Island Adventures

And we're on Elba Island! Napoleon definitely got a pretty good shake when he was exiled here...

     Getting here went smoothly, but it's definitely something of a trip. The bus ride from Rome is about 3 hours, then a ferry ride, and then we had to get to our Airbnb. Michael booked that a while ago, and it has lovely reviews, all praising it's "seclusion" and "remoteness". The island is beautiful, with narrow winding roads curling up around stunning hills looking down over secluded bays and wave-kissed beaches. But that also means basically no buses and very strenuous (and risky!) walking. So we rented the seemingly only semi-automatic car on the island (neither of us trust our minimal experience driving manuals on these roads... we forgot to consider that gap in our educations) and set off, only for it to immediately start pouring rain. That combined with the fact that lanes aren't really a thing here and that our place is not really on a map (it's at the end of a very long dirt road) made arrival a bit adventurous. But the rain stopped almost as soon as we arrived, and the view is going to make it very hard to complain about anything further.

This is the view from our Airbnb. Not bad at all.

Well, except for the fact that the airbnb doesn't have wifi, but given that our days will be spent conferencing (cough, beaching) that can be forgiven.

The conference is held at a resort in Biodola, a tiny enclave that is basically all beach or beachfront property. And the resort is swanky - the grounds give way right into the bay, and the gardens are spilling with flowers and the pools are the fancy infinity type. The conference-covered lunch included all you can eat giant  prawns, whole fish grilled to perfection in its skin, and a huge array of amazing italian desserts. So it's made an impression so far. While Michael attended the sessions today (and gave his talk! He's now scot-free, almost), I got some work done while lounging poolside/oceanside (the rover isn't taking a vacation this week, unfortunately).  Our plan for the rest of the week is to split time with the conference and exploring, with time slightly weighted towards the latter.

The view from the ferry, coming into Portoferraio.

The view from my workdesk today.

I am a little overdressed for the day... our airbnb is quite cold (the apartment is tucked under the shade of the mountain), and somehow despite all indications, I didn't anticipate the weather at the resort. And to be fair, it's pretty windy, so although the sun is nice I've been appreciating the scarf. But tomorrow I'm ditching my boots. And bringing more sunscreen.

Not gonna get over the views anytime soon, I think.

I think we've come at an excellent time of year. It's not quite "spend all day in the water" weather, but there are spring flowers everywhere and we've beaten the tourist hordes that descend on this island every summer.

The one house up on the mountain? Yeah, that's our airbnb, as seen from the conference grounds.

The water isn't what you would call warm yet, but I think it's going to tempt me anyway.

Talk accomplished! And feeling fancy.

I thought that I asked for a water, and said yes when the waiter asked if I'd like some fruit in it. Something was lost in translation, but it was delicious.