the rest of the wa

Up and at ‘em much too early for the drive to the Asturias airport and our flight to Porto. Had to check our bags as they were 2 kilos over the “bring onboard” limit. We had a connection in Madrid but while we made it and arrived in Porto as scheduled, our suitcases did not. Went on into town and found our very well-located hotel, B the Guest. Too early for check-in (20 minutes). Dropped our bags and, starving, walked to Time Out Porto, a food hall with lots of yummy dining o

Crappy weather - again, inaccurate forecast - again! Went ahead with our planned itinerary - again. Drove to the famous blowholes of Bufones di Pria on a high cliff but the tide was too low for them to be blowing. Still, it was interesting to look down into them and hear the water WAY down below. Beautiful views up and down the coast. On to Ribadesella for a walk through the Old Town, lunch and a long walk along the sea wall. Tired of being drizzled on we blew off the last p

The Spanish weathermen failed us again. Forecast was for partly cloudy and we got completely cloudy with intermittent drizzle and mist all day. From a video we’d seen, we had an itinerary in mind so we decided to follow it, weather be damned. First stop is the pretty little seaside town of Cudillero, then to Cabo Vidio and Silence Beach for the views. Nice but all would have been better in the sunshine. Beautiful (low) mountain drive to Oviedo, a lively, charming city, for so

The best laid plans... Our plan was to head up into the Picos de Europa National Park for a hike, lunch at a cidreria and a ride up a funicular. While the drive and the Park were beautiful, many, many people had a similar plan and we had to park about 1.8 kilometers from the base of the funicular (8 minutes through a tunnel) from Poncebos to Bulnes. We had to cancel our lunch reservation to make the timing work but had a surprisingly good lunch in the tiny, quaint mountain vi