After a busy 4 days of settling in to the shop, and my new apartment- Jorge (my Spanish colleague) and I finally got a chance to explore Bastia by daylight on our first day off!
We headed to the flea market held in the large plaza on the wharf, where we drooled at antiques- in Jorge's case, mostly copper pots and a sterling silver saxophone, my preferences leaning more towards ceramic dog figurines.
Next, we hit up the flower and fresh foods market in a neighboring square, and proceeded to spend every euro in our pockets on various local produce.
By the time we had made three rounds of the stands and compared the prices of every cured meat vendor, our shopping bags were cutting off the circulation in our arms- so we left- our bags full of sheeps milk cheese, kumquats, honey, hazelnut spread, halva, teas, dried herbs, fresh mint, goats milk yogurt, cured ham, olives, fresh bead, calzones and wine.
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The second half of the day we spent at a nearby beach oogleing a group of topless 16 year olds, and eating many of the aforementioned food items while Jorge soaked up the sun in his mini speedo.
(the beautiful Bastia marina in the center of town)
