Day 18: Massa Marittima
The weather is warm and sunny this morning for our expedition to the island of Elba. We drive to Piombino and get our tickets for the 11 am car ferry; the trip to the main town--Portoferraio--takes about an hour.
Once on the ferry we climb to the top deck to get some sun and sea air. Most of our fellow passengers are German tourists; Elba is very popular vacation destination for then. The sun is warm and I enjoy watching the mainland recede as we approach the island.
Elba is very hilly--there are actually three thousand foot mountains in the center of the island--and the coastline is made up of a series of picture book bays, some with pretty sand beaches. The main town--Portoferraio (this was once an iron mining center) is an attractive town of mostly pastel buildings climbing up from the large, almost circular harborThere is a fortress guarding the entrance to the harbor and there is still an operating fishing fleet. There are a lot of Napoleon-related historical sites here--this is where he was exiled after being removed as emperor. He lived here for nine months and, while not planning his campaign to return to power, gave some of his attention to improving the administration of the island.
Our plan is to spend about four hours driving around as much of the island as we can....there is a pretty extensive network of roads that both circle the coast line and also go into the interior. The island is about 20 miles long and 6 miles wide. Driving along the north coast, we are struck by how green the island is and how the resorts seem to be of a appealing size....small hotels and houses that seem to fit in with the landscape. The island also seems to be well maintained and the towns are pleasant and manageable. As we begin our drive, it turns overcast and when we reach the town of Marciana Marina and stop for lunch at a small bar with tables right on the water, we are hoping for the return of the sun. Even without the sun, we have a nice lunch--shrimp salad for Diana and a focaccia sandwich for me--watching the boats in the harbor and people watching.
Of course, just as we finish lunch and drive off, the sun comes out. Our route takes us inland and up to the hill town of Marciana, set on the slope of Mt. Capanne, the over 3,000 foot mountain at the center of the island. The road twists up the mountain side and there are gorgeous views of the north coast of Elba. They also have a cable car that climbs to the summit, but that will have to wait for our next visit to Elba. The hill town of Marciana is quite spectacularly sited and we stop to admire the views from some well placed parking areas.
The road continues back down to the coast and stays close to the shore on the western and southern sides of Elba, although the road climbs and dives regularly along the sides of the cliffs that come down to the water. There are some very nice strands of white sand beach mixed in with the rocky coastline. We are impressed by the number of bicycles out on the road; it is a major activity on the island. There are two or three more beautiful harbors along the southern shore that we visit before heading back to Portoferraio to catch the ferry. We have a little town to drive along the harbor, which has a nice pedestrian promenade. We stop for a gelato and take a look at the cruise ship that has docked since our arrival, before returning to the ferry for the return trip.
We are both favorably impressed Elba; the only negative is that the Italian presence on island, especially during the summer, is heavily outweighed by the German tourists. But it is certainly a physically beautiful place, with a combination of mountains, beaches and historical sites--it is not a one-dimensional resort island.
When we return to Massa, I take a walk around the neighborhood of the hotel. I discover a small trattoria--Il Pungolo--on the next street (I had seen signs for it, but I could never locate it). After checking the menu, we decide to eat there this evening. It is located on the ground floor of an apartment building but it is decorated vlery attractively with several small rooms. There is only one other table occupied (by two German women whom we had seen on two previous evenings at the restaurants where we had been eating) but the atmosphere is very cheerful and the waiter is very welcoming. We have one of our best meals of the trip tonight. The pastas are both exceptional--mine is tagliatelle alla Pungolo---with delicious mussels and fresh tomatoes--and Diana's is tagliatelle with a meat ragu--really savory. For seconds, Diana has a terrific veal and potato stew (spezzatino) and I have very good plate of swordfish carpaccio as well as a mixed vegetable sformato--a baked vegetable pudding studded with pieces of potato and carrot. We have a wonderful fresh white wine from the next town over, Valdipiana.
Another distinctive feature of Il Pungolo is the recorded American jazz they are playing. The waiter is tickled when I identify the recording (Jazz Samba with Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd). He then puts on a blues CD which I have to ask him to identify....it is by Keb Mo'. The bill for all this comes to less than $30.00--a terrific meal. No dessert and a short walk back to the hotel.
