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Today was the classic Italian beach day. But first it was time to visit the market in Marciana Marina. A typical Italian weekly market, with the usual stuff–clothing, shoes, kitchen stuff and one highlight–rotisserie chicken. We had asked our guide Tatiana her favorite place for lunch and she steered us […]

We took a long walk this morning up to the top of Madonna del Monte, the tallest peak on Elba. There is a chairlift that brings people up, but we took the path that is marked by 14 little white stone domes–stations with pictures of Jesus that look like phone […]

Here is a perfect cup of espresso. Note the thick ‘crema’ that’s what baristas the world over try to achieve. I drank one of these at about 7 pm one night last week and regretted it, as I tossed and turned ’til 4 am. Never again, at least at that […]

Some of the best moments on our trips are the times we arrange to meet ‘interesting local people’ and learn about fascinating work that is being done in the very place we are visiting. We had an eye-opening visit in Roberta Adami’s home this afternoon in the tiny village of […]

Elba is fantastico and fabuloso. I knew we’d like it here but I didn’t count on such stunning cliffside vistas, such gorgeous beaches, and such crisp dry wine and fresh from the sea meals. We began our day at the Hotel Ilio and met Maurizio, who had just returned from […]

We drove the northern part of the island of Elba and this was one of the scenes en route. We took the state-owned ferry, Toremar, in the distance you can see the Moby Lines boat coming back from the island.

We are in the midst of a media fast. I did not realize this when we set up this trip, but the fact is that Grifoglia, with green fields and rolling hills, is in the sticks. There is nothing here except a big garden, a lovely pool, a stone house […]

Late night at the cafe. We’re in the midst of an art show opening for Simon Camp, who is showing photographs of Rwanda in our cafe. It’s not a big night. Despite good publicity only a few people showed up. But it made me realize that doing this kind of […]

It’s been a criminally long time—two days without a single post. I actually did try to post on Monday but the photo I wanted to upload of Cindy in front of the MAMBO museum in Bologna refused to comply. She’s just had her story about that fine city posted on […]