Portoferraio

Elba is a small island about 10 km off the coast of Italy.

and Portoferraio is the main city on the island.

Those who were paying attention during history class in high school may recall that Napoleon was exiled to Elba in 1814. He was only there for 300 days before escaping back to France.

When cruising with Seabourn you have the following options regarding shore visits:

1) Just go ashore and figure out what you're going to do when you get there. There are often taxis available who will drive you around and explain things. This is a pretty good way to do it as it is reasonably cheap - especially if you find another couple who want to share the expense.

2) Pre-book a tour with a local tour guide using the internet. This can be hit or miss  and we generally avoid this option. Although we have done it a few times with good success.

3) Book one of Seabourn's tours. This is the most expensive option and again it is hit or miss. The writers who describe the tours in the Seabourn catalog are very good at describing, what turns out to be just a bus ride with a couple stops, as an exciting adventure.  Often, after taking one these less-than-exciting, trips you go back and read the description again and say "yup, that's what we just did".

Anyway, this was one of the Seabourn excursions that could have been better.

The two shots below are of Portoferraio - the first taken in morning light (when we arrived) and the second taken on the golden light of the late afternoon. The first was taken with my Samsung Galaxy 9+ phone and the second with my new Lumix camera.

Our first stop was on our excursion was a funky little town called Capoliveri.  Photos below.

The main square.

The local beer - a summer IPA - I didn't like it much at first but by the end of the bottle I thought it was okay.

The Mona Pizza - sorry for the shitty quality - it had a layer of plastic over it.

After Capoliveri we go to Porto Azzurro. This is a seaside town that is on the oposite side of the island from where we're docked.

And after that a visit to a local vineyard to sample their wine.

We had to walk down a pathway to get to the vineyard - about a half a kilometer. You should have heard all the bitching and complaining from some of the others.

A shot of the Encore from the vineyard.

And a shot of Portoferraio from the vineyard.

The wine was pretty good too, we tried a red and a white and even a rose.  They do not export to Canada or USA so we'll not be able to buy it at home.

A couple shots of the old section of Portoferraio. We were going to go down to the main square but time was running out so we just went back to the ship instead.