Week 2- Isola d'Elba

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For their second week of vacation, Cecilia and Andrea moved us to the Isle of Elba. We caught the ferry at Piombino and arrived in the main port of Elba, called Portoferraio. A little history: this was the island where Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled to and one of his villas is located on the shores of Portoferraio (yeah, he really suffered here with a couple of villas to stay in). Even though the campground premises were somewhat similar to those of Cielo Verde (a little too cheesy and convenient for my liking), this week was much better because we went out of the campground every day to do something different on the island, and of course, we were on a beautiful island to begin with! One day we took a small boat back to Portoferraio from where we were staying (pictures shown here) and later Andrea and the kids went back for a nap while Cecilia (also called “Cici”), Luisa and I walked around the “old town” of Portoferraio and found a great little “pannederia”/bakery.

Another day we drove to a town called Porto Azzurro. Luisa, Cecilia and I did some shopping among the jewelry and clothing shops, while the kids had ice cream and Andrea found a church to play the organ in for an hour. Even though it wasn’t a city known for its fashion, there still wasn’t a shortage of designer shops in between the other shops. Thankfully this is a good time of the year to find plenty of “saldi’s”/sales and I bought a few things. Outside of Porto Azzurro there was a great hike to a hidden beach with fig trees along the path and a castle across the bay. On our way back from the beach, a couple of passerby Italians saw Andrea pointing out the fig trees to me and before we knew it, they were climbing a gate to reach out and pick some figs for me to try. I realized I’d never had fresh figs (only Fig Newtons I think) and man were they good.

Did I mention that every night at this campground I fell asleep to an Italian musician singing songs like “Hotel California” and “knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s dooooooor” at the nearby café? At least he wasn’t bad. American music is VERY popular here. Turn on almost any radio station and you’ll hear more than half of the music is American, or Queen.

To continue, the week on Isola d’Elba was nice weather every day also, and I was torn with wanting to return home to Montegrotto Terme to get settled in and with wanting to stay there. The second to last day on the island we went to another coastal town called Marciana Marina. Andrea and Cecilia took us on a 2-hour boat ride that went around the northern coastline of the island. Halfway through the tour a gate leading to the basement deck was unlocked, and all passengers went downstairs where there was glass on all sides to see the passing fish and sea life under the boat. We passed over a shipwreck (look at picture here) which was pretty sweet and made me wish I could scuba dive (some day!). I should note here, though, that I was glad to get back onto solid ground after the tour because I had some wobbly knees from chasing Gabri around the decks periodically. As Andrea said, “Why is my son so damned determined to jump off deck?” Good question, Andrea… I might consider getting him a leash next time :-p

I wish we had more time at Marciana Marina, because it was really cool. There were a lot of people in town that day for celebrating a local holiday of a Saint, and every restaurant and Gelateria/ice cream shop along the shoreline was crowded with customers. It took us almost 2 hours to find a place for dinner, and we ended up ordering from a pizzeria and eating it on the dock. At sunset the streetlights came on, lighting up the pastel colors of the buildings and cued the beginning of a art fair in the square, and later, the most impressive fireworks show I’ve ever seen.

Our last real day of travel was leaving Isola d’Elba on Friday, 14 August. Ha, but there was some miscommunication when I realized after our ferry ride that we were heading towards Florence, and not towards home… Cecilia had gotten a phone call on the ferry boat ride from a close friend of hers from her college days and we were going to visit her. Nothing like spontaneity 😊. This woman, named Maria, was older (maybe 60-something?) and as Cecilia described her, she was “an eccentric, caring lady who daringly escaped from Germany years ago by holding onto the pipes beneath a cargo truck crossing borders”. Although beautiful scenery (we were driving during sunset in the Tuscan rural land, with Cyprus trees and small towns dotting the road), it was rather a frustrating and long drive from the ferry terminal. Gioia and Gabri were taking turns asking for things to eat and whimpering, and all we had were saltine crackers and an apple for them to share. Honestly I don’t blame them- it was almost 10pm when we arrived at Maria’s house and we had eaten lunch at 1pm.

However two things helped: one, I received a phone call in the car from my good friend Michael Borchardt who was living in Vicenza, Italy; and two, after getting lost in the winding roads of an olive orchard, we arrived at Maria’s villa, that looked more like a castle at night. That’s right, she lived in a beautiful villa overlooking Florence… I couldn’t believe it. Plus, she and her partner Thomas had set the table outside with candles and their colorful Tuscan dishes because they knew we’d be hungry. I’ll never forget how stunning it was. Even Gioia and Gabri understood that we were in another, more formal, environment here, and they behaved superbly. Inside the villa, two grand pianos stood in separate rooms, dark-wood bookshelves lined the walls with works (I think some were originals) of famous composers, a small courtyard lay outside of the kitchen, and there were stone steps that led to the two upstairs. I slept very well that night without the mosquitoes or other campers, and the next day we arrived back in Montegrotto Terme. Whew. Vacation over.

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Photos

Cecilia's mother (Luisa)
Taking the ferry from Piombino to Portoferraio

The island
Leaving campground by boat for day-trip to Portoferraio

Sailboats of the island
I want one of these, is that too much to ask?

Atop some villa ruins
In the old city part of Portoferraio.

In a park at Porto Azzurro
Note Gabri's lovely skirt- he dirtied his pants and Gioia's extra skirt was the only change of clothing we had :)

My big achievement
I blew up her new dolphin friend and almost passed out.

Fig man
Nice stranger picking figs for us to eat; of course Luisa is being picky and pointing to which ones she wants.