Intro Part II (Liguria & Lake Como) Part III (Villages & Friends) "From Napoleon to the Riviera II" Monday, 20 September. We felt the ship pitching and rolling all night. In the morning it was difficult to stand in the shower. There was hardly anyone in the dining room for breakfast. Jane was starting to feel queasy. We both ate light. We learned that the ship had to change course during the night because of the storm and was now heading for the Isle of Elba (Italy). Since we would be at sea for the next few hours, Jane went back to the cabin to rest. Darrell started reading The Debacle by Emile Zola, an accurate (though fictionalized) account of the defeat of Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. Instead of the usual buffet lunch in the dining room, the ship had a barbeque on deck at noon. The food was good (especially the roast suckling pig), but the heavy meal (ribs, giant shrimp) was hardly the thing to serve when so many people were seasick. The ship anchored in the harbor of Portoferraio at 2 p.m. (The name means "Ironworker Port". This was once the main port for shipping the iron ore mined on Elba fron ancient times.) Darrell took the first tender at 2:30 so he could buy some lire, not only for Elba but for our stay in Italy after the cruise. The rest of the group came ashore at 3:00. Since we had nearly an hour before our bus was due to take us to Villa San Martino, we walked nearly to the top of the huge Fortress (built by Cosimo Medici about 1548). There were great views of the city.
It had been a gray day from the beginning, but it was getting worse all the time. Our bus was about 15 minutes late, but fortunately we were all on board before it started to pour. The other Elderhostel group was ahead of us (as was always the case). Their bus turned around without stopping and returned to Portoferraio. Our group protested when our hired guide proposed doing the same, so the bus did stop at Villa San Martino. Jane and Darrell were especially opposed to turning back because the villa had been closed (May 1st) on our only prior visit to Elba. So we all pulled out our umbrellas and trudged down the long driveway to the villa. San Martino was Napoleon's summer house during his 10 month exile on Elba. His principal residence was the Villa dei Mulini in Portoferraio, but all the tours seem to go to San Martino. The large building you see as you approach Villa San Martino was built after his death and now serves as a museum. It actually blocks the view of the small, fairly simple house behind it where Napoleon stayed. The little villa has a lovely view back toward the port. The largest room is the Egyptian Room, so named and decorated in honor of Napoleon's disastrous expedition there.
The rain had stopped by the time the bus got us back to the city, so Jane and I took a walk in the old town. We got back to the ship just before 7 p.m. The ship sailed for Port Cervo, Sardinia, soon after. After dinner we played bridge for an hour with the Grants in the ship's library. Although the wind had subsided considerably, Jane played it safe and got some seasick pills from the ship's nurse before we went to bed. |
