Facile, Facile, Facile
Federico, the freelance photographer we hung out with during the White Night, lives on a small Tuscan island called Isola D’Elba. When we told Diana about our plans to relax for a few days on the beach at Capri she suggested we instead go to Isola D’Elba for a less polluted, less touristy, and less expensive time. We caught the ferry with Diana and Federico’s promise of emerald water and hidden beaches.
Upon arrival we were looking to rent a car. We’ve learned that the best deals come from the place that looks the most dilapidated and Rent Chiappi fit that description. Inside we found three 70 year-old women playing what looked like an intense game of bridge. The gang disbanded and the ringleader explained slowly enough for us to understand that she could rent us a Fiat Panda. When the deal was done and the Panda was ours, we asked for directions to our hotel on the other side of the island. She replied with “Facile, facile, facile,” (it’s easy, easy, easy) along with some sort of vague hand gesture presumably in the direction we needed to go. That insider information plus a map that looked like a 5th grader’s rendition of Elba Island would be our navigational tools.
My friend Judson once described my other friend Eddie’s Hyundai as barely meeting the minimum requirements to technically qualify as an automobile. That same description came to mind as I popped our sea-foam aluminum box into first and shuddered off towards the west coast in search of Patresi. Oddly enough, the drive did turn out to be “facile, facile, facile” and roundabouts where the gambling grannies of Rent Chiappi had gestured.
Not a lot happened during our days on Elba Island – which is exactly what we were hoping for. There was a lot of sun, a bunch of little beaches, and plenty of wine. On the last day we circumnavigated the whole island and sang Stevie Wonder songs before returning our radio-less, yet charismatic Panda.
Elba is gorgeous and not yet infected with the plague of mass tourism. The same cannot be said for what was our next destination – Siena.
Tags: Travel
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