Able Was I, Ere, I Saw Elba

And our last weekend excursion began!

The journey, including a walk, train, bus, boat, and van took about 6 hours. Whew. I think we hit all the means of transportation except for plane and unicycle. It was a longg day but we arrived in Elba around noon. (Do the math, we had to leave at 6 am bleh) Max was leading this trip because his family actually owns the resort we were staying at in Elba.

The view as we were coming in on the boat!

We walked up to the resort, Cala di Mola and it was absolutely gorgeous! The pool faced the Bay of Mola which leads to the Tyrrhenian sea. We got to our room which was wayyy up the hill, the whole island is basically a mountain, then we immediately changed into our bathing suits. The resort served us lunch and dinner everyday which was incredible! Lots of fish and pork options...I can't wait to eat chicken when I get home, never thought I'd say that.

The pool! It was actually a salt water pool and it was so easy to swim which was helpful for my doggie paddle :)

Looking up at the resort from the pool, it goes way back into the trees!

After we waited around a bit hoping the weather would clear up but it stayed consistently cloudy. Nevertheless, we piled into our three cars and drove towards a supermarket Max was taking us to, to buy towels. None of us had packed them and we ended up buying the cheapest ones we could find. I ended up getting one with a whale on it with a sneaky little smile. I also got sun tan lotion for 12.50 euros...redonkulous. We got to the first beach around 4:00, a lot later than expected, and I was completely thrown into an foreign land. Every man I saw was wearing a speedo, there were topless women everywhere, and naked babies and toddlers and adolescents running around. I couldn't stop giggling. I might've taken a few pics of a man tossing his naked child around...then I just felt creepy. The sun never really came out so we snuggled up on our towels and we all passed out. I got in the water at one point with Lori and it was freeeezing. I had to do it though, I can't stand going to the beach and not getting in the water.

We headed back to the resort to shower and get ready for dinner. On our way home we stopped at these cute little stands all along the roads selling wine. We picked up about 10 bottles for the group for the weekend to go with our dinners because it was cheaper than buying wine from the resort. We all were feeling pretty tired but Max had a whole night planned for us visiting a village and going to a disco tech with some of his friends so I bucked up and went with a smaller group of girls. We walked around this one village, which I can't remember the name of but I'll find out, which was really cute. I met the largest dog in the world who was drooling uncontrollably. What shocked me the most was how many children were out this late at night. There were kids playing soccer in the street at midnight. We met up with the people that actually worked at the resort and headed to a real Italian disco tech! It wasn't very crowded because it's the off season for Elba. Truthfully, the whole island wasn't crowded because it is the offseason. It ended up being a lot of fun! They played a lot of American music which we could sing a long and dance to. It was such a funny situation though because all of his friends didn't speak very much English, and none of us spoke very much Italian. Lots of awkward silences and attempted hand gestures.

One of the views on the way to the first beach!

The view on the way to the second beach!

The next morning we woke up around 8 to grab breakfast which was served by the resort. After we left for a different beach which we were told was one of the most beautiful beaches in Elba, which turned out to be so true! Again it was a very cloudy morning but that never stopped us. We laid our towels down and a few of us immediately headed towards the rocks we saw off in the distance. Adventure was calling! We climbed barefoot and barehanded across tons and tons of large rocks. As MK said, we felt so true to ourselves and nature because we were barefoot climbing rocks! Argh! I am woman hear me roar! This was by far one of my favorite things we did this weekend. We stayed out there for over an hour just climbing from spot to spot exploring. We met a guy also climbing the rocks who we called mountain man. He also had a colander with him...not sure why he wanted pasta out in the ocean. We joked that he was like Tom Hanks in Castaway and the colander was his Wilson hahaha. We even sat on top of the tallest rock we could climb to and sang the Circle of Life while looking out over the horizon. (Em I was thinking of you!) We eventually climbed back down to the beach and walked over to the bar on the beach. I had a Bellini and a Strawberry Daiquiri and I felt so exotic and posh! Again there were tonsss of speedos and nakey people. There was one naked toddler who was all over the place. His mom was holding him at one point and he literally pooped on his mom...that may be one reason your kid should wear pants. We left the beach around 4:30 or so and relaxed by the pool at the hotel for a bit. After we showered and got ready for dinner again. We had appertivo's at Max's parents restaurant which was right down the road from the resort...as you can tell he's kinda rich. The restaurant was right on the water and it was incredible. His dad also designed the building and it was so cool, there was an indoor part, a huge outdoor part, and a night club in the basement. We were there on a Saturday night though and it was completely deserted, I hope it was just because it's not peak season at Elba. We headed back to the resort for dinner which was delicious then we headed to another village. June 2nd is actually Italy's independence day so there was a huge festival going on at Porto Azzuro, the village, and it seemed that the symbol of independence day was flowers and hearts because they were everywhere. It was lovely! We walked around a bit from vendor to vendor and store to store then ended up staying sitting outside listening to some live music. We headed back to the resort pretty late but it was a fun night overall.

Our band album cover haha, MK, Laura, Katie, Dana, and me!

Me by the water!

All us girls playing in the water :)

A sign that was hanging in the second village, Porto Azzuro haha. No pooping allowed!

The next day we were just going to stay by the pool and relax because we were leaving around 2. Again...a cloudy morning. We were laying out for a bit and I attempted to read Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I'm still on the first chapter haha, I just can't get into it especially with all the beautiful scenery around us. So Dana, Kelly and I got some of the kayaks from the resort and took them out for ride! This was my second favorite part of the weekend. We were fighting the current for a while and eventually made it to this big boulder on the side of the water. All of my practice at Northern Neck during the summers gave me some great arm strength for those bad boys. We got out and lifted our kayaks onto the rock and emptied out some of the water that had gotten in from the waves. We sat there for a bit amongst some glass and trash but it didn't matter because the view was breathtaking. We could see the horizon along with the mountains and little villages and houses in the trees. It's the most lush island I've ever seen...not that I've been to too many islands in my day.

Our time on Elba came to a close and we got all our stuff together and packed into the vans to repeat our 6 hour trip. From van, to boat, to bus, to train, to foot we made it back home around 10:20 or so. It was a long beautiful weekend but a great last excursion for our group.