We had an early start to our four hour cruise from Porto Ercole. The weather looks threatening, heavy clouds and misty the wind is rising. We steamed past Giglio Island to see the tragic wreck of the Costa Concordia. It looks sad lying on its side in front of a small village. We then head north arriving at a spacious bay on the south side of Elba. We are opposite a sandy beach with the
usual rows of multicolored umbrellas and deck chairs. We head into the shore to a town called 'Lacona', it is wall to wall camping and caravan parks. It is however very neat but not very interesting. However, we find a small car hire shop and book a car for tomorrow. Elba is the third biggest island in Italy 29 kms long maximum width 18 Kms. It is very mountainous with lots of bays. Elba is famous for being the place where Napoleon was exiled in 1814. The Population is 30,000
People.
Monday we take Nicky and Ester in a small car head off to small town Capoliveri near Porto Azzurro ,the drive is stunning ,colorful white and pink houses ,lush mountain greenery and lots of spring flowers.Next stop is the capital Portoferraio on the north side.Sun is out but the wind is very cold.The city is stunning ,old fort and shophouses surrounding the Harbour with lots of boats and one huge yacht .
We walk the city,hilly .Unfortunately Napoleons house is close for renovation .We have a beautiful fish soup for lunch overlooking the Harbour then off to see the rest of the island .
Driving along the north coast we pass beautiful small bays with white sandy beaches and clear dark blue water.
We come to Marciana Marina.We stop to enjoy this quaint village with small Harbour and colorful bathing boxes.Girls find a shop with local produce,lots of different pasta s,jams,olive oils,we buy a large bottle of Chianti to dress the boat up.
From there we head to the mountains,first village is Poggio,views from here are spectacular green forests to blue sea.Driving along the rest of the north and west coast the road is very and hundreds of meters above the water in many places sheer cliffs.Nicky comments fear is good for you.We pass several very small fishing villages in tiny sandy coves, you can see why the tourists would love this place in summer.
The weather has calmed down. After dinner we watch the final episode of Ken Folletts 'Pillars of the Earth', which we really enjoyed.Tomorrow we head back south.
Tuesday it is absolutely flat calm and sunny we have an easy cruise back to the island of Giannutri just past Giglio. The island is quiet small with only a few inhabitants. It has a resort hotel but it looks totally deserted making the place look like a ghost town. There is an old Roman Villa that we eventually find, again unkempt. We have a swim off the little pier in beautiful clean water about the same temperature as Portsea. It is not a good anchorage so we head back to Porto Ercole.
JB and Mick