Diana and Jim
Once on the ferry we climb to the top deck to get some sun and sea air. Most of our fellow passengers are German tourists; Elba is very popular vacation destination for then. The sun is warm and I enjoy watching the mainland recede as we approach the island.
Elba is very hilly--there are actually three thousand foot mountains in the center of the island--and the coastline is made up of a series of picture book bays, some with pretty sand beaches. The main town--Portoferraio (this was once an iron mining center) is an attractive town of mostly pastel buildings climbing up from the large, almost circular harborThere is a fortress guarding the entrance to the harbor and there is still an operating fishing fleet. There are a lot of Napoleon-related historical sites here--this is where he was exiled after being removed as emperor. He lived here for nine months and, while not planning his campaign to return to power, gave some of his attention to improving the administration of the island.
Our plan is to spend about four hours driving around as much of the island as we can....there is a pretty extensive network of roads that both circle the coast line and also go into the interior. The island is about 20 miles long and 6 miles wide. Driving along the north coast, we are struck by how green the island is and how the resorts seem to be of a appealing size....small hotels and houses that seem to fit in with the landscape. The island also seems to be well maintained and the towns are pleasant and manageable. As we begin our drive, it turns overcast and when we reach the town of Marciana Marina and stop for lunch at a small bar with tables right on the water, we are hoping for the return of the sun. Even without the sun, we have a nice lunch--shrimp salad for Diana and a focaccia sandwich for me--watching the boats in the harbor and people watching.
Of course, just as we finish lunch and drive off, the sun comes out. Our route takes us inland and up to the hill town of Marciana, set on the slope of Mt. Capanne, the over 3,000 foot mountain at the center of the island. The road twists up the mountain side and there are gorgeous views of the north coast of Elba. They also have a cable car that climbs to the summit, but that will have to wait for our next visit to Elba. The hill town of Marciana is quite spectacularly sited and we stop to admire the views from some well placed parking areas.
The road continues back down to the coast and stays close to the shore on the western and southern sides of Elba, although the road climbs and dives regularly along the sides of the cliffs that come down to the water. There are some very nice strands of white sand beach mixed in with the rocky coastline. We are impressed by the number of bicycles out on the road; it is a major activity on the island. There are two or three more beautiful harbors along the southern shore that we visit before heading back to Portoferraio to catch the ferry. We have a little town to drive along the harbor, which has a nice pedestrian promenade. We stop for a gelato and take a look at the cruise ship that has docked since our arrival, before returning to the ferry for the return trip.
We are both favorably impressed Elba; the only negative is that the Italian presence on island, especially during the summer, is heavily outweighed by the German tourists. But it is certainly a physically beautiful place, with a combination of mountains, beaches and historical sites--it is not a one-dimensional resort island.
When we return to Massa, I take a walk around the neighborhood of the hotel. I discover a small trattoria--Il Pungolo--on the next street (I had seen signs for it, but I could never locate it). After checking the menu, we decide to eat there this evening. It is located on the ground floor of an apartment building but it is decorated vlery attractively with several small rooms. There is only one other table occupied (by two German women whom we had seen on two previous evenings at the restaurants where we had been eating) but the atmosphere is very cheerful and the waiter is very welcoming. We have one of our best meals of the trip tonight. The pastas are both exceptional--mine is tagliatelle alla Pungolo---with delicious mussels and fresh tomatoes--and Diana's is tagliatelle with a meat ragu--really savory. For seconds, Diana has a terrific veal and potato stew (spezzatino) and I have very good plate of swordfish carpaccio as well as a mixed vegetable sformato--a baked vegetable pudding studded with pieces of potato and carrot. We have a wonderful fresh white wine from the next town over, Valdipiana.
Another distinctive feature of Il Pungolo is the recorded American jazz they are playing. The waiter is tickled when I identify the recording (Jazz Samba with Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd). He then puts on a blues CD which I have to ask him to identify....it is by Keb Mo'. The bill for all this comes to less than $30.00--a terrific meal. No dessert and a short walk back to the hotel.
Diana and Jim
