Driving home.

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Sardegna and Corsica.

27th of June 2007 we are on our way home. The back down south (BDS) path takes a detour. There are friends waiting in Toulouse.

The holiday (silly) season has started, families, school classes, boarding the ferry with us. Soon all will be packed, with busses, caravans, and tourists that don't know how to drive and behave in a foreign country.

Some rude Romanians and their entire families, with mothers and babies who we have seen begging in Trapani, go aboard the ship as well.

I don't want to discuss with them, when they press to get in front of us in the line when we buy a ticket, too rude is their behaviour. This is summer, and the tourist hords lure all kinds of businesses, it seems.

And this is the EU, (im)migration is a fact, and some is unwanted - by some. There's 1,000 Roma arriving from Romania in Italy every month and unlikely going back. Though, I am 100% pro EU.

After replacing the gearbox in the very south eastern corner of Sardinia we take the quickest road.

Sardinia (wiki) is beautiful, I have to come back, on a bike maybe, for a month or 2.

Corsica/La Corse (wiki) is different/French/or not (even) French and overpriced and overrated. But I have to rethink this/complicated is the matter. But one thing is clear going north all is getting more expensive very very quickly. The last pizza in Sicily for 4, now in Ajaccio, the cheapest for 12 in a run down beach restaurant. We don't buy it, the quality of a French pizza would surely suck and depress us even more.

Ferry Trapani Cagliari.

From Trapani in Sicily to Cagliari (wiki) in Sardinia.

Sardegna/Sardinia.

We camp at high altitude, late at night with no idea of the surroundings. In the morning hogs gather outside the van, in search for our company.

Ferry Ajaccio Marseille.

From Ajaccio (wiki) in Corsica to Marseille.

Toulouse, to Madrid, to Casablanca.

In Toulouse and around we meet Phil and Caroline, Brett and Linda and others.

We meet Nico and Julie who we got friends with in Mali and Marco and Marylouise. We stay a week, but then it is really, really time to move south. In Madrid we meet Daniel as always. We spend the night right in front of Santiago Bernabeu Stadium (wiki), - and I have a hair cut in Madrid, getting civilised again.

We enter Morocco on the 11th of July 2007.

Gorse or whatever it is... South of the Pyrenees.

The gorse... is gorse.

Ulex gallii ssp. gallii [Planchon, 1849] = Western gorse. Living from 0-1620 m elevation in some provinces of Northern Spain, not quoted as very common in Huesca, but yes in neighbour Navarra along the same mountains.

"So we might have the gorse, it is a logical bet", thanks Gustavo Iglesias git-forestry.com

Southern Spain.

Always a differnt route through Spain. But always through Madrid.

Pictures below taken somewhere in Extremadura (wiki). Beautiful untouched country. When will we come and explore Spain? How long would that take us?

Casablanca.

July 11th late: We arrive in Morocco, Casablanca. And not just Bent Sliman is happy, Sliman's daughter, Hasna's grandmother.

We have taken the long way back down south and running out of time been doing many kilometres per day recently. The boys are tired, a bit.

"La fête a commencé aujourd'hui", the celebrations (in honour of the boys) have started today, says Abderrahmane, Hasna's father. This is the first time that Hasna's large family get to see them.

And this is Morocco in summer with all emigrant family members coming back home. This is the times of marriages and stuff. Not a day goes by when not 20 people come by the house to visite and see each other, the boys and Hasna, the runaway girl, and me.

And in Morocco everyone is following with great interest the New Talent Pop Star show and the Wedding Show on TV, ... Who is gonna win? The same rubbish TV as elsewhere. This is true globalisation.

Gives me some space in time to work the Italy pages.

And the MB 307 has held well - still holds after nearly 10,000 kms.

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