Planes, Trains and Automobiles: My Dive Trip to Elba, Italy

Before moving here, I already knew that we were going to do a lot of traveling. However, a few things I never expected to do was:
1.) Become a certified diver, and
2.) Actually dive in the Mediterranean.



So, what a treat it was to visit Elba, a Tuscan Island off the coast of Piombino, Italy. It took a little effort to reach our destination, hence the title of this post.



My friend Tori and I flew Ryan Air, the European "no-frills" airline, from Charelroi (South Brussels) directly into Pisa, Italy and overnighted in a small hostel near the airport.

Very early the next morning, we took a taxi to the train station, caught the train to Piombino and then hopped on a ferry to Elba! (Hey, I left out boats!) What an adventure!

Upon our arrival into Elba, we were picked up by our Dive Master, Ricardo, who dropped us off at our hotel. Unfortunately the sea conditions were not suitable for diving that day, so we had to wait and hope for better weather on the next day. So instead, Tor and I took off to explore a little of the island...



Elba is best known as the island where Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled. Not a bad place to be exiled, as Napoleon was made governor of the island and also had a winter and summer villa here.



Poor Napoleon must have gotten "island-fever" however, because after a short stint here (300 days), he sailed off to fight the famous battle of Waterloo -- right here in Belgium!



After a nice lunch in Portoferraio, we walked through town and visited Villa dei Mulini, Napoleon's winter villa.



We then spent a leisurely afternoon checking out the town, which today is still a fishing village and walked the U-shaped amphitheater of streets terracing up the rocky promontory.



There are also two massive fortresses here, the Forte Falcone and the Forte Stella, which we could see during our walk.



Later that evening, we happened across a local who was nice enough to not only recommend a good seafood restaurant for dinner, but went out of his way to walk us there! We had a FAB evening with incredibly fresh seafood (I had the white seabream / Tor had giant prawns) while chatting the night away!



And thanks to a few friendly "locals" at the restaurant, we were treated to complimentary desserts and fresh roasted chestnuts. Italian hospitality at its best! The dumplings you see pictured below look just like our Okinawa Dango's, but the filling is made from rice with a delicate lemon flavor -- delizioso and squisito! We received 2 rounds of these yummy and naughty treats...



The following day, we were able to make a dive on the western side of the island in Pomonte. The dive site is well known for the 1976 wreckage of the cargo ship Elviscott, which lies 16 metres on the bottom. It was a first for me to dive inside an actual wreck!



Getting into the water from the rocky shore proved to be very challenging and I was proud of myself for accomplishing this (one of the guys in our group didn't even make it out, after swallowing too much sea water upon entry!)





After the dive, our group enjoyed a seafood pasta lunch at a local cafe on the way back to the dive shop.



Tori and I had one final dinner in Elba before hopping back on the ferry to Piombino where we spent the night. The next morning was the return bus and train rides into Pisa to catch our afternoon flight back to Belgium.



While we gals were away, Dirk and Ray took the girls to Plopsa Indoor where they had a fun-filled day bonding with their daddies (and with ice cream)...



And it was oh-so-sweet to see the kiddo's and hubbies waiting for our return at the airport.

...Until our next dive in Hawaii, right Tor?!