We had a good sail with only the jib to Portoferraio (meaning “Iron Port” in Italian) on Elba Island. Napoleon was exiled in Elba in 1814 after his defeats in Europe and his forced abdication and made his residence in Portoferraio. He did not stay long and Waterloo was history.
We anchored in 16-20 kn winds at Rada di Portoferraio. It was a very large bay well protected from the swell but we were still subjected to the winds. Our anchor held well but we did see another boat drifting through the harbour amazingly missing the other anchored boats. We received some welcome rain but did not last long. Unfortunately, we felt it was too windy to leave the boat to head to shore to see Portoferraio. Beautiful town viewed from the Rada.
From Portoferraio we went to Marina Cala de Medici. Another uninteresting place (it did have the best all round grocery store we had seen in Italy) but a good marina. After that, to Porto di Pisa which also had a double narrow entrance like Roma. We docked at the back of the port with good access to supplies. Skipper found a great bike path into Pisa, some narrow roads as you got into Pisa. So, we got the bikes out, dusted off the rust, lubricated them up and down the passerelle. The next day we had a hot cycle into Pisa (15 km) and only got lost a few times.
We rounded the corner into the Piazza del Duomo there was the Torre di Pisa. It did not disappoint. The tower, the Cathedral, Bapistry and surrounding buildings were great but a lttle crowded. Most we had seen since Napoli. Except this time they were tourists. We did not have an EU vacciation certificate so we could not enter the buildings. This was the first time that the lack of the certificate hindered us. We tried to get one but usual bureaucratic fashion, there was no response from the Italian government even though we had gone to the site they recommended to get one. We found a nice spot for lunch before the cycle back. Well worth the trip.
Out new BBQ (Lotus grill) has been great for the hot evenings. We grilled octopus (very popular in Italy) for a tomato pasta dish.
