Italian Mediterranean Travelogue and Photos of Elba

Elba

Fetovai Beach	Procchio Beach	Pomonte
Like Corsica, Elba has a connection with Napoleon Bonaparte. He was exiled there for 10 months following his army's defeat at the Battle of Nations in Liepzig in 1814. He lived In a mansion in Portoferraio, which still stands. He escaped to France and reformed his army. He met his final defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and was permanently exiled to the island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic. In modern times, Elba is a popular vacation spot for Europeans. It is a beautiful and mountainous island with many lovely beach resorts. We toured the island by taxi. The road that circled the island was narrow and hugged the edges of sheer cliffs. The taxi driver zoomed around the windy road in a way reminiscent of James Bond chase scenes. The photo on the right is Cavoli beach, one of Elba's most popular. Miracle at Civitavecchia At the end of our cruise, we disembarked at Civitavecchia, an industrial city on the Italian mainland about an hour from Rome. Our problem was how to get to the train station. We didn't book our taxi in time and were warned about a shortage of taxis that were already taking people to the airport or to their hotels. We resolved to walk to the train station. The cruise staff thought it might be a five minute walk. We didn't know how to get there. Gail prayed for the Lord's guidance. After prayer, a guide told us to take the free shuttle which would take passengers to the end of the port, about a quarter-mile away. We boarded the shuttle and were the only ones on the bus. The bus driver not only drove us to the port, but all the way to the train station, about a mile from the dock. It would have been a long and tiring walk with all our luggage. Thank God He heard our prayer.