18-Nov-22
The weather isn't supposed to be great today and we have no specific plans. We decided to take a car ferry to the Island of Elba. We looked it up, Napoleon spent about a year on Elba in exile after he failed to invade Russia. He was later exiled to and died on St. Helena - which is in the middle of nowhere in the Atlantic. Like...really nowhere. There's nothing near it.
Anyway, we took the car ferry from Piombino to Portoferraio, which we call Little Lead Town and Port Ironworks. (Piombo is lead and ferra is iron in Italian.)
We were pleasantly surprised that the lounge of the ferry had a ball pit and obstacle course/jungle gym/play place thing in it. KC loved it. Max was less sure. At some point the ride got pretty rough. KC thought it was fun. Max, who only recently figured out walking, was not a fan. She would get her balance just in time to fall down again.
Off we go!
We plan to just drive around and see what we can see.
KC and the crashing waves. (good band name)
We stopped here to try to get lunch. It's off-season and Google wasn't correct about the number of things that are actually open. We finally found a spot, had lunch, let KC run around the playground in the nearby park, and then went on with our drive.
This is mostly an adventure of lovely views. Padulella beach is down below.
Looking out along the north west side of the island.
We weren't hopeful, but tried to go to the cable car that takes you to the top of Monte Capanne, the tallest peak on Elba. It was closed until the weekend. But we stopped in Marciana to look at the view.
It's quite lovely. The beaches are supposed to be amazing and less crowded than other Italian beaches in the summer. We will definitely have to come back during the on-season.
On our way back to the ferry, we stopped here to try to find a geocache. We were unsuccessful. I was intrigued because this monument clearly has an American flag on it. After some translating, I discovered its a memorial to those lost during Operation Brassard from WWII.
The return trip was much fuller than the trip out.
I didn't know it had a double decker option.
The trip back was smoother, but busier.
Not a super exciting day, but it has definitely put Elba on our list of places to revisit/investigate more in season.
