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.
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. 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. It was very different from any beach I've been to in the past. The sun never really came out so we snuggled up on our towels and we all passed out.
We headed back to the resort to shower and get ready for dinner. After dinner we drove to a small village nearby. We walked around and the town was really cute. 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.
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. 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 even sat on top of the tallest rock we could climb to and sang the Circle of Life while looking out over the horizon.
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. 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.
The next day we were just going to stay by the pool and relax because we were leaving around 2. Again...a cloudy morning. Dana, Kelly and I got some of the kayaks from the resort and took them out for a 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. 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.
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