We’ve Made it to Elba and the Surfing’s Fine

We have reached the far end of the island of Elba, and we finally have a solid internet connection. For those of you (God bless ya) who come here daily, thank you for your patience, and from now on I shall be able to give you a window into what I am doing here on this island off of Tuscany.

It took quite a while of driving for us to get here from Barga, located in Tuscany’s northern corner. The autostrada was fast, we cruised at 140 km and then we stopped at Autogrill. I said to Cindy, ‘why don’t they have these in the US?’ when we lined up for a delicious meal…pesto with rotini pasta, fresh salad with balsamic and good olive oil, a plate of sheep’s milk cheese and proscuito, it was all good and we didn’t even get the hot entrees of mixed grilled peppers, chicken and risottos. In any case, why do we have to settle for crap like McDonalds instead of food and wine this good on our interstates? Surely someone besides us has wondered this.

We ditched the rental car (a quick and nimble Alfa-Romeo) and lugged our suitcases on board a Toremar ferry. It was a sunny hour-long journey, with sailboats joining us in the channel, and then we landed at Portoferraio, where we found Rent Mondo. A very friendly chap there set us up with a little Renault and with the top down we headed up the curvy hills to Capo Sant’Andrea, in the town of Marciana.

The Hotel Ilio is where we are staying for the next four nights….a boutique hotel with 20 rooms right next to a nature preserve about 300 steps from the stony beach.

We dine at 8 and then we’ll meet Maurizio, our guide, who has promised to show us his island and all there is to see here.