|
| |
Portoferraio
Written by: Dominick A. Miserandino
Photography by: Margherita Miserandino
The island's biggest claim to fame is that it was the exiled home of Napoleon, it also is the home to precious stones and minerals.
Portoferraio is another one of those towns with a name that hints towards what it is about. One of the largest towns on the island of Elba, Portoferraio's name refers to the mineralistic portion of the island. Ferraio comes from the latin "ferro" or iron, which the island is abundant with, in addition to other precious stones and minerals.
The island's other claim to fame, and the bigger one is that it was the exiled home of Napoleon. We took a tour of both Portoferraio (including the home of Napoleon) and Porto Azzurro, which is in the center of the island.
Portoferraio is one of the most beautiful cities we've seen. Napoleon wanted to make the city a miniature version of Paris. Not an exact copy, but a city just as cosmopolitan and beautiful as Paris. It should also be noted that Napoleon was only on the island for a year and a few months, but in that short time, he completely changed it. He added schools, roads, improved buildings, improved the laws and government, and generally did make the place a much better city than when he started. Not a bad exile.
You also can see his exiled home, which is a mansion to say the least. The house is filled with both historical pieces to the home and art.
The rest of the town is certainly worth a day of walking through, as it's just as picturesque as Venice minus the canals. Okay, maybe not that picturesque, but the colors of the buildings are startling.
Anyway, we got on the bus and headed to Porto Azzurro. This city is also just as beautiful, but is missing the city walls and fortress. The biggest reason to come here is to drop half of your wallet shopping. They have dozens of jewelry stores where they sell the aforementioned precious stones and jewels.
I'm not much of an expert on jewelry prices, but Margherita insists the prices are very good. For some reason, although she calculates we saved hundreds of dollars, our wallets still seemed much emptier than you'd expect.
Elba is an island, where we wish we were able to stay a few more days. It has beautiful beaches, the history of Napoleon, and of course, the shopping, which although saves you so much money, your wallet is still lighter by the end of the day.
Windstar
Porto Vecchio
Portoferraio
Porto Venere
St. Tropez
Monaco
|
|
|
|
|
|
