Since we couldn’t stay in the Reserve for the night, we headed to Girolata and found a great spot to anchor. This tiny village is only accessible by water or a mule track.
The sun was setting and the vivid red of the rocks around us was dreamlike.
It also had a small stretch of beach, but what’s this?
John has been teasing me about my obsession with postcards lately but that is how we decide where to go and what to see. I make him go to the first tabacco shop and sift through the postcard racks. Then we look at where it is and head that direction…John says we navigate by postcard…haha.
One of our latest finds was Scandola Nature Reserve. It is a Unesco World Heritage Site so you can imagine the landscaping is postcard-perfect. You cannot stay in the Reserve overnight but we got lucky and found a private cove with its own beach just as a boat was leaving so down went the anchor for the day. We took the dinghy around and went into some small caves. Supposedly it is the clearest water in the Med and we could see a lot of fish right from the boat and we could see the bottom and the sand. So we took out our snorkel gear and jumped in. A bit chilly at first but a relief from the heat of the sun. Not a big variety of fish but beautiful, none the less…that is until a jelly fish found me…OUCH…swim back to the boat as fast as you can…oh no, another one. Enough snorkeling for today. A little meat tenderizer and I am fine.
Time to move on. Get up at dawn, around 5:30am. Put out the sails, turn on the motor, in that order and get around the North point to the West side. A long day but worth every minute as we pull into Calvi (the picture of Jay Sea Dee is a keeper):
The citadel is actually home of the French Foreign Legion so not much going on. We did find the pile of rubble that they claim was the home of Christopher Columbus, who was born here 1450. There is also a hotel, a square and a festival named after him. You can’t blame them for being so proud of one of their own. It really humbles us to be in places with such history.
We enjoyed walking around town. Stopped for a drink at an outdoor cafe and got serenaded by an accordian player. Now John insists I learn some Italian tune to play…have to work on that. 
Finally at sundown, we were sitting on Jay Sea Dee enjoying the scenery when the mountains surrounding us turned deep red and as quickly as it came, it was gone but it was breathtaking. If you look closely you can see the snow on the top of the mountains…almost like home.
There was one last thing we wanted to do on Elba before leaving so we hopped on the bus again, braving the hairpin turns and departed into Marciano. Of course on the way over the driver tells us there is to be a strike of all buses at 5pm so make sure we get back before that…otherwise, it’s a long long long walk back.
We saw on a postcard the view from the top of the vernicular but it didn’t show the vernicular. We arrived and my jaw dropped. Anyone that really knows me knows of my “Fear of Heights” and I did not take enough Xanax that morning to deal with this but…off we go (and my other predicament…do I share the bucket with John or brave it on my own)…we shared(see the shadow photo):
The view was totally worth it. We bought panini’s at the bottom and enjoyed lunch on the rocks at the top. They closed the vernicular for an hour and a half in the afternoon for their lunch time so we just hung out. We could see the whole Island of Elba from there. Then hopped on the bus back to Marina Di Campo and we made it back before 5pm to avoid the strike.
The original plan was to rent scooters and go around the 91 miles of coastline here in Elba but it was pretty expensive, you have to wear these huge motorcycle helmets, and the bus gets you to the same places for only 7 Euros per person for a daily pass so on the bus we went.
Our first stop was the capital city of Portoferraio. This is where most of the people come from mainland Italy. The port is large with many ferries coming and going. We hiked up to the Medici Fortress, built in 1548 by the Medici Grand Duke “Cosimo I”. I got some great shots of the lighthouse.
Napoleon has two residences here on the Island and we decided to hop back on the bus and head for San Martino to his “summer villa”. Do you recognize the quote “Able was I ere I saw Elba”"?
Finally, we spent hours on the bus just watching the scenery pass by and feeling like we were on “Mr. Toads Wild Ride”. I did say a few prayers as the big tourist-size bus curved along roads with nothing but sheer cliffs on one side, having to stop suddenly for the cars to pass in the opposite direction. One little girl with her Grandmother sat in the seats next to us and she sang the song "the wheels on the bus go round and round..." in Italian of course, but I will remember that forever. The views were stunning as the sea below glistened in the sun and the iron ore that sustained Elba for many years stained the rocks red. Elba is still part of Tuscany so all the homes here are Tuscan style and with the sun setting on the orange stucco, the light and colors were just magnificent. Another day in Paradise!
