April 26 - Porto Santo Stefano, Tuscany, Italy

 We anchored in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the west coast of Italy on this gorgeous sunny day. The temperature was perfect and there was little humidity and no strong breeze. I have been to other places along this coast but not this specific town so I booked a panoramic drive. It was a marvelous day! After tendering ashore we boarded a bus to take us around the area. Porto Santo Stefano is on a peninsula which is part of a commune (in Italy that’s an administrative entity that sounds similar to a county to me) called Monte Argentario. That in turn is part of Tuscany. The peninsula was an island in the past but the sea currents over time have connected it to the mainland by two narrow pieces of land called tomboli. I don’t know how it is in high summer but today everything was very lush and green.

Porto Santo Stefano

Just a pretty sight I saw along the way

Monte Argentario was occupied by Etruscans before the Roman era. During the Punic wars between 264 BC and 146 BC a local family was given the area in return for money it lent to the Roman Republic. The peninsula’s name is probably derived from the Latin word Argentarii meaning money lender. In the centuries following it reverted to Empire rule until sometime in the 4th century AD when Constantine the Great ceded the land to the church. During the middle ages the peninsula came under the rule of various dukes ruling different Italian city-states. In the late 16th century the Spanish occupied the area and built to strong forts. It remained Spanish for a couple of centuries until Napoleon came along. Many people don’t know or remember that he made his brother the King of Spain and his sister the Queen of Naples. In short the area was a mess and chaotic for a long time. Following Napoleon’s defeat in 1815, the peninsula once again became a part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and remained that way until 1860 when the modern state of Italy was created. Are you confused? I am because it is a very confusing place historically.

A view from the monastery

Onward to my tour. Our first stop was a lovely spot up on the hillside at a monastery called the Convento dei Frati Passionisti. This is a small white building nestled in the trees with a small chapel and the monastery building itself. Our guide Erica told us there are only about 12 monks left and they make a liqueur from herbs they grow in their garden. I had a look around the church and then encountered one the monks. (These don’t take a vow of silence so I had a sort of conversation with my few Italian words and his limited English.)There was a little shop and I bought a bottle of the liqueur; I haven’t a clue what it tastes like and now I have to figure out how to get it home. If it tastes awful, maybe at least it will be medicinal.

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One of the monks with me.  He looked so peaceful and genuinely good.

We left the monastery and headed down to sea level to a town called Orbetello. It lies on one of the strips of land connecting the Monte Argentario to the rest of the mainland. The town is surrounded on both sides by two beautiful lagoons with sparkling blue green water. Near the town is an old mill with a windmill. At one time there were nine of these in the lagoons to mill grain produced in the neighboring area. Now only one remains. As we rode along the causeway I did manage to get this pretty decent photo of a glossy ibis which our guide said are rare to see here. She's some kind of bird naturalist when she's not guiding.

Here's the black glossy ibis

We had a little walk around the town of Orbetello. It was a typical Italian place with fairly narrow streets which allow only vehicles bringing supplies to shops or osterias. There are a couple of squares. The main one had a statue of Garibaldi, the hero and unifier of Italy. I’m not sure what his connection is to Orbetello. I thought Erika said he was born there, but not according to Mr. Google. We had a little free time to walk around and I bought a couple of beautiful scarves. I’m still working on wearing them. The only problem is that if I want to wear one with my dinner outfit, I have to start getting ready at least half an hour early so I have time to stand in front of the mirror and fiddle with it until I’m reasonably satisfied it looks good.

We were waiting for our bus to pick us up in the town at a square by the Duomo, the main church. A wedding party was gathering and we were hoping the bride would arrive before we left, but she didn’t come. Some of the people we guessed were part of the bridal party did arrive and they were splendidly dressed. The ladies were wearing impossibly high stiletto heels with extreme pointy toes. They made my feet hurt just looking at them. That does lead me to one observation I have about the people in these French and Italian ports. On the whole they dress much more stylishly than we Americans do, at least in my part of the world.

That's Garibaldi up there

I liked the name of the shop.  It was a permanent sign.

Leaving Orbetello we crossed the causeway to Monte Argentario and headed back up the mountain to another spectacular viewpoint. Down a narrow road from our stopping point was a little inn which Erika told us was a place that Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton would go to for a romantic tryst when they were filming in Rome. I can see why it would appeal to them because an idyllic place. From the viewpoint we could see in the near distance the island of Giglio where the Costa Concordia ran aground and sank and its ignominious captain was among the first to abandon ship. Beyond Giglio we could see another of the Tuscan Archipelago, the island of Monte Cristo. That one is famous because Alexandre Dumas made it a setting in his novel The Count of Monte Cristo. Today Monte Cristo is a nature preserve which limits visitors to around 1000 per year.

The island of Giglio

On the left is just a tip of Giglio and behind it you can get a glimpse of Monte Cristo

After taking lots of photos we boarded our coach and headed back down to Porto Santo Stefano. I failed to mention that the little town was heavily bombed during WWII because the Germans had stationed troops there. The town wasn’t rebuilt until the early 1950s. Back on the ship I talked with friends and in the evening Hilary and I met for cocktails before going to dinner with the cruise director. Hilary’s birthday was Easter Sunday but the ship surprised her with a celebration today. We had very nice dinner companions and afterwards went up to the Observation Bar to listen to my favorite duo up there. I went to the Club later but the music wasn’t my kind of dance music so I left before midnight. 

I don't like photos of me, but here are Hilary and me last night

and here's tonight, formal night taken with Hilary's phone.

 All in all it was another wonderful day. I know I’ve written way too much, but I want to remember these good times and writing about them helps me. For now Buona notte.