Today, the 21st of June, is the longest day of the year, the first day of Summer, and John’s Birthday!!!!
He got the best present ever…a full day of sailing (35 miles) and I’m not talking “motor sailing” which is what we usually have to do here. No matter what direction we are heading, the wind is always on our nose…but not today. We had 20-25 knot winds and sailed all day long.
We are now at the Island of Elba in the Gulf of Campo. We are no longer in the land of the Rich and Famous but in the land of “The Middle Class”…yeahhhhhh! 26 miles away you can see the Island of Monte Cristo…pretty cool (see photo #3).
Napoleon Bonaparte reigned over Elba in 1814 when he was exiled from France but he left in 1815 to begin the famous “Hundred Days” that ended with the Battle of Waterloo.
I made John one of his favorite meals tonight…codfish balls and popovers. Oh how I love baking at sea level (some of these things never work at 8,500 feet high). And then he got a homemade carrot cake for dessert.
Another great birthday for sure!
Since we couldn’t find a car rental in Lucca, we decided to find a tour group to tag along with and visit some Chianti Villas. We found space available with the “Accidental Tourist” group. We just had to get up early and get on the first train to Florence where they picked us up and we headed out to the countryside of Pontassieve which is a part of the Rufino area of Chianti producers and to the Grignano Estate. 
A Chianti producer usually has Olive trees and other types of trees surrounding the property such as Walnut trees. Our guide, Steve, took us through the process of making Olive Oil as well as the different types of Chianti. We had a great wine tasting and just enjoyed the tranquility of the Estate. Chianti has come a long way from the days of the cheap red wine you drank so you could have the straw covered bottle to use as a candle holder.
Someone we met on a train told us we shouldn’t miss Lucca so after Pisa, we got back on the train and headed for the walled city. The walls enclose the old town and are the best preserved Renaissance defense ramparts in Europe. The first wall (there are three total) is 2,000 years old. The ramparts are about 60 feet wide and circle 2 1/2 miles around the city. No cars or scooters are allowed on the ramparts, only pedestrians and bicycles. The Hotel San Marco where we were staying the night rents the bikes so we climbed on and headed to town. Oh what fun it was! We circled the city a few times before heading down into the crowds for dinner.
In its heyday, Lucca had 160 of these towers which were the homes of a wealthy merchant family. There were 70 churches inside the city walls at that time as well. One of the stories is that this church with St. Michael on top was the most visited as the church council members would climb up stairs on the back of this statue and pull ropes on pully’s to make Michael “fly”, thus ahhhhhhing the townspeople.
As exhausted as we were from our side trip to Lisbon, we knew we were just steps away from Tuscany. And we can’t resist checking things out. So we got on a train and headed towards Pisa. Had to see that leaning tower you know. It was a downpour as we arrived but it finally broke a bit and we started hiking towards the tower. There were umbrella salesmen EVERYWHERE. Even though we came prepared with our rain slickers, they just couldn’t understand why we kept saying “NO” to the umbrella offer…”very good price” they kept saying.
Yes, we had to do the “Cheesy” tourist poses, but I shot a couple of strangers doing the poses too and it looks pretty funny if you are not lined up with your camera at the right angle (see photo #3…haha).
So the building of the tower started in 1174, intended as the bell tower for the Duomo (church next door). The tower currently leans at 14 feet from perpendicular. John and I decided that was just a bit more lean than we wanted to test so we did NOT go up into the tower. It was closed from 1990 until 2001 because it was so dangerous and they removed tons of soil from under its foundation and put in lead counterweights to make it “Safe”????
Because of the weather and because we were actually burnt out on touring museums and churches, we left after about an hour of walking around in thunderstorms and headed to Lucca